Geico Indemnity Co. v. Perez

Third District Court of Appeal
State of Florida
Opinion filed May 22, 2019.
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Nos. 3D18-208 & 3D18-629
Lower Tribunal No. 14-4053
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GEICO Indemnity Company and GEICO General Insurance
Company,
Appellants,
vs.
Ricardo Perez and Luz Perez, etc.,
Appellees.
Appeals from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Rodney Smith,
Judge.
Shutts & Bowen LLP, and Suzanne Youmans Labrit, B.C.S. (Tampa) and
Amy M. Wessel (Fort Lauderdale), for appellants.
The Powell Law Firm, P.A., and Brett C. Powell; Silverstein, Silverstein &
Silverstein, P.A., for appellees.
Before FERNANDEZ, LINDSEY, and HENDON, JJ.
CONFESSION OF ERROR
HENDON, J.
As the appellees properly concede, the attorney’s fees and costs judgments
at issue in these consolidated appeals must be reversed. In GEICO Indemnity Co.
v. Perez, 260 So. 3d 342 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018), this Court reversed the underlying
final judgment as to uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage and remanded for a
new trial. Therefore, the attorney’s fees and costs judgments that were predicated
on the reversed final judgment cannot stand. See City of Hollywood v. Witt, 939
So. 2d 315, 319 (Fla. 4th DCA 2006) (recognizing that “where an award of
attorney’s fees is dependent upon the judgment obtained, the reversal of the
underlying judgment necessitates the reversal of the fee award”); Marty v. Bainter,
727 So. 2d 1124, 1125 (Fla. 1st DCA 1999) (“Once a final judgment is reversed
and remanded by an appellate court, there can be no prevailing party for purposes
of an award of prevailing party attorney’s fees. Consequently, an award of
attorney’s fees and costs predicated on a reversed or vacated final judgment also
must be reversed”).
Reversed.
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