In Aspen Air Conditioning, Inc. v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Am., 170 So. 3d 892 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015), a Florida appellate court assessed sanctions of attorney's fees incurred by an insurance company on appeal "defending against allegedly baseless assertions contained in the Appellant's Initial Brief …."
The appellate court examined the appellant's charge of misrepresentation by the insurance company's lawyer. Following its detailed examination of the record, the appellate court wrote that the appellant's allegations about the insurance company's lawyer were in bad faith.
The court awarded the insurance company its attorney's fees it incurred in having to defend against these allegations, the award being made payable both by the plaintiff and its counsel:
Because we find that Aspen's allegations are without a good faith basis, sanctions against Aspen and its counsel are warranted under both section 57.105 and Rule 9.410.
Aspen Air Conditioning, Inc. v. Safeco Ins. Co. of Am., 170 So. 3d 892, 893-94 (Fla. 3d DCA 2015). And again, the court wrote in the end that "[a]ccordingly, we award a reasonable attorney's fee, including prejudgment interest," to be paid to the insurance company in accordance with the cited Florida Statute and Florida Appellate Rule.
Please Read The Disclaimer. ©2015 by Dennis J. Wall, author of Litigation and Prevention of Insurer Bad Faith (3d ed. Thomson Reuters West in 2 Volumes, with 2015 Supplements), which present many Sections on Attorney's Fees issues, featuring in particular Sections 13:12, 13:13, and 13:14 in Volume 2. All rights reserved.
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