State, Department of Highway Safety & Motor Vehicles v. Trauth

In these three consolidated cases, the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (Department) appeals circuit court appellate division judgments awarding attorney’s fees and costs to the appellees’ counsel. We reverse, finding no legally sufficient statutory, contractual, or other predicate for the imposition of such fees and costs. 1

The underlying cases involved administrative driver’s license suspensions that were based variously on a refusal to submit to a breath test after an arrest for suspected driving under the influence (DUI), in Trauth and Whitehead, and on…