Abbey Adams Logo

Defending Liability, Workers' Compensation, Employment Claims and Appeals Since 1982

  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Phone
  • Home
  • Locations
    • Where We Practice in Florida
    • Where We Practice In Illinois
  • Practices
  • Attorneys
    • David J. Abbey
    • Jeffrey M. Adams
    • Bruce D. Burk
    • Robert P. Byelick
    • Jaime Eagan
    • Jennifer J. Kennedy
    • John D. Kiernan (1947-2016)
    • V. Joseph Mueller
    • Steven A. Ochsner
    • Alexis C. Upton
  • Blog
  • Links
  • Contact Us

April 5, 2019 by Jennifer Kennedy

Civil procedure — Request for admissions — Attorney’s fees — Torts — Trial court erred in awarding attorney’s fees as sanction for plaintiff’s failure to admit truth of requests for admission made pursuant to rule 1.370 where the requests went to ultimate issues of plaintiff’s negligence rather than relevant facts

44 Fla. L. Weekly D829b

Civil procedure — Request for admissions — Attorney’s fees — Torts — Trial court erred in awarding attorney’s fees as sanction for plaintiff’s failure to admit truth of requests for admission made pursuant to rule 1.370 where the requests went to ultimate issues of plaintiff’s negligence rather than relevant facts

TAMMY SENTZ F/K/A TAMMY WILLIAMS AND GEICO GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellants, v. RICHARD TRACY, Appellee. 5th District. Case No. 5D18-964. March 29, 2019. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Marion County, Lisa Herndon, Judge. Counsel: Sharon C. Degnan, of Kubicki Draper, Orlando, for Appellants. Robert Gregory King, of King Law Firm, Ocala, for Appellee.

(PER CURIAM.) Appellants, Tammy Sentz f/k/a Tammy Williams and Geico General Insurance Company, appeal a final judgment awarding Appellee, Richard Tracy, attorney’s fees pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.380(c) in this motor vehicle accident case. Appellants argue that the trial court erred in awarding fees for denying Appellee’s requests for admission because the requests went to issues for which there was a bona fide dispute. We agree and reverse.

At trial, the parties offered directly conflicting testimony concerning who was at fault for the accident that occurred after dark. Essentially, Sentz testified that she rear-ended Appellee’s boat trailer because he was traveling under the speed limit and his brake lights were not operational, whereas Appellee testified that he was traveling the speed limit and his brake lights were working.

Leading up to trial, Appellee sent Sentz several requests for admission that asked her to broadly concede negligence, causation, and damages. Specifically, the requests asked Sentz to admit, inter alia, that she “did so negligently and carelessly maintain, operate and control the motor vehicle so that it collided with the vehicle operated by [Appellee].” Not surprisingly given the position Sentz would later take at trial, she denied the requests.

Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.380(c) authorizes the trial court to award expenses, including attorney’s fees, against a party that fails to admit the truth of a request for admission made pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.370. “The purpose of requests for admissions is to define and limit the issues in controversy between the parties, thus reducing the expense and delay that might otherwise be unnecessarily involved in the trial, and thereby facilitating proof at trial.” Winn Dixie Stores, Inc. v. Gerringer, 563 So. 2d 814, 816 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990) (footnote omitted). “This is accomplished by compelling admissions to those matters over which there is no good faith controversy.” Id. Notably, there is “an important distinction between requests for admission that would resolve the ultimate issues in the case if admitted, and requests for admission that simply go to establishing a relevant fact in the case.” Haas Automation, Inc. v. Fox, 243 So. 3d 1017, 1028 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018) (citation omitted).

In this case, Appellee’s requests for admission went to the ultimate issues in the case rather than relevant facts. Moreover, the issues were hotly contested at trial as evidenced by the contradictory testimony of Sentz and Appellee. In our view, awarding attorney’s fees under these circumstances would render rule 1.380(c) a prevailing party fee provision rather than an exception to the rule that the individual parties bear their own fees. See Arena Parking, Inc. v. Lon Worth Crow Ins. Agency, 768 So. 2d 1107, 1113 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000); see also R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Ward, 238 So. 3d 408, 410 (Fla. 1st DCA 2018) (“[R]ule 1.380(c) serves as a vehicle to impose sanctions for unjustified denials, not as a substantive fee-shifting provision.”).

REVERSED and REMANDED. (COHEN, EISNAUGLE and SASSO, JJ., concur.)

* * *

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Primary Sidebar

Blog Archives

  • January 2021
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013

Footer

The materials available at this website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your attorney to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. Use of and access to this Website or any of the e-mail links contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship between Abbey, Adams, Byelick & Mueller, L.L.P. and the user or browser. The opinions expressed at or through this site are the opinions of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of the firm or any individual attorney. opens in a new windowAbbey, Adams, Byelick, & Mueller XML Sitemap Index

Copyright © 2021 · Abbey Adams Byelick & Mueller, LLP · All Rights Reserved · Defending Liability, Workers' Compensation, Employment Claims and Appeals Since 1982