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Can I Get Attorney’s Fees on an Injunction Case in Orlando, Florida?

You cannot get attorney fees on an injunction case based on one party’s need and the other party’s ability to pay, such as you can in a divorce, paternity, or custody case. You cannot get attorney’s fees just because you win the case. However, effective January 2018, you can now obtain 57.105 attorney fees on an injunction case. That is because the Supreme Court made that narrow ruling in Lopez v. Hall, 43 FLW S11, (Jan. 11, 2018).   

What are 57.105 attorney’s fees? 57.105 attorney fees are fees that the court grants against a client and the client’s lawyer for filing or defending baseless claims. A party requests 57.105 fees on the basis and grounds that the other party filed a baseless claim that the party cannot legally prove. It is a claim a party filed which is not supported by material facts or the applicable law. 

How did Lopez v. Hall, 43 FLW S11 (Jan.11, 2018), affect your ability to obtain 57.105 attorney’s fees in an injunction case? Prior to this case; and the Supreme Court’s ruling on January 11, 2018, a party was not allowed to obtain any attorney’s fees on injunction cases. This applied to dating, sexual violence, and repeat violence injunctions. The Supreme Court held in Lopez v. Hall, 43 FLW S11 (Jan. 18, 2018), that a party is allowed under 57.105 to obtain attorney’s fees in cases under Florida Statute 784.046 actions. Therefore, you can now obtain 57.105 fees in dating, sexual violence, and repeat violence injunctions, if Florida Statute 57.105 attorney’s fees are applicable. 

Therefore, you may obtain 57.105 attorney fees on injunctions cases, if you prove the following:

That a party knew or its attorney “knew or should have known” that they pursued baseless claims or defenses. The statute’s plain language makes clear that it supplies a way to sanction a party and its attorney in civil actions for baseless claims or defenses and that it applies to civil proceedings or actions without exception. The court concluded that an action under Florida Statute 784.046 is a civil action.   

57.105 provides a notice requirement of twenty-one (21) days period wherein the other side may withdraw the baseless claim or defense prior to filing the motion. 

If you have more questions regarding a Marital and Family Law matter, you may call Ann Marie Giordano Gilden at Ann Marie Giordano Gilden, P.A. at 407-732-7620 and set an initial consultation. 

This article is for informational purposes only; and it does not form an attorney-client privilege.