Malkani v. Hannah
After the defendants lost an appeal, the trial court ordered one co-defendant to reimburse the other for a share of appellate attorney's fees, even though no party had ever moved for appellate fees under Rule 9.400(b) and no appellate court had authorized a fee award. The Sixth District granted a writ of prohibition, holding the trial court lacked jurisdiction to award or quantify appellate attorney's fees and barring any further proceedings on that issue.
Key facts
- After defendants lost an appeal, the trial court ordered one co-defendant to reimburse the other for a portion of appellate attorney's fees, despite no party having moved for appellate fees under Rule 9.400(b) and no appellate court having authorized the award.
- The co-defendant sought a writ of prohibition to prevent the trial court from awarding or quantifying the appellate attorney's fees.
- +1 more key fact with a free trial
Why it matters
The opinion is a clean, citable statement from the newest DCA that trial courts have no jurisdiction over appellate fees absent a Rule 9.400(b) motion and appellate authorization \of juriction' in a stay order does not… — full analysis with a trial
Read the full opinion, holdings & search — free for 30 days
The full opinion PDF, the rules the court applied, our significance analysis, the background facts, and full-text search across every tracked Florida decision — in your hands.
- Search every tracked Florida decision in seconds
- Save, tag & file the cases that matter into your own library
- Read the full plain-English analysis and holdings
Not ready to sign up? Get the free Friday digest — the week's key Florida decisions by email, no login required.
Florida Court Tracker provides summaries of publicly available court opinions for informational and research purposes only. This is not legal advice and does not create an attorney–client relationship. Always verify holdings against the official opinion.