Case Name: Rudy MUCKENFUSS, etc., Petitioner, v. DELTONA CORPORATION, etc., Respondent
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1987-06-11
Citations: 508 So. 2d 340
Docket Number: No. 68792
Parties: Rudy MUCKENFUSS, etc., Petitioner, v. DELTONA CORPORATION, etc., Respondent.
Judges: MCDONALD, C.J., and OVERTON, EHRLICH, BARKETT and KOGAN, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 508
Pages: 340–341

Head Matter:
Rudy MUCKENFUSS, etc., Petitioner, v. DELTONA CORPORATION, etc., Respondent.
No. 68792.
Supreme Court of Florida.
June 11, 1987.
C. Ray Greene, Jr. of Greene, Greene, Falck & Coalson, Jacksonville, for petitioner.
Robert Cintron, Jr. of Dearing & Cintron, Tallahassee, for respondent.

Opinion:
SHAW, Justice.
We have for review Muckenfuss v. Deltona Corp., 487 So.2d 1079, (Fla. 5th DCA 1986), because of direct and express conflict with Whitten v. Progressive Casualty Insurance Co., 410 So.2d 501 (Fla.1982). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.
The district court reversed the trial court's denial of attorney's fee, finding that "a substantial portion of this lawsuit and this appeal consisted of a legal controversy in which there was virtually a complete absence of a justiciable issue of either law or fact." Muckenfuss, 487 So.2d at 1079 (emphasis added). Section 57.105, Florida Statutes (1983), authorizes an attorney's fee award to the prevailing party "in any civil action in which the court finds that there was a complete absence of a justiciable issue of either law or fact raised by the losing party." The purpose of the section 57.105 is to discourage "baseless claims, stonewall defenses and sham appeals in civil litigation." Whitten, 410 So.2d at 505. Section 57.105 fees will not be awarded unless the court finds "a total or absolute lack of a justiciable issue, which is tantamount to a finding that the action is frivolous . and so clearly devoid of merit both on the facts and the law as to be completely untenable." Id. (emphasis deleted). Accordingly, the court erred in awarding an attorney's fee notwithstanding its finding that a substantial portion of the suit was meritless since justiciable issues were present.
Relying on Hernandez v. Leiva, 391 So.2d 292 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980), respondent argues that the presence of a justiciable issue will not preclude an award limited to fees incurred in litigating against frivolous issues. Respondent's reliance is misplaced. The Hernandez court found that the attorney's fees awarded for frivolous litigation were not precluded by justiciable issues raised in a separate trial on damages.
Accordingly, we disapprove the district court's decision and remand for further proceedings consistent herewith.
It is so ordered.
MCDONALD, C.J., and OVERTON, EHRLICH, BARKETT and KOGAN, JJ., concur.
GRIMES, J., dissents with an opinion.