1. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 837 into law, which made significant changes to Florida’s bad faith insurance framework and one-way attorney fee provisions for insurance cases.
2. Senate Bill 2A, enacted in December 2022, aimed to limit one-way attorney fees in property insurance claims by removing the right to attorney fees in suits arising under residential or commercial property insurance policies.
3. HB837 took a more comprehensive approach by not only limiting fee-shifting in property insurance cases, but also extending these limitations to the liability insurance context. It repealed Florida Statutes Sections 627.428 and 626.9373, which had allowed the recovery of attorney fees against insurers in certain situations. – Florida Statutes § 86.121 allows for one-way attorney fees in declaratory relief actions involving insurance coverage denial.
– The court must award reasonable attorney fees to the insured if the insurer has made a total coverage denial and the court rules in favor of the insured.
– Attorney fees under this provision cannot be transferred or assigned to parties other than the named insured, omnibus insured, or beneficiary, and does not apply to residential or commercial property insurance policies.
– HB837 creates a rebuttable presumption in favor of the lodestar fee method for calculating attorney fees, with the court only deviating from it in rare and exceptional circumstances.
– Attorney fee multipliers will now be the exception rather than the rule in cases where attorney’s fees may be recovered, aiming to bring more predictability and fairness to attorney fee awards.
– These changes are expected to reduce frivolous lawsuits, streamline the litigation process, and ultimately benefit both insurers and insured parties involved in property insurance claims.
https://www.jimersonfirm.com/blog/2023/09/part-ii-the-shift-in-florida-insurance-litigation-with-the-end-of-one-way-attorneys-fees/
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