Gottlieb & Gottlieb, P.A. v. Crants

Filing 112

ORDER: Judge Pizzo's Report and Recommendation (Doc. # 111 ) is ACCEPTED and ADOPTED. Gottlieb & Gottlieb's motion for attorney's fees and costs (Doc. # 105 ) is GRANTED insofar as the Court awards Gottlieb & Gottlieb $178,6 89 in attorney's fees and $2,759.05 in costs. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment in favor of Plaintiff Gottlieb & Gottlieb, P.A. and against Defendant Doctor R. Crants in the amount of $181,448.05 (comprised of $178,689 in attorney's fees and $2,759.05 in costs), for which sum let execution issue. This action was previously closed and it shall remain closed. Signed by Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington on 4/25/2017. (DRW)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
TAMPA DIVISION
GOTTLIEB & GOTTLIEB, P.A.,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 8:14-cv-895-T-33MAP

DOCTOR R. CRANTS,
Defendant.
______________________________/
ORDER
This matter comes before the Court upon consideration of
United States Magistrate Judge Mark A. Pizzo’s Report and
Recommendation (Doc. # 111), entered on April 10, 2017. The
time for filing objections has passed and none have been
filed.

After

review,

the

Court

adopts

the

Report

and

Recommendation.
Discussion
This action stems from Defendant Doctor R. Crants’s
failure to pay twenty promissory notes. (Doc. # 2). After
approximately twenty months of litigation, the Court granted
Gottlieb & Gottlieb’s motion for summary judgment. (Doc. #
61). Judgment was entered on December 7, 2015. (Doc. # 64).
Thereafter, both parties moved to amend the judgment. (Doc.
# 65, 71). The Court granted Gottlieb & Gottlieb’s motion to

amend, but denied Crants’s motion. (Doc. # 81). An amended
judgment was entered on January 25, 2016, which now included
a sum certain in prejudgment interest. (Doc. # 82).
Crants then appealed to the Eleventh Circuit. (Doc. #
83). The appeal was dismissed for want of prosecution but,
upon Crants’s motion, the dismissal was set aside. (Doc. #
90). On August 16, 2016, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed this
Court’s

Order

granting

Gottlieb

&

Gottlieb’s

motion

for

summary judgment and the amended judgment. (Doc. # 97). The
Eleventh Circuit issued its mandate on September 9, 2016.
(Doc. # 98).
Gottlieb & Gottlieb again moved for attorney’s fees and
costs. (Doc. # 104). That motion was referred to Judge Pizzo
for a report and recommendation. Thereafter, on January 9,
2017, the Supreme Court of the United States denied Crants’s
petition for writ of certiorari. (Doc. # 109). Crants filed
his response in opposition to Gottlieb & Gottlieb’s motion
for attorney’s fees and costs on January 31, 2017. (Doc. #
110). After briefing was completed, Judge Pizzo entered the
instant Report and Recommendation. (Doc. # 111). Judge Pizzo
recommends

Gottlieb

&

Gottlieb

be

awarded

$178,689

in

attorney’s fees and $2,759.05 in costs. (Id.). Neither party

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objected to the Report and Recommendation, and the time for
doing so has passed.
After conducting a careful and complete review of the
findings and recommendations, a district judge may accept,
reject

or

modify

Recommendation.

the

28

magistrate

U.S.C.

§

judge’s

636(b)(1);

Report

and

Williams

v.

Wainwright, 681 F.2d 732 (11th Cir. 1982). In the absence of
specific objections, there is no requirement that a district
judge review factual findings de novo, Garvey v. Vaughn, 993
F.2d 776, 779 n.9 (11th Cir. 1993), and the court may accept,
reject or modify, in whole or in part, the findings and
recommendations.

28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1)(C). The district

judge reviews legal conclusions de novo, even in the absence
of an objection. See Cooper-Houston v. S. Ry. Co., 37 F.3d
603, 604 (11th Cir. 1994); Castro Bobadilla v. Reno, 826 F.
Supp. 1428, 1431-32 (S.D. Fla. 1993), aff’d, 28 F.3d 116 (11th
Cir. 1994) (Table).
The Court has conducted a careful and complete review of
the

findings,

conclusions,

and

recommendations,

and

has

reviewed matters of law de novo. The Court agrees with Judge
Pizzo’s

recommendation

and

adopts

the

same.

Gottlieb

&

Gottlieb’s motion for attorney’s fees and costs is granted

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insofar as the Court awards Gottlieb & Gottlieb $178,689 in
attorney’s fees and $2,759.05 in costs.
Accordingly, it is now
ORDERED, ADJUDGED, and DECREED:
(1)

Judge Pizzo’s Report and Recommendation (Doc. # 111) is
ACCEPTED and ADOPTED.

(2)

Gottlieb & Gottlieb’s motion for attorney’s fees and
costs (Doc. # 105) is GRANTED insofar as the Court awards
Gottlieb & Gottlieb $178,689 in attorney’s fees and
$2,759.05 in costs.

(3)

The Clerk is directed to enter judgment in favor of
Plaintiff

Gottlieb

&

Gottlieb,

P.A.

and

against

Defendant Doctor R. Crants in the amount of $181,448.05
(comprised of $178,689 in attorney’s fees and $2,759.05
in costs), for which sum let execution issue.
(4)

This action was previously closed and it shall remain
closed.
DONE and ORDERED in Chambers in Tampa, Florida, this

25th day of April, 2017.

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