Planas & Franye Engineers, Inc. v. Padilla

The plaintiff in a mechanic’s lien foreclosure brings this appeal from an order allowing an attorney’s fee for the defendant after plaintiff’s failure to establish a lien. The basis for an attorney’s fee in such instances is Fla.Stat. § 713.29. Plaintiff concedes that it is liable for a reasonable fee but urges that inasmuch as the mechanic’s lien foreclosure aspect of the litigation was dismissed with prejudice prior to trial, the trial court erred as to the amount of the fee allowed. The trial judge did not have the benefit of the opinion in Jackson v. Hatch, Fla.App.1974, 288 So.2d 564,…