Pleading Requirements for a Claim for Attorneys’ Fees

The rules for pleading a claim for attorneys’ fees have changed in the past ten years. Plaintiffs don’t have a problem with it, but defendants do. The Florida Supreme Court says that a defendant doesn’t need to file a formal counterclaim to ask for fees. They can do it after the main case is over. It’s important because sometimes the fees can be more than the original claim. Both parties have to follow special rules for asking for fees, or they could lose the right to get them. To claim attorneys’ fees, you need to show why you should get them and why the other party should have to pay them. It’s best to ask for them in your initial pleadings, but if you don’t, you can still ask for them later as long as the other party knows about the claim. This is important because it gives them a chance to respond and prevents unfair surprises. If you don’t ask for fees in your initial pleadings and you don’t have a good reason for not doing so, you might not be able to claim them later. After the Stockman case, the Supreme Court dealt with a similar issue in Ganz v. HZJ, Inc. The court was asked if statutory attorney fees had to be specifically requested in a lawsuit. The court said it’s hard for a party to know if the other side’s arguments are frivolous until after the case is over. They said statutory attorney fees don’t have to be specifically requested in the lawsuit. In the case of Green v. Sun Harbor Homeowners’ Association, Inc., the Supreme Court ruled that a defendant can ask for attorney fees if they are the prevailing party, even if the plaintiff voluntarily dismisses the case before the defendant has to file an answer. The court said that a defendant must make their claim for attorney fees in a motion to dismiss, or in a separate motion within 30 days after the case is dismissed. If they don’t do this, they lose the right to ask for attorney fees. The Chief Justice also said that future rules should make sure that defendants can’t avoid these rules just because they haven’t filed an answer yet. The Supreme Court has not decided if a simple request for legal fees in a court document is enough to actually get the fees. It’s best to be specific when asking for fees, based on a previous court case. The court also might not allow you to ask for fees late in the legal process. And if you don’t ask for fees in your initial court documents, you might not be able to get them later, even if the court initially said you could. It’s important to follow the rules about asking for legal fees to avoid problems. In simple terms, the law is not clear on what you need to do to ask for your attorney fees. If you follow the rules from the Carman v. Gilbert case and file your request within 30 days of the final judgment, you should be fine and won’t have to deal with more legal battles. These are references to various court cases in Florida. They are cited to show where the information comes from and to support the arguments being made. Gerald W. Pierce is a certified appellate lawyer from Fort Myers who has worked on more than 500 civil appeals in Florida. This column is submitted by the Trial Lawyers Section. They aim to promote duty and service to the public, improve justice administration, and advance the science of law.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/pleading-requirements-for-a-claim-for-attorneys-fees/