Opinion ID: 1572068
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Instant Case

Text: Because the facts of this case and the facts of Saia are distinguishable, both the trial court and the Fifth District erred in relying on Saia to conclude that AmerUs failed to timely file the motion for attorneys' fees and costs as required by rule 1.525. In Saia, the trial court's final judgment indicated that it was reserving jurisdiction to determine entitlement to costs and attorneys' fees. In this case, the trial court determined in its final judgment that AmerUs was entitled to court costs and attorneys' fees, but reserved jurisdiction to determine the amount. AmerUs, 967 So.2d at 341. In Saia, we held that the thirty-day time requirement under rule 1.525 applies when the trial court reserves jurisdiction to determine entitlement to attorneys' fees and costs; we did not address the situation where entitlement has been determined and the only issue remaining is the amount of the fees and costs. The facts of the instant case are identical to the facts of the certified conflict case, Chamizo v. Forman, 933 So.2d 1240 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006). In Chamizo, the trial court entered a final summary judgment in favor of Forman. In the judgment, the trial court determined that Forman was entitled to attorneys' fees as the prevailing party and stated that the amount would be determined by the court at another hearing. Forty-four days after the entry of the final judgment, Forman filed his motion for attorneys' fees and costs. Chamizo argued that the motion was untimely pursuant to rule 1.525. Id. at 1242. The trial court rejected Chamizo's argument and awarded attorneys' fees and costs to Forman. On appeal, the Third District affirmed the judgment and found no merit to Chamizo's argument that the motion for fees and costs was untimely. Id. The district court reasoned that [g]iven the fact that fees and costs had already been awarded by the final judgment and affirmed by this court, the timeliness of Foreman's motion is a non-issue. Id. In doing so, the district court distinguished the facts from those of Saia, noting that entitlement to fees and costs had yet to be determined in Saia. Id. at 1241 n. 2. In the report of the Florida Bar Civil Procedure Rules Committee, the committee unanimously agreed that the purpose behind adopting rule 1.525 was predictability and clarification. Thus, the thirty-day time requirement under rule 1.525 avoids prejudice and unfair surprise to the losing party. Once the trial court determines that the prevailing party is entitled to attorneys' fees and costs, the losing party is aware that it is required to pay the fees and costs. At that point, the concerns of prejudice and unfair surprise to the losing party are eliminated, thus eliminating the need to apply the thirty-day time requirement under rule 1.525. As the Fifth District indicated in dicta in Hart v. City of Groveland, 919 So.2d 665, 669 (Fla. 5th DCA 2006), [i]f a party already has a judgment granting attorney's fees and costs, it would appear superfluous to require such a party to file a motion seeking to tax them again. The court has, in essence, already ruled to tax them and all that remains is a determination of the reasonable amount. Because the purpose for adopting rule 1.525, avoidance of prejudice and unfair surprise, is satisfied once the trial court determines entitlement to attorneys' fees and costs, the thirty-day time requirement for filing motions for attorneys' fees and costs under rule 1.525 is no longer necessary. The parties are on notice with the trial court's ruling on entitlement that the amount of the award will be determined at a later date. Accordingly, we find, as did the Third District in Chamizo, that where entitlement to attorneys' fees and costs has already been determined by the trial court in its final judgment, rule 1.525, requiring the filing of a motion for fees and costs within thirty days of the final judgment, does not apply. AmerUs was therefore not required to file its motion to determine the amount of attorneys' fees and costs within the time period set by rule 1.525. [1]