Southern-Owners Insurance Company v. MAC Contractors of Florida, LLC et al

Filing 172

ORDER terminating 158 Motion for Attorney Fees; terminating 159 Motion for Supplemental Relief; granting 169 Motion to defer rulings pending appeal. The motions are terminated until due to be reopened. Signed by Judge John E. Steele on 6/21/2023. (RKR)

Case 2:18-cv-00021-JES-KCD Document 172 Filed 06/21/23 Page 1 of 3 PageID 4968

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
FORT MYERS DIVISION
SOUTHERN-OWNERS
COMPANY,

INSURANCE

Plaintiff,
v.

Case No:

2:18-cv-21-JES-KCD

MAC CONTRACTORS OF FLORIDA,
LLC,
PAUL
S.
DOPPELT,
Trustee of Paul S. Doppelt
Revocable
Trust
dated
12/08/90, and DEBORAH A.
DOPPELT, Trustee of Deborah
A. Doppelt Revocable Trust
dated 12/08/90,
Defendants.
OPINION AND ORDER
This matter comes before the Court on plaintiff's Motion to
Defer Rulings on MAC Contractors/KJIMS' Pending Motions (Doc.
#169) filed on April 27, 2023.

Defendant filed a Motion in

Opposition (Doc. #170) on May 2, 2023.
Specifically, plaintiff seeks to defer consideration of the
Motion for Entitlement to Attorneys’ Fees and Costs, Renewed
Application for Appellate Attorneys’ Fees, and Response to Order
Dated March 30, 2023 (Doc. #158) and Motion for Supplemental Relief
(Doc. #159) while an appeal remains pending.

In response, MAC

Contractors indicates that it agrees to the stay of its Motion for
Supplemental

Relief

pending

appeal.

Further,

defendant

also

Case 2:18-cv-00021-JES-KCD Document 172 Filed 06/21/23 Page 2 of 3 PageID 4969

agreed to a stay of the first motion “upon the condition that
Southern-Owners stipulate to entitlement as to a certain date (it
was suggested the date of the order on the motion for summary
judgment

or

entitlement

a

date

would

be

prejudgment interest.

after

the

decided)”

order
for

as

to

when

purposes

(Doc. #170, p. 2.)

of

we

thought

calculating

Defendant argues that,

under Florida law, “prejudgment interest begins to accrue on ‘the
date the entitlement to attorney fees [and] is fixed through
agreement, arbitration award, or court determination.’ Butler v.
Yusem, 3 So. 3d 1185, 1186 (Fla. 2009) (citing Quality Eng'd
Installation, Inc. v. Higley S. Inc., 670 So. 2d 929, 930–31 (Fla.
1996).”
“A

(Id., p. 6.)
prevailing

party

is

entitled,

under

Florida

law,

to

prejudgment interest. [] Prejudgment interest is, by definition,
interest that accrues until judgment is rendered.”

Bel-Bel Int'l

Corp. v. Cmty. Bank of Homestead, 162 F.3d 1101, 1110 (11th Cir.
1998).

See also Argonaut Ins. Co. v. May Plumbing Co., 474 So.

2d 212, 214 (Fla. 1985) (“Florida has adopted the position that
prejudgment

interest

is

merely

another

element

of

pecuniary

damages.”).

“[P]rejudgment interest accrues until the date of the

judgment after which postjudgment interest begins to accrue.”

SEB

S.A. v. Sunbeam Corp., 476 F.3d 1317, 1321 (11th Cir. 2007).

The

prejudgment interest is not dependent on the filing of the motion
for entitlement or when the decision is rendered as to entitlement.

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Case 2:18-cv-00021-JES-KCD Document 172 Filed 06/21/23 Page 3 of 3 PageID 4970

“Florida law does not allow for a gap in the award of prejudgment
and postjudgment interest.”

SEB S.A., 476 F.3d at 1320 (citing

Bel-Bel Int’l Corp. at 1110-11).

The Court will defer the decision

on both motions until the appeal is resolved and finds no prejudice
to defendant.
Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED:
Plaintiff's Motion to Defer Rulings on KJIMS' Pending Motions
(Doc. #169) is GRANTED.

The Court will defer ruling on the Motion

for Entitlement to Attorneys’ Fees and Costs, Renewed Application
for Appellate Attorneys’ Fees, and Response to Order Dated March
30, 2023 (Doc. #158) and Motion for Supplemental Relief (Doc. #159)
pending appeal.

The Clerk shall terminate these motions until

such time as the appeal is resolved and the motions may be
reopened.
DONE and ORDERED at Fort Myers, Florida, this
of June 2023.

Copies:
Counsel of Record

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