Finkelstein v. North Broward Hosp. Dist.
| Decision Date | 20 March 1986 |
| Docket Number | No. 66160,66160 |
| Citation | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 112,484 So.2d 1241 |
| Parties | 11 Fla. L. Weekly 112 Nancy FINKELSTEIN, et vir., Petitioners, v. NORTH BROWARD HOSPITAL DISTRICT, etc., et al., Respondents. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Joel D. Eaton and Joel S. Perwin of Podhurst, Orseck, Parks, Josefsberg, Eaton, Meadow and Olin, P.A., and Spence, Payne, Masington, Grossman and Needle, P.A., Miami, for petitioners.
Ellen Mills Gibbs of Gibbs and Zei, P.A., and William D. Ricker, Jr. of Fleming, O'Bryan and Fleming, Ft. Lauderdale, for respondents.
We have for review North Broward Hospital District v. Finkelstein, 456 So.2d 498 (Fla. 4th DCA 1984), which directly and expressly conflicts with Young v. Altenhaus, 448 So.2d 1039 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983), quashed on other grounds 472 So.2d 1152 (Fla.1985). We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.
The Finkelsteins sued defendants for medical malpractice. The jury returned a verdict for the Finkelsteins. A final judgment was rendered against the defendants. However, the final judgment did not dispose of the plaintiffs' claim for attorney's fees or expressly reserve jurisdiction to award the attorney's fees to which the plaintiffs were entitled by virtue of section 768.56, Florida Statutes (1981). The final judgment simply stated that "(c)osts will be taxed at a later date upon appropriate motion."
The defendants did not appeal the final judgment. Three days after the appeal time had expired, the plaintiffs filed a motion seeking recovery of attorney's fees contained in their complaint and not disposed of in the final judgment. The trial court granted the motion. The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the award of attorney's fees finding that the trial court's order was void for lack of jurisdiction because the motion for attorney's fees was filed three days after the final judgment had become final.
The issue before us is whether the trial court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the plaintiffs' motion for "prevailing party" attorney's fees, where the plaintiffs' complaint contained a demand for attorney's fees, where the final judgment did not dispose of or explicitly retain jurisdiction over the claim for attorney's fees, and where the plaintiffs' motion for attorney's fees was filed three days after the final judgment on the main claim became final.
We hold that the trial court properly exercised its jurisdiction when it awarded attorney's fees to the plaintiffs. We therefore quash the decision of the district court and approve of Young v. Altenhaus, 448 So.2d 1039 (Fla. 3d DCA 1983), quashed on other grounds, 472 So.2d 1152 (Fla.1985), which held that a trial court has jurisdiction to entertain a motion for attorney's fees despite the fact that the final judgment on the main claim did not specifically reserve jurisdiction to do so.
Section 768.56(1), Florida Statutes (1981), provides that attorney's fees shall be awarded to the prevailing party in a medical malpractice action. The provisions of section 768.56(1) are mandatory. Defendants concede that plaintiffs would be entitled to attorney's fees if the final judgment on the main claim expressly provided for retention of jurisdiction to award them. We refuse to deprive plaintiffs of their substantive right to attorney's fees merely because the final judgment did not contain the magic words "jurisdiction is reserved."
Defendants cite Oyer v. Boyer, 383 So.2d 717 (Fla. 4th DCA 1980); McCallum v. McCallum, 364 So.2d 97 (Fla. 4th DCA 1978); and Frumkes v. Frumkes, 328 So.2d 34 (Fla. 3d DCA 1976), to support their contention that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to award attorney's fees because the plaintiffs' motion for attorney's fees was filed three days after the time for appeal had expired. However, a significant difference exists between this case, which deals with "prevailing party" attorney's fees, and Oyer, McCallum and Frumkes which deal with attorney's fees in the context of a dissolution of marriage proceeding.
As noted by the United States Supreme Court in White v. New Hampshire Department of Employment Security, 455 U.S. 445, 102 S.Ct. 1162, 71 L.Ed.2d 325 (1982), a post-judgment motion for prevailing party attorney's fees raises a "collateral and independent" claim. Such is the case because the prevailing party simply cannot be determined until the...
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