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Court Knocks Down Legal Fees in Irma Case
An appeals court Wednesday ordered a reduction in legal fees and costs in a case filed against the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. after Hurricane Irma damaged a Miami-Dade County home in 2017.
Residents Joseph Casanas and Nancy Cervantes went to court after Citizens denied coverage for roof damage because it said the amount of the claim was below a hurricane deductible, according to Wednesday’s ruling by a panel of the 3rd District Court of Appeal.
After mediation, a $35,000 judgment was entered in favor of Casanas and Cervantes. A circuit judge then awarded attorney fees of $127,440, litigation costs of $9,360 and an expert-witness fee of $13,800, for a total of $150,600.
Citizens appealed the amount of fees and costs, contending in part that what is known as a “multiplier” should not have been used in calculating the attorney fees.
The appeals court Wednesday agreed with Citizens and ordered a series of changes to lower the fees and costs. State lawmakers in recent years have considered the possibility of making it harder to get contingency-risk multipliers in property-insurance cases.
Insurers have argued that the multipliers unnecessarily drive up costs, but plaintiffs’ attorneys contend multipliers are necessary to ensure that homeowners will get representation in some cases. Wednesday’s ruling said no evidence showed the plaintiffs would have been unable to find another attorney to handle the case without a multiplier.
