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COLON v. << (2021)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.2021-12-03No. Case No. 5D20-1130

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Opinion

Jorge and Aurea Colon appeal the trial courts final judgment awarding attorneys fees and costs, arguing that the court, without justification, reduced the number of hours of attorney fee time sought by the Colons’ counsel. Stillwater Property and Casualty Insurance Company (“Stillwater”) cross-appeals the same final judgment, challenging the courts finding of a reasonable hourly rate for the Colons’ attorney, the imposition of a fee multiplier, and the calculation of prejudgment interest. We find no reversible error in any of the issues raised by the Colons or Stillwater, with the exception of the computation of prejudgment interest, and remand solely for the purpose of correcting that amount. On remand the court should apply the per diem interest rate as of the date of entitlement rather than using the date of the final judgment. See Quality Engineered Installation, Inc. v. Higley S., Inc., 670 So. 2d 929 (Fla. 1996). In all other respects, we affirm.

AFFIRMED in part; REVERSED in part and REMANDED with instructions.

HARRIS, J.

LAMBERT, C.J. and SASSO, J., concur.