Florida Courts Of Appeal

ATTORNEY FEES, LANDLORD TENANT - Three landlords sued a tenant for eviction, but the tenant won a counterclaim to establish a resulting trust and was awarded attorney fees. The Florida Courts of Appeal ruled that even though the applicable statute treats attorney fees as costs, the tenant did not specifically plead for an award of fees. Reversed. Scruggs v. Sutton

ATTORNEY FEES - The Florida Courts of Appeal ruled that attorney fees are unavailable to defendant Ramirez, who was sued for malicious prosecution and fraud, because he did not comply with a 21-day notice requirement that he would seek attorney fees. State law requires the 21-day notice window, and a trial court cannot adopt a party-filed motion as its own when this notification requirement has not been met. Reversed. Davidson v. Ramirez

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