Beckford v. Drogan

On En Banc Consideration of Appellee’s Motion for Attorney’s Fees

The appellee moved for attorney’s fees in this paternity action. We grant the ap-pellee’s motion, and as fashioned below, we recede from Gilbertson v. Boggs, 743 So.2d 123 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999). We now apply the plain meaning of the first sentence of section 742.045, Florida Statutes (2016), which has remained identically worded for more than 25 years.

The statute was and remains unambiguous and, in fact, is crystal clear. This court has neither the function nor prerogative to speculate on—or engage in—construction of a statute…