25 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 192b
Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2502TORRInsurance — Personal injury protection — Attorney’s fees — Amount
CIELO SPORTS & FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC CENTRE, INC., a/a/o Rebekah Torres, Plaintiff, v. GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant. County Court, 13th Judicial Circuit in and for Hillsborough County, Civil Division. Case No. 16-CC-006202, Division I. April 20, 2017. Joelle Ann Ober, Judge. Counsel: Christopher P. Calkin and Mike N. Koulianos, The Law Offices of Christopher P. Calkin, P.A., Tampa, and David M. Caldevilla, de la Parte & Gilbert, P.A., Tampa, for Plaintiff. David Dougherty and Elizabeth Castro, Law Office of Ellen H. Ehrenpreis, Tampa, for Defendant.
FINAL JUDGMENT FOR ATTORNEY’SFEES AND COSTS
THIS MATTER came before the Court on February 13, 2017, on Plaintiff’s Motion to Tax Attorney’s Fees and Costs. Having reviewed and considered the Motion, Defendant’s Memorandum in Opposition, the file, the evidence, the testimony of the parties’ witnesses (including an expert witness for each party), the arguments presented by counsel, the applicable law, and being otherwise fully advised, the Court finds as follows:
1. This case involves a claim for payment of personal injury protection (PIP) benefits. In its Motion, Plaintiff seeks an award of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs pursuant to Florida Statutes sections 627.736(8) and 627.428.
2. Plaintiff instituted this action on February 24, 2016, with service on the Defendant on March 4, 2016.
3. On July 25, 2016, Defendant filed a Notice of Confession of Judgment, which included an admission that Plaintiff’s counsel was entitled to reasonable attorney’s fees and costs; however, the full agreed upon payment was not tendered until January 31, 2017.
4. Plaintiff does not seek a contingency risk multiplier in this case.
5. To determine the amount of reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, the Court considers the evidence and testimony presented and the factors set forth in Florida Patients Compensation Fund v. Rowe, 472 So. 2d 1145 (Fla. 1985), Standard Guarantee Insurance Company v. Quanstrom, 555 So. 2d 828 (Fla. 1990), and Florida Bar Rule 4-1.5 to determine the reasonable hourly rate for services rendered by Plaintiff’s counsel and the number of hours reasonably and necessarily expended in the prosecution of this case. The court then calculates the “lodestar figure” by multiplying the reasonable hourly rates by the number of hours reasonably expended on the litigation.
6. After considering the foregoing, the Court finds that the reasonable hourly rates for Plaintiff’s counsel in this matter are as follows:
a. Christopher P. Calkin, Esquire = $525.00 per hour;
b. Mike N. Koulianos, Esquire = $325.00 per hour.
7. With regard to the number of reasonable and necessary hours expended by Plaintiff’s counsel in this matter, it is well-settled that statutory attorney’s fees cannot be awarded for time expended litigating the amount of attorney’s fees. See State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Palma, 629 So. 2d 830, 833 (Fla. 1993); State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. v. Trevino, 904 So. 2d 495, 496-497 (Fla. 2d DCA 2005) [30 Fla. L. Weekly D1239b]. Therefore, in many cases attorney’s fees are not awarded for time spent litigating after a confession of judgment or stipulation as to Plaintiff’s entitlement to attorney’s fees has been made. A confession of judgment and admission of Plaintiff’s entitlement of fees was filed on July 25, 2016, but full-payment was not made until January 2017. The Court finds that the unique circumstances of this case require that attorney’s fees for some time expended after the filing of the Confession of Judgment be awarded. As such, Plaintiff’s counsel is entitled to an award of fees for the reasonable and necessary time expended after the filing of the Confession of Judgment through January 2017, to the extent it is not related to litigating the amount of the fee award.
8. After considering the foregoing, with respect to the reasonable and necessary hours expended by Plaintiff’s counsel in the prosecution of this matter, the Court finds that:
a. 49.9 hours were reasonably expended by Christopher P. Calkin, Esquire;
b. 7.1 hours were reasonably expended by Mike N. Koulianos, Esquire.
9. Therefore, the Court finds the lodestar figure for reasonable fees in this matter to be $28,505.00, based on the following:
a. Christopher P. Calkin, Esquire: 49.9 hours x $525.00/hour = $26,197.50
b. Mike N. Koulianos, Esquire: 7.1 hours x $325.00/hour = $ 2,307.50
10. The Court has considered Plaintiff’s expert James D. Arnold’s qualifications and experience to give an opinion as to the attorney fee issues in this case. Pursuant to Florida Statutes section 92.231, the Court finds a reasonable hourly rate for Mr. Arnold is $600.00 and that Mr. Arnold reasonably expended 5.7 hours in service as Plaintiff’s fee expert in this matter, resulting in a fee of $3,420.00. The Court concludes that the total reasonable and necessary costs to be taxed against the Defendant in this matter are $3,420.00.
Based on the foregoing, it is therefore ORDERED AND ADJUDGED
1. Final Judgment for Attorneys’ Fees and Costs is entered in favor of the Plaintiff, CIELO SPORTS & FAMILY CHIROPRACTIC CENTRE, INC. a.a.o Rebekah Torres, and against Defendant, GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES INSURANCE COMPANY, in the total amount of $31,925.00 (attorney’s fees of $28,505.50 and costs of $3,420.00) plus interest accruing since January 31, 2017 at the rate(s) established by Florida Statutes section 55.03, for which let execution issue.
2. The Court reserves jurisdiction to consider Plaintiff’s request for sanctions pursuant to paragraph 7 of the Court’s Case Management Order dated October 18, 2016. To the extent that Plaintiff seeks such sanctions, the Plaintiff shall file a motion for sanctions within 30 days of this final judgment.
