Question on Attorney's Fees Awards

[Lautermilch]

What is the name of your state? A apartment building was shut down improperly (no notification) so lawsuit was filed with 13 named plaintiffs. Five years passes and we lose in circuit court so case goes to appellate court and the decision was upheld and a motion for defendants attorney's fees was granted by the appellate court.

My question is are the named plaintiffs going to have to split the bill and if so how is the bill presented to them? If they cannot pay does it become a collection/judgement? The thought of losing and owing any money was never discussed as a possibility when this all started.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

What state are you in?

What did you initially sue for?

What bill?

 

[Just Blue]

What state are you in?

What did you initially sue for?

What bill?

According to the thread down the street OP is in FL.

 

[Lautermilch]

this was in Florida.
the suit was over Florida deceptive and unfair trade practices act. the building owners knew the building would be closed and told tenants it would not be.
The 'bill' I am referring to is the defendant attorney fees which were awarded in the appellate court decision.

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state? A apartment building was shut down improperly (no notification) so lawsuit was filed with 13 named plaintiffs. Five years passes and we lose in circuit court so case goes to appellate court and the decision was upheld and a motion for defendants attorney's fees was granted by the appellate court.

My question is are the named plaintiffs going to have to split the bill and if so how is the bill presented to them? If they cannot pay does it become a collection/judgement? The thought of losing and owing any money was never discussed as a possibility when this all started.

On another forum, the OP isn't even a part of this case any more.

 

[Just Blue]

this was in Florida.
the suit was over Florida deceptive and unfair trade practices act. the building owners knew the building would be closed and told tenants it would not be.
The 'bill' I am referring to is the defendant attorney fees which were awarded in the appellate court decision.

That is a question the legally involved parties should ask their attorney.

 

[Litigator22]

The plaintiff/appellants are jointly and severally liable. And the award is enforceable as any money judgment.

 

[Lautermilch]

That is a question the legally involved parties should ask their attorney.

I hold a unique position. I was with the building and joined the tenants with their fight. I have been the main point of contact for them for updates.on the case. so when I saw the appellate court ruling that had the motion for legal fees I wanted to find out what that meant.

 

[LdiJ]

I hold a unique position. I was with the building and joined the tenants with their fight. I have been the main point of contact for them for updates.on the case. so when I saw the appellate court ruling that had the motion for legal fees I wanted to find out what that meant.

What do you mean by "with the building"?

 

[quincy]

I hold a unique position. I was with the building and joined the tenants with their fight. I have been the main point of contact for them for updates.on the case. so when I saw the appellate court ruling that had the motion for legal fees I wanted to find out what that meant.

You said, "we" lost. Were you one of the ones sued?

 

[Lautermilch]

You said, "we" lost. Were you one of the ones sued?

I was referenced as an 'agent of the building' but was also a plaintiff in one of the counts.

 

[quincy]

I was referenced as an 'agent of the building' but was also a plaintiff in one of the counts.

That is odd.

 

[Lautermilch]

That is odd.

You could call me a 'turncoat'. We told the tenants that the building had 3-5 years before closing. We rented the last unit a few weeks before financing was approved to tear the building down and replace it with a large project. I was told in private we would have one more year at least. so after the dust settled I joined the lawsuit(s). thankfully I was not on Count III which was Florida Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices as that group got hit with legal fees.

 

[Lautermilch]

All the previous posts were about Count III of our lawsuit and I was never on it.
So as for counts 1 & 2. In the summer of 2016 the defendant filed 'Offer of Judgment' notices. I count 22 of them on the county website with the name of each plaintiff.
I found out that in Florida if someone files an 'Offer of Judgment' and you reject it they can recover legal fees depending on the case outcome.
22 offers were filed but there were a lot of plaintiffs on counts 1 & 2. Around 40.
I did read that the 'Offer of Judgement' was usually made via registered mail. Many of the plaintiffs in my case are skipping around trying to keep a roof over their head so they would not be contacted.
My question is a rejected registered mail receipt proof they were 'served' as the word used by the Florida Statues?
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0768/Sections/0768.79.htmlor does 'served' mean as in a process server coming to find you?

 

[quincy]

All the previous posts were about Count III of our lawsuit and I was never on it.
So as for counts 1 & 2. In the summer of 2016 the defendant filed 'Offer of Judgment' notices. I count 22 of them on the county website with the name of each plaintiff.
I found out that in Florida if someone files an 'Offer of Judgment' and you reject it they can recover legal fees depending on the case outcome.
22 offers were filed but there were a lot of plaintiffs on counts 1 & 2. Around 40.
I did read that the 'Offer of Judgement' was usually made via registered mail. Many of the plaintiffs in my case are skipping around trying to keep a roof over their head so they would not be contacted.
My question is a rejected registered mail receipt proof they were 'served' as the word used by the Florida Statues?
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0768/Sections/0768.79.htmlor does 'served' mean as in a process server coming to find you?

If no one signs for the registered mail, rejection of the mail is not proof of service.