[DOWNLOAD] "Standard Guaranty Insurance Co. v. Brenda L. Quanstrom" by Supreme Court of Florida ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Standard Guaranty Insurance Co. v. Brenda L. Quanstrom
- Author : Supreme Court of Florida
- Release Date : January 11, 1990
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 77 KB
Description
We have for review Quanstrom v. Standard Guaranty Insurance Co., 519 So.2d 1135 (Fla. 5th DCA 1988), in which the Fifth District Court of Appeal acknowledged conflict with the Third District Court of Appeals decision in Travelers Indemnity Co. v. Sotolongo, 513 So.2d 1384 (Fla. 3d DCA 1987). We agree that there is conflict.{/Cite} The question in this cause concerns the setting of a reasonable attorneys fee under the lodestar approach and requires a determination of whether a contingency fee multiplier must be utilized when determining the appropriate attorneys fee to be paid to a prevailing insured pursuant to section 627.428, Florida Statutes (1987).{/Cite} We find it necessary to reexamine our decision in Florida Patients Compensation Fund v. Rowe, 472 So.2d 1145 (Fla. 1985), in view of the recent decisions by the United States Supreme Court in Blanchard v. Bergeron, 489 U.S. 87, 109 S. Ct. 939, 103 L. Ed. 2d 67 (1989), and Pennsylvania v. Delaware Valley Citizens Council for Clean Air, 483 U.S. 711, 97 L. Ed. 2d 585, 107 S. Ct. 3078 (1987), which effectively eliminated the use of contingency fee multipliers in computing fees under the lodestar approach. Further, we find it necessary to clarify our opinion in Rowe concerning its application under the various types of fee-authorizing statutes. We find that this cause should be remanded to the trial court for consideration of whether a multiplier is applicable. We disapprove the district courts decision but approve the result.