Case Name: MIAMI LINCOLN MERCURY, INC., Appellant, v. Daniel W. KRAMER, Appellee
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1981-05-19
Citations: 399 So. 2d 1003
Docket Number: Nos. 80-1507, 80-2088
Parties: MIAMI LINCOLN MERCURY, INC., Appellant, v. Daniel W. KRAMER, Appellee.
Judges: Before HUBBART, C. J., and BASKIN and FERGUSON, JJ.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 399
Pages: 1003–1005

Head Matter:
MIAMI LINCOLN MERCURY, INC., Appellant, v. Daniel W. KRAMER, Appellee.
Nos. 80-1507, 80-2088.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Third District.
May 19, 1981.
Rehearing Denied July 6, 1981.
Kimbrell, Hamann, Jennings, Womack, Carlson & Kniskern and Robert K. Tucker and R. Owen Ricker, Jr., Miami, for appellant.
David H. Zoberg and Michael D. Felton, Miami, for appellee.
Before HUBBART, C. J., and BASKIN and FERGUSON, JJ.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
The final order denying attorney's fees which is under review by this appeal is reversed and the cause is remanded to the trial court with directions to award the defendant Miami Lincoln Mercury, Inc. reasonable attorney's fees under Section 817.-41(6), Florida Statutes (1979), upon a holding that: (a) the defendant herein was the prevailing person in a civil action brought against it inter alia for misleading or deceptive advertising under Section 817.41(1), Florida Statutes (1979), and accordingly, was entitled to an award of reasonable attorney's fees under Section 817.41(6), Florida Statutes (1979), see e. g., Johnny Crews Ford, Inc. v. Llewellyn, 353 So.2d 606 (Fla.2d DCA 1977); and (b) the defendant's entitlement to said attorney's fees was not defeated by its failure to plead for same in its answer as it properly presented the issue before the trial court by timely motion — although admittedly it would have been better practice for the defendant to have pled for said attorney's fees in its answer. See e. g., Ocala Music & Marine Center v. Caldwell, 389 So.2d 222 (Fla. 5th DCA 1980), and cases collected.
Reversed and remanded.