Appeal/Prevailing Party: Nonsuit Reversals On Appeal Meant No One Got Appellate Fees For Prevailing

 

. . . At Least For Now, Depends On What Happens On Remand.

     Okay, all of our readers. To be a prevailing party, you have to wait until the “end game.” That means that partial reversals on appeal, especially as to different parties, well may await a further determination in a retrial before a prevailing party can be declared with finality.

     Citrus El Dorado LLC v. The Citrus Course Homeowners Assn., Case No. G052227 (4^th Dist., Div. 3 Mar. 7, 2016) (unpublished) well illustrates the general observation we have just made.

     In this one, both sides in an HOA dispute won some reversals of court nonsuit motions on appeal. Both sides argued that their particular litigant/client should be awarded attorney’s fees under a contractual fees clause in an Annexation Agreement. Although the appellate court acknowledged it had authority to award fees to the prevailing party, the problem was elementary in nature: each party prevailed somewhat on appeal, such that the ultimate prevailing party designation could not be determined until the litigation was resolved on remand.

     Justice Fybel authored the 3-0 opinion on behalf of the 4/3 DCA.