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Hyatt Reg. Grand Cypress v. Williams

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District
Jul 25, 1994
639 So. 2d 1119 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1994)

Opinion

No. 93-674.

July 25, 1994.

Appeal from the Judge of Compensation Claims, William M. Wieland.

Scot G. Nimmo of Boehm, Brown, Rigdon, Seacrest Fischer, P.A., Ocala, for appellants.

C. Thomas Ferrara of C. Thomas Ferrara, P.A., Altamonte Springs, for appellee.


The employer/servicing agent appeal a workers' compensation order awarding payment of the claimant's attorney's fee. We conclude that the amount awarded is not excessive, except insofar as it encompasses time spent establishing the amount of the fee. Such time, expended here after entry of the merits order in which fee entitlement was established, has been excluded from the fee predicate since the supreme court's ruling in Crittenden Orange Blossom Fruit v. Stone, 514 So.2d 351 (Fla. 1987). See, e.g., Regal Wood Products v. Baschansci, 603 So.2d 551 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992); Dobbs v. Suncoast Acoustics, 590 So.2d 7 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991). Even if these additional hours were necessitated by the employer/servicing agent's resistance, so that the claimant's attorney had to spend more time in proving the hours expended in obtaining the merits award, the fee predicate may not encompass this additional time as it ultimately pertains only to the amount of the fee. We therefore affirm the fee award except as to the inclusion of time expended after the merits award and entitlement ruling, and reverse as to this aspect of the award. We remand for a fee award at the hourly rate established in the appealed order, but without inclusion of the prohibited hours.

WEBSTER and LAWRENCE, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

Hyatt Reg. Grand Cypress v. Williams

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District
Jul 25, 1994
639 So. 2d 1119 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1994)
Case details for

Hyatt Reg. Grand Cypress v. Williams

Case Details

Full title:HYATT REGENCY GRAND CYPRESS AND SCOTT WETZEL SERVICES, APPELLANTS, v…

Court:District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District

Date published: Jul 25, 1994

Citations

639 So. 2d 1119 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1994)