Case Name: Bernadette INGRAHAM, a minor, By and Through her father and next friend, Bernard INGRAHAM, and Bernard Ingraham and Laverne Ingraham, individually, Petitioners, v. DADE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, Respondent
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1984-05-17
Citations: 450 So. 2d 847
Docket Number: No. 63572
Parties: Bernadette INGRAHAM, a minor, By and Through her father and next friend, Bernard INGRAHAM, and Bernard Ingraham and Laverne Ingraham, individually, Petitioners, v. DADE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, Respondent.
Judges: BOYD, OVERTON, McDONALD and SHAW, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 450
Pages: 847–850

Head Matter:
Bernadette INGRAHAM, a minor, By and Through her father and next friend, Bernard INGRAHAM, and Bernard Ingraham and Laverne Ingraham, individually, Petitioners, v. DADE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD, Respondent.
No. 63572.
Supreme Court of Florida.
May 17, 1984.
Joe N. Unger, Miami, for petitioners. Jeanne Heyward, Frank A. Howard, Jr., and Peters, Pickle, Flynn, Niemoeller & Downs, Miami, for respondent.
Larry Klein, West Palm Beach, for Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, amicus curiae.
Karen A. Gievers of Anderson, Moss, Russo & Gievers, Miami, for Dade County Trial Lawyers Ass’n, amicus curiae.

Opinion:
ALDERMAN, Chief Justice.
We review the decision of the District Court of Appeal, Third District, in Dade County School Board v. Ingraham, 428 So.2d 283 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983), wherein the Third District certified the following question to be of great public importance:
Is the 25 percent statutory limitation on attorney's fees provided in section 768.-28(8), Florida Statutes (1981), applicable to a recovery under section 286.28, Florida Statutes (1981), formerly section 455.-06, Florida Statutes (1977)?
The Third District held that this limitation is applicable to the entire settlement amount. We agree and approve the Third District's decision.
Suit was brought on behalf of Bernadette Ingraham who sustained serious injuries while engaging in required curriculum in a physical education class at Miami Edison Middle School, which school is under the control and direction of the Dade County School Board. The accident which ren dered Bernadette a quadriplegic occurred in November 1978. The school board was self-insured to $100,000 and had purchased excess coverage from two insurance carriers in the amounts of $400,000 and $500,-000. A structured settlement of $1,000,-000, the total amount of the coverage, was approved by the trial court. The school board moved to limit the award of attorney's fees in accordance with section 768.-28(8). The trial court held that the 25 percent limitation of section 768.28(8) is applicable only to the first $50,000 of the settlement reached between the parties and that for any portion of the settlement exceeding $50,000, the parties are free to contract concerning the percentage and payment of legal fees.
The school board appealed and the Third District, finding that section 768.28, Florida Statutes (1973), was intended by the legislature to be a complete overhaul of the area of sovereign immunity, held that the legislature intended that the 25 percent limitation on attorney's fees apply to the entire settlement amount.
Article X, section 13 of the Florida Constitution provides absolute sovereign immunity for the state and its agencies absent waiver by legislative enactment or constitutional amendment. Section 768.28, enacted in 1973, constitutes a limited waiver by legislative enactment of the state's sovereign immunity. Section 768.28(5), Florida Statutes (1977), provides:
(5) The state and its agencies and subdivisions shall be liable for tort claims in the same manner and to the same extent as a private individual under like circumstances, but liability shall not include punitive damages or interest for the period prior to judgment. Neither the state nor its agencies or subdivisions shall be liable to pay a claim or a judgment by any one person which exceeds the sum of $50,000 or any claim or judgment, or portions thereof, which, when totaled with all other claims or judgments paid by the state or its agencies or subdivisions arising out of the same incident or occurrence, exceeds the sum of $100,000. However, a judgment or judgments may be claimed and rendered in excess of these amounts and may be settled and paid pursuant to this act up to $50,000 or $100,000, as the case may be, and that portion of the judgment that exceeds these amounts may be reported to the Legislature, but may be paid in part or in whole only by further act of the Legislature. The limitations of liability set forth in this subsection shall apply to the state and its agencies and subdivisions whether or not the state or its agencies or subdivisions possessed sovereign immunity prior to July 1, 197f (Footnote added. Emphasis supplied.)
At the time of this enactment, section 455.-06 (now renumbered as section 286.28 by chapter 79-36, section 5, Laws of Florida) was in effect and provided that, to the extent a state agency purchases liability insurance, the defense of sovereign immunity and the statutory cap on recovery is removed. Specifically, subsection (2) of this section provides in pertinent part:
(2) In consideration of the premium at which such insurance may be written, it shall be a part of any insurance contract providing said coverage that the insurer shall not be entitled to the benefit of the defense of governmental immunity of any such political subdivisions of the state in any suit instituted against any such political subdivision as herein provided, or in any suit brought against the insurer to enforce collection under such an insurance contract; and that the immunity of said political subdivision against any liability described in subsection (1) as to which such insurance coverage has been provided, and suit in connection therewith, are waived to the extent and only to the extent of such insurance coverage _ (Emphasis supplied.)
Section 768.28 totally revised the area of sovereign immunity, but as a part of the overall revision of this area by the legislature it specifically provided that the statutory provisions permitting the state to purchase insurance based upon section 455.06 would continue in effect. Specifically, section 768.28(10) provides: "Laws allowing the state or its agencies or subdivisions to buy insurance are still in force and effect and are not restricted in any way by the terms of this act." Section 455.06 thus became a part of the overall scheme of the legislature relating to the waiver of sovereign immunity.
Subsection (8) of this overall statutory scheme relating to sovereign immunity created by the enactment of section 768.-28 provides: "No attorney may charge, demand, receive, or collect, for services rendered, fees in excess of 25 percent of any judgment or settlement." The Third District correctly held that since section 768.-28(8) is the only portion of this unitary concept which deals with attorney's fees, its provisions govern a situation, as in the present case, where a state agency purchases supplemental and discretionary insurance. The 25 percent limitation on attorney's fees relates to any judgment or settlement and therefore applies to all situations involving waiver of sovereign immunity regardless of the source of payment.
Furthermore, we find no merit to petitioners' contention that section 768.28(8) is unconstitutional. We hold that section 768.28(8) is constitutional and does not constitute an impairment of contractual obligations and does not amount to a legislative usurpation of the power of the judiciary to regulate the practice of law.
Accordingly, having found that the Third District correctly answered the certified question in the affirmative, we approve its decision which reversed the trial court and held that the 25 percent limitation on attorney's fees applies to the entire settlement amount.
It is so ordered.
BOYD, OVERTON, McDONALD and SHAW, JJ., concur.
EHRLICH, J., dissents with an opinion.
Section 768.28(5) was amended in 1981 to increase this amount to $100,000. Ch. 81-317, § 1, Laws of Fla.