Serra v. Brown

Annotate this Case
Download PDF
NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO FILE REHEARING MOTION AND, IF FILED, DETERMINED IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA SECOND DISTRICT JOSEPH SERRA, MICHELLE SERRA, MICHAEL SERRA, and JOHN A. SHAHAN, Appellants, v. MARY BROWN, Appellee. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Case No. 2D15-593 Opinion filed June 3, 2016. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Pasco County; William H. Burgess, III, Judge. John A. Shahan, Tarpon Springs, for Appellants. Knute J. Nathe of McClain, Alfonso & Meeker, P.A., Dade City, for Appellee. LaROSE, Judge. Joseph Serra, Michelle Serra, Michael Serra, and their counsel, John Shahan, appeal the trial court's final order awarding attorney's fees to Mary Brown pursuant to section 57.105(1), Florida Statutes (2014). The order on appeal contains no findings required under section 57.105 to support the award. Consequently, we must reverse. See Dep't of Revenue v. Marchines, 974 So. 2d 1085, 1088 (Fla. 2d DCA 2007); Goldberg v. Watts, 864 So. 2d 59, 60 (Fla. 2d DCA 2003); Mason v. Highlands Cty. Comm'rs, 817 So. 2d 922, 923 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002). We render no view as to the underlying merits of the fee award. We only hold that the record before us and the order on appeal are insufficient to support imposition of a section 57.105 sanction. We therefore reverse the order and remand with directions for the trial court to make appropriate findings of fact to justify the award of attorney’s fees. Reversed and remanded with directions. NORTHCUTT and KELLY, JJ., Concur. -2-

Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.