January 10, 2025
ShareKelley Kronenberg Wins $100K+ Attorney Fee Appeal in Insurance Case
Kelley Kronenberg Partner and Business Unit Leader, Andrew Labbe, secured a significant appellate victory in the Sixth District Court of Appeal of Florida, representing Universal Property & Casualty Insurance Company in a complex attorney’s fees dispute that establishes important precedent for Florida insurance litigation.
The case originated from a water damage claim where the property owners (the Joiners) assigned their insurance benefits to True Builders for emergency dry-out services and restoration work. The litigation’s path became complicated when True Builders initially filed suit in circuit court, but jurisdictional issues arose regarding the damage amounts not meeting the circuit court’s threshold.
A parallel dispute developed over the scope of the assignment of benefits, leading to additional complexity when the Joiners attempted to rescind the assignment and filed their own separate lawsuit. After clarification of the assignment’s scope through a new agreement, True Builders attempted to transfer their case to county court but faced opposition despite Universal having initially raised the jurisdictional issue.
Following the dismissal of the circuit court case, True Builders filed a new lawsuit in county court, which eventually settled with a stipulation for attorney’s fees under Florida Statute § 627.428(1). The critical legal dispute centered on whether True Builders could recover attorney’s fees from both the dismissed circuit court action and the successful county court case.
Andrew successfully argued that the statute’s plain language, which limits fee recovery to “the suit in which recovery is had,” prevented True Builders from recovering fees incurred in the dismissed circuit court action. The Sixth DCA agreed, rejecting opposing arguments based on the “confession of judgment doctrine” and allegations of unreasonable conduct by the insurer.
The appellate court’s decision represents a significant victory for insurers, as it establishes clear precedent limiting attorney’s fee recovery to only the lawsuit where actual recovery is obtained. This prevents plaintiffs from accumulating fees across multiple dismissed actions and potentially saves insurers substantial costs in similar scenarios. In this case alone, the ruling saved Universal exposure exceeding $100,000.00.
The case also provides important guidance on the limits of the “confession of judgment doctrine” and clarifies that an insurer’s litigation conduct, even if arguably unreasonable, cannot override the plain statutory requirement that fees must be incurred in the successful lawsuit to be recoverable.
This precedential victory demonstrates the value of persistent and strategically sound appellate advocacy in insurance litigation, particularly in cases involving complex procedural histories and statutory interpretation issues.
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