Opinion ID: 1919200
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: An appellee may be subject to sanctions

Text: The petitioner argues that an appelleewho by definition is defending a trial court's ordercannot be sanctioned for asserting a frivolous defense on appeal. Some Florida courts agree with the petitioner's position. See State Dep't of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Salter, 710 So.2d 1039, 1041 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998) (holding that because the judgment of a trial court carries a presumption of correctness, defense of that judgment necessarily presents a justiciable issue); Coral Springs Roofing Co. v. Campagna, 528 So.2d 557, 558 (Fla. 4th DCA 1988) (same); McNee v. Biz, 473 So.2d 5, 6 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985) (holding that the appellate court could not award fees under section 57.105 against an appellee that did not cross-appeal the trial court's order because, as a matter of law, the appellee's position had to embody a justiciable issue of law or fact). At least one appellate court, however, has awarded fees to the appellant under section 57.105. See Rapid Credit Corp. v. Sunset Park Centre, Ltd., 566 So.2d 810, 812 n. 2 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990) (noting that the court had found counsel's attempt to defend a default on appeal so frivolous that it had granted appellant fees under section 57.105) (Schwartz, C.J., specially concurring). All these cases were decided under a prior version of section 57.105. In 1999, the Legislature substantially rewrote that statute to significantly broaden the courts' authority to award attorneys' fees under that section. As revised, the statute reads: (1) Upon the court's initiative or on motion of any party, the court shall award a reasonable attorney's fee to be paid to the prevailing party in equal amounts by the losing party and the losing party's attorney on any claim or defense at any time during a civil proceeding or action in which the court finds that the losing party or the losing party's attorney knew or should have known that a claim or defense when initially presented to the court or at any time before trial: (a) Was not supported by the material facts necessary to establish the claim or defense; or (b) Would not be supported by the application of then-existing law to those material facts. However, the losing party's attorney is not personally responsible if he or she has acted in good faith, based on the representations of his or her client as to the existence of those material facts. If the court awards attorney's fees to a claimant pursuant to this subsection, the court shall also award prejudgment interest. (2) Paragraph (1)(b) does not apply if the court determines that the claim or defense was initially presented to the court as a good faith argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law or the establishment of new law, as it applied to the material facts, with a reasonable expectation of success. (3) At any time in any civil proceeding or action in which the moving party proves by a preponderance of the evidence that any action taken by the opposing party, including, but not limited to, the filing of any pleading or part thereof, the assertion of or response to any discovery demand, the assertion of any claim or defense, or the response to any request by any other party, was taken primarily for the purpose of unreasonable delay, the court shall award damages to the moving party for its reasonable expenses incurred in obtaining the order, which may include attorney's fees, and other loss resulting from the improper delay. § 57.105(1)-(3), Fla. Stat. (2000). As the district court noted in this case, 788 So.2d at 1061, the statute no longer applies only to an entire action; it now applies to any claim or defense. The standard for granting fees also has changed. Previously, a movant had to show a complete absence of a justiciable issue of either law or fact raised by the losing party. § 57.105, Fla. Stat. (Supp.1978). Under the revised version, however, a movant need only show that the party and counsel knew or should have known that any claim or defense asserted was (a) not supported by the facts or (b) not supported by an application of then-existing law. § 57.105, Fla. Stat. (2000). The amendments therefore greatly expand the statute's potential use. We hold that an appellee is not shielded as a matter of law from the imposition of sanctions in an appropriate case. We acknowledge that an appellee, by definition, is defending an order of the trial court. Appellate courts, therefore, should impose sanctions against an appellee only in rare circumstances. Moreover, because a district court of appeal is, in the vast majority of cases, the court of last resort, it should exercise great restraint in imposing appellate sanctions. We also warn, however, that an appellee cannot hide behind the presumption of correctness of an order that the appellee itself procured by misrepresenting the law or the facts. The presumption of correctness is necessarily based on another presumption: that the appellee correctly informed the trial court of the facts and applicable law. Busy judges managing overloaded motion calendars often depend on the attorneys appearing before them to provide them with accurate information about the issues involved, the facts relevant to those issues, and the law applicable to those facts. When it becomes apparent that counsel misrepresented this information, counsel cannot later hide behind the presumption of correctness to avoid sanctions. Appellate courts, too, must manage heavy caseloads. They depend on counsel to accurately state both the facts and the applicable law. Therefore, regardless of trial counsel's conduct or representations, appellate counsel (who often is separate from trial counsel) has an independent ethical obligation to present both the facts and the applicable law accurately and forthrightly. This will sometimes require appellate counsel to concede error where, although trial counsel obtained a favorable result, either the facts were not as represented to the trial court or the law is clearly contrary to the appellee's position and no good-faith basis exists to argue that it should be changed.