Alexander Appellate Law Wins Palm Beach Attorney's Fees Appeal
Alexander Appellate Law just scored a big win for a client in Palm Beach County.
After winning her case against her landlord for unlawful eviction, the client timely moved for attorney’s fees – but the motion contained a clerical error and didn’t specify the statutory ground for fees. Over a year later, after a challenge to the motion, the trial court ended up denying the motion for failure to state its grounds with particularity.
The client retained us for the appeal, and the Fourth District Court of Appeal agreed with our argument that a litigant is not required to specify the statutory ground for attorney’s fees when the motion, pleadings, and judgment gave the defendant actual and fair notice of the ground on which fees were sought.
The Fourth DCA reasoned that an affirmance of the trial court’s decision would “unduly elevate form over substance.”
After ruling that the client was entitled to her attorney’s fees, both at trial and on appeal, the Fourth DCA reversed and remanded for a determination of amounts. You can read the opinion here: