McShea v. The School Board Of Collier County et al

Filing 9

ORDER denying as moot 3 Defendants' Motion for Section 57.105 Attorney's Fees and Costs. Signed by Magistrate Judge Carol Mirando on 3/22/2014. (BLW)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
FORT MYERS DIVISION
DORENE MCSHEA,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No: 2:14-cv-127-FtM-38CM

THE SCHOOL BOARD OF
COLLIER COUNTY, JOHN
ROBERT GARDNER, YOLANDA
FLORES, KAMELA PATTON,
ROXY MORA, DAVID STUMP, and
DEBORAH TERRY,
Defendants.
ORDER
This matter comes before the Court upon review of Defendants’ Motion for
Section 57.105 Attorney’s Fees and Costs (Doc. 3) filed in state court on August 26,
2013. This matter was removed to this Court by the Defendants from the Twentieth
Judicial Circuit of Florida (“state court”) on March 6, 2014. The instant Motion,
which was pending before the state court at the time of removal, was included with
the Notice of Removal. Doc. 1. No response to the Motion is before the Court.
The Motion requests attorney’s fees and costs be awarded to Defendants
against Plaintiff, Dorene McShea, and her attorney, pursuant to Fla. Stat. § 57.105,
on the grounds that Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint is without merit. 1 The Court
As amended, the statute authorizes “an award of attorney’s fees when a claim, pleading or
other filing-as opposed to the entire case-is without merit.” Section 57.105(1) "add[s] a
separate liability for attorneys who in bad faith fail to exercise their screening function and
prevent the assertion of entirely frivolous cases through counsel.
1

notes that since the filing of the instant Motion, Plaintiff filed a Second Amended
Complaint (Doc. 2) on February 21, 2014, which prompted Defendants to remove this
matter to this Court. Thus, the Court finds that the instant Motion is now moot.
ACCORDINGLY, it is hereby
ORDERED:
Defendants Motion for Section 57.105 Attorney’s Fees and Costs (Doc. 3) is
DENIED as moot due to the filing of Plaintiff’s Second Amended Complaint.
DONE and ORDERED in Fort Myers, Florida on this 22nd day of March, 2014.

Copies:
Counsel of record

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