Attorney Fees as Sanction for Untimely Discovery Responses In a recent JCC case out of Ft. Lauderdale, OJCC 17-025338, the Employer/Carrier failed to comply with a JCC’s order compelling discovery, and as a result the Claimant filed a motion for sanctions under the provisions of Rule 60Q-6.125(4).The Employer/Carrier neglected to respond to the motion for sanctions, and the JCC noted in his order that followed on July 24, 2018 that the Employer/Carrier did not dispute that sanctions in the form of attorney fees were warranted and the dispute at that […]

In Antigoni Stavrakis v. Underwriters at Lloyds London, (27 Fla. L. Weekly D101a M.D. Fla. June 29, 2018), Judge Kovachevich ruled on the amount of attorney’s fees that a plaintiff was entitled to as the prevailing party in a declaratory judgment action. The Plaintiff sought $128,565.00 in attorney’s fees. Judge Kovachevich first addressed Florida law that adopts the federal lodestar approach for determining reasonable attorney’s fees. The Judge discussed the factors to be considered by the Court and noted that the computation necessarily requires the exercise of judgment because there […]