Chapter 16-6 Wrongful Act Doctrine

• Jurisdiction: Florida

16-6 Wrongful Act Doctrine

16-6:1 The Doctrine

Another narrow exception to the American Rule on recovery of attorney's fees is referred to as the "wrongful act doctrine," where the wrongful act of a party has caused the claimant to be in litigation with third parties, causing the claimant to incur attorney's fees to defend itself.¹²⁸ This doctrine would likely have limited applicability to mortgage foreclosure actions, and some courts have questioned its viability in Florida, as the Florida Supreme Court has apparently never recognized it.¹²⁹ However, there are a number of lower Florida courts that have held that the doctrine is "well established," and have awarded fees to...