The fee faucet from which so many plaintiff attorneys drink has been reduced to a potential trickle by the appellate division of Miami-Dade County circuit court. Before attorneys sue auto insurance companies over Personal Injury Protection (PIP) claims, they must make clear beforehand what their client wants, said the court in a July 1, 2010, opinion authored by Judge Mark King Leban.
The court showed excellent common and financial sense. There is no reason that an attorney should pocket $13,000 when suing for two bucks.
In handing down a unanimous decision, the court said the only motivation for the lawsuit was attorney fees. The court told the county court judge to look at the lawsuit again, deny the plaintiff attorney her fees, and dismiss the complaint.
The case began after a United Automobile Insurance Co. (UAIC) policyholder was injured in a car accident in 2004. Fourteen months after UAIC paid her medical bills, her attorney, Maria Corredor, sent a letter saying that additional money was owed, but did not state how much. Four months later Corredor filed suit, and only then did she explain that her client was seeking $2.53 in alleged overdue interest.
Corredor is a regular player in the plaintiff PIP bar. When UAIC surveyed PIP plaintiff attorneys who sought the highest legal fees, the company found that she charged and was regularly awarded $400 an hour. She had every incentive to sue rather than write UAIC and ask for the tiny amount owed.
Without a trial, Miami-Dade county court judge Robin Faber awarded the plaintiff a total of $2.53 and gave Corredor $13,370.25 in fees and costs, plus interest.
The amounts made no sense – legally or economically – so UAIC appealed. Ridiculous fee awards like this one just encourage more plaintiff attorneys to bring frivolous suits in hopes of a big payday.
A panel of three Miami-Dade circuit judges acting in their appellate capacity agreed with UAIC in a 15-page opinion. Had the plaintiff and her lawyer sent a letter specifying exactly how much was owed, “no lawsuit would have been filed, nor any judgment entered for such a paltry amount, nor any award for attorney’s fees for such a conscience-of-the-court shockingly large amount,” the court wrote in its opinion.
The judges then absolved UAIC of any wrongdoing.
“In the case at bar, there was no wrongful conduct by United,” they wrote in their opinion. The company paid the medical providers 14 months before Corredor sent her vague letter demanding more money. And her client waited 18 months after the medical providers cashed their checks to sue.
The court also said that county courtrooms should not entertain lawsuits for trivial dollar amounts. The court cited a Florida Supreme Court decision from 1858 in which a case was dismissed because the amount involved was a small (“de minimis”) amount between $9 and $11. In the UAIC case, the judges wrote, “One wonders how ‘de minimis’ an amount for which an insured/provider will repair to the court for redress: $1.23? $0.25? A nickel?”
The answer is 17 cents, as reported in this blog. The good news is that the courts are running out of patience with plaintiff lawyers who waste the time and money of taxpayers and insured drivers. One can only hope that judges in Miami-Dade county courts and beyond heed the wise words in this court decision.