2015

40 Fla. L. Weekly D1417a
166 So. 3d 933

Attorney’s fees — Proposal for settlement — Insurance — No error in awarding attorney’s fees to insurer which prevailed in litigation regarding coverage for property damage to plaintiff’s condominium where plaintiff rejected insurer’s proposal for settlement and trial court ultimately entered judgment in favor of insurer — Costs — Error to award costs to insurer without making findings of fact as to whether specific costs awarded were taxable and, if not, why they were being awarded

40 Fla. L. Weekly D2500a
178 So. 3d 923

Attorney’s fees — Insurance — Prevailing party — Trial court properly awarded attorney’s fees to insured pursuant to section 627.428 following insurer’s voluntary dismissal of declaratory judgment action in which insurer asserted that insured was not entitled to defense of underlying tort action under policy where insurer had continued to provide insured with defense while litigating declaratory judgment action — Passenger was not entitled to recover statutory attorney’s fees and costs where passenger did not receive recovery or any other benefit from insurer

40 Fla. L. Weekly D2606a
179 So. 3d 492

Insurance — Attorney’s fees — Award of fees to insureds following settlement of coverage dispute with insurer — Trial court abused discretion by awarding a multiplier where case was not a complicated case, and there was no evidence that insureds had any difficulty obtaining counsel

40 Fla. L. Weekly D2342b
178 So. 3d 902

Insurance — Attorney’s fees — Prevailing party — Insureds were entitled to attorney’s fees under express and non-discretionary language of Section 627.428(1) for the successful defense of, and favorable judgment on, insurer’s counterclaim for unjust enrichment, given jury’s determination that insureds had not been unjustly enriched and that insurer was not entitled to recoup monies it had already paid to insureds on their claim, and notwithstanding its determination on insured’s breach of contract claim that insureds had intentionally concealed or misrepresented a material fact or made a false statement when reporting their loss — Modification of Section 627.428 to create an exemption to address cases where false statements are made by an insured must be effectuated legislatively, not judicially — Costs — Trial court erred in denying costs to insurer under Section 57.041 because insurer prevailed on breach of contract claim

40 Fla. L. Weekly D801a
160 So. 3d 555

Insurance — Attorney’s fees — Insured was entitled to recover statutory attorney’s fees in connection with declaratory judgment action he filed regarding uninsured motorist coverage — Where insurer initially disputed insured’s entitlement to “stacking” of UM benefits, its later concession on that issue was tantamount to a confession of judgment

40 Fla. L. Weekly D2155b
175 So. 3d 352

Insurance — Homeowners — Attorney’s fees — Award to insureds who prevailed in action against insurer which had denied request for appraisal — Trial court did not abuse discretion in finding that $400 was a reasonable blended hourly rate for various attorneys who were involved in case — 200 hours was an excessive number of hours billed, and trial court abused discretion in finding that 200 hours was reasonable — Trial court abused discretion in awarding a multiplier where there was no showing that insureds had difficulty in obtaining competent counsel, the result obtained was not remarkable, and there were no novel or difficult factual or legal issues in case

40 Fla. L. Weekly D1517b
175 So. 3d 308

Attorney’s fee — Appellate — Prevailing party on appeal — Award of appellate attorney’s fees conditioned upon party prevailing in underlying action by obtaining judgment for PIP benefits

40 Fla. L. Weekly D1839a
173 So. 3d 1061

Insurance — Personal injury protection — Failure of insured to attend independent medical examination — Where appellate division of circuit court had earlier determined that insured’s failure to attend IME was unreasonable, and district court of appeal denied petition for writ of certiorari seeking to quash appellate division’s decision, appellate division failed to apply law of the case when it subsequently remanded for the trial court to determine the reasonableness of insured’s failure to attend IME — Appellate division’s failure to apply the correct law constituted a departure from essential requirements of law — Intervening decision of Florida Supreme Court, holding that insurer asserting defense of insured’s failure to attend IME is required to present evidence to fact-finder that insured unreasonably failed to attend IME, did not constitute an intervening decision that required appellate division to disregard law of the case — Appellate division court also departed from essential requirements of law in denying motion for appellate attorney’s fees under offer of judgment statute

40 Fla. L. Weekly D2406a
177 So. 3d 627

Insurance — Assignment of post-loss rights — An insured has the right to assign post-loss rights without the insurer’s consent

40 Fla. L. Weekly D1449a
177 So. 3d 627

NOT FINAL VERSION OF OPINION
Subsequent Changes at 40 Fla. L. Weekly D2406a

Insurance — Homeowners — Assignment of post-loss rights — Policyholders have the right to assign post-loss rights without consent of insurer — Office of Insurance Regulation properly denied insurance company’s requests to amend its homeowners policies to restrict the ability of policyholders to assign post-loss rights without the company’s consent