Hit with Attorney fees for the opposing side? 100% guaranteed to happen?

Johnnydanger

New Member
Jurisdiction
Florida
Is it true that in Florida, you can get hit for attorney fees for the opposing side even if your filed the lawsuit under good faith?
In the case that you lose the case or even if you win the case but its not by a substantial enough margin of the settlement offer?
 
It depends on several things, generally if you fail to prevail, you could be on the hook for someones attorney's bill.

YMMV...
 
Is it true that in Florida, you can get hit for attorney fees for the opposing side even if your filed the lawsuit under good faith?
In the case that you lose the case or even if you win the case but its not by a substantial enough margin of the settlement offer?

The general rule in litigation in the U.S. is that each side pays its own legal fees. But like most general rules, this one has a number of exceptions where the loser might end up paying the legal bills of the winner. Some examples of that are:
  • if you file a frivolous claim you might get hit with fees as a sanction;
  • if you have a contract dispute with the other party and the contract says the loser pays the winner's legal fees (a few states, notably Texas, flip the rule here for contracts and provided the loser pays the winner's legal fees unless the contract says otherwise);
  • often in consumer rights cases the consumer may win legal fees if the consumer wins;
  • certain other types of claims may allow a party to get legal fees if they win, including employment discrimination cases, civil rights claims, wage claims against employers, etc; and
  • some divorce/child support cases will have one spouse/parent paying the legal fees of the other when there is a significant imbalance of resources between the two parties.
There are more, of course, but hopefully you get the idea — the details of the claim at issue matter a lot as to whether the loser might have to pay the legal fees of the winner.
 
Is it true that in Florida, you can get hit for attorney fees for the opposing side even if your filed the lawsuit under good faith?

Yes, you can (i.e., it is possible under the right circumstances) in Florida and in every other state and U.S. jurisdiction.

In the case that you lose the case or even if you win the case but its not by a substantial enough margin of the settlement offer?

This isn't really a coherent sentence, but it sounds like you're talking about what's commonly referred to as an "offer of compromise." I suggest you read Rule 1.442 of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure (about 40% of the way down the page in the linked document). If you have specific questions once you've read it, please feel free to ask.
 
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