Florida courts have decided against awarding fees in cases where both monetary and non-monetary relief is sought, and an offer of judgment is made for all remedies.

In a case of first impression, MIPA LAW won entitlement to attorney’s fees under Florida’s offer of judgment statute in an action brought against its client for $23 million in monetary claims and injunctive relief.

Florida courts have generally decided against awarding fees in cases where both monetary and non-monetary relief is sought, and an offer of judgment is made for all remedies. But neither the Third District Court of Appeals nor the Florida Supreme Court has yet decided whether an award of statutory fees can be made when the offer made is specific to monetary damages only. After winning summary judgment on all counts for its client, MPA LAW obtained a ruling on January 11, 2024, granting its client attorney’s fees under Section 768.79, where a statutory offer of judgment had been served limited only to the monetary claims of the complaint. MPA LAW successfully argued that, while the procedural vehicle used in the complaint included an injunctive relief claim, the “true relief” sought by the plaintiff was monetary. The Court also concurred with MPA LAW that the plaintiff should not be allowed to avoid the fee-shifting consequences of rejecting a valid offer of judgment by merely adding an equitable relief. count. The case is Diego R. Dewar v. Gaius International, LLC, Case No. 2022-002153-CA-01, in the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Miami-Dade County, Florida.

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