Coates v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
After the Florida Supreme Court approved the Fifth DCA's decision reversing a $16 million punitive damages award as excessive, the plaintiff moved for appellate attorney's fees based on R.J. Reynolds's rejection of her pretrial proposals for settlement. The Court held that section 768.79 is not a prevailing-party statute, so a movant need not prevail in the appellate proceeding to recover fees, and provisionally granted the fee motion subject to the trial court's entitlement and amount determinations.
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