State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Best Medical Treatments, Inc.
In a PIP suit brought by a medical provider as assignee, the trial court entered a fee award payable directly to the plaintiff's attorney rather than to the plaintiff. The Third District reversed, holding that section 627.428(1) requires attorney's fees to be adjudged in favor of the insured or beneficiary ot not that a judgment cannot run in favor of non-party counsel.
Key facts
- State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, an insurer, was sued by Best Medical Treatments, Inc., a medical provider asserting PIP benefits as assignee of the insured.
- The trial court entered a judgment awarding attorney's fees payable directly to the plaintiff's attorney rather than to the plaintiff party.
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Why it matters
Practitioners handling PIP and other first-party insurance fee litigation should ensure fee judgments are entered in favor of the named party rather than counsel, or risk reversal even where the amount is stipulated… — full analysis with a trial
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