Litigating the amount of attorneys' fees.
Florida Bar Journal › Vol. 73 Nbr. 9, October 1999
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Summary
Florida
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Litigating the amount of attorneys' fees.
A Proposal for Reform
One of the most contentious battles that accompanies litigation is the determination of the amount of attorneys' fees to be awarded to a prevailing party who has proven entitlement to fees.(1) Prevailing parties are generally authorized to recover fees expended for successfully litigating the entitlement issue. Attorneys' fees incurred to establish the amount of fees, however, generally are not recoverable.(2) Beyond the sometimes difficult issue of separating fees incurred for proving "entitlement to" versus the "amount of" attorneys' fees,(3) the determination of the amount of fees--particularly in large and protracted cases--can easily become a "mini-trial" whose expense rapidly escalates and imposes additional burdens on the parties and an already strained judiciary. For this reason, methods for avoiding such litigation should be considered. This article proposes a simple procedural tool to encourage resolution of disputes over the amount of attorneys' fees: the offer of judgment. The premise of the propos...See the full content of this document
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