Levy v. Levy
Resolving a conflict between the Third District's Levy decision and the Fourth District's Sacket decision, the Florida Supreme Court held that section 57.105(7) applies only to unilateral attorney's fee provisions — those conferring a fee right on one contracting party to the exclusion of the other. Because the property settlement agreement's fee clause entitled "either party" who proved a violation to fees, it was already reciprocal and the statute did not operate to give the prevailing defending party a fee right the contract itself did not confer. The Court quashed Levy, approved the result in Sacket, and disapproved Holiday Square and CalAtlantic to the extent inconsistent.
Key facts
- Levy and Levy were parties to a property settlement agreement containing an attorney's fee clause that entitled 'either party' who proved the other's violation of the agreement to recover fees.
- The trial court awarded attorney's fees to the defending party under section 57.105(7), and the Third District affirmed, holding that the statute could extend fee rights to a successfully defending party even without proof of a contract violation.
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Why it matters
This is the controlling statewide authority on the threshold requirement for invoking section 57.105(7), a statute routinely raised in contract, construction, insurance, and real property fee litigation. Counsel… — full analysis with a trial
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