16 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 465b
Online Reference: FLWSUPP 165DELES
Insurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Amount
MICHAEL J. DELESPARRA, D.C., P.A., a Florida corporation, Plaintiff, v. UNITED AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant. County Court, 17th Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County. Case No. 07-3070 COCE 53. March 19, 2009. Robert W. Lee, Judge. Counsel: Nicole Malick, Ft. Lauderdale, and Douglas Harrison, Pembroke Pines, for Plaintiff. Juan Montes, Hialeah, for Defendant.
FINAL JUDGMENT ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES AND COSTS
This cause came before the Court for hearing on March 18, 2009 of the Plaintiff’s Motion for Attorney’s Fees and Costs, and the Court’s having received evidence, made findings of credibility consistent with this judgment, heard argument, and reviewed the relevant legal authorities, finds as follows:
In accordance with the Final Judgment upon Confession entered on November 16, 2007 determining entitlement to fees and costs in favor of the Plaintiff, the Court determines:
The Plaintiff shall recover from the Defendant the sum of $39,235.00 for attorney’s fees and $320.00 for costs, for a total amount awarded of $39,555.00. The Court finds that the fee award of $39,235.00 to be broken down as:
Attorney time of 39.1 hours reasonably expended by Nicole Malick, Esq. at an hourly rate of $350.00 reasonably charged. The Court declines to award any time set forth in Plaintiff’s Notice of Supplemental Attorney’s Fees Incurred, as the Court finds the incurring of such time to be unreasonable; and
Attorney time of 73.0 hours reasonably expended by Douglas Harrison, Esq. at an hourly rate of $325.00 reasonably charged. Much of the reduction in counsel’s time is attributable to work which was essentially, as counsel acknowledges, secretarial or clerical in nature. See Haines v. Sophia, 711 So.2d 209, 210 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998).
The Plaintiff is also entitled to an award of prejudgment interest at the rate of 8% per annum from the date entitlement was determined (November 16, 2007) until the date of the Court’s Order requiring filing of a time breakdown (December 13, 2007) and from the date the time breakdown was filed (February 5, 2009) until the date of this judgment ($8.67 per diem) for a total of $632.91. The Court declines to award prejudgment interest for the almost 14-month delay in the Plaintiff’s efforts to move forward on its request for fees. See Broward County v. Finlayson, 555 So.2d 1211, 1213-14 (Fla. 1990); Capital One Bank (USA), NA v. Morrow, 16 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 272 (Collier Cty. Ct. 2009).
Finally, Plaintiff’s expert Todd Link is entitled to an expert witness fee in the sum of $1,750.00, which sum is reasonably charged.
Accordingly, judgment is hereby entered in favor of the Plaintiff for the total sum of $41,937.91, with interest at the rate of 8% per annum, until the sums due herein are paid, for which sums let execution issue.
