Tip For November 2014

My friends at the law Firm of Clark Fountain et al send me cases which I want to share with you. How can you save money in your Florida family law case? Here's you November 2014 tip and an easy one-Don't insist your lawyer argue a frivolous position,defense or claim. How does the Florida law define a frivolous claim? That would be a claim you argue which you and your lawyer at the time of making the claim( which you lose)"knew or should have known ... when initially presented to the court or at any time before trial: (a) Was not supported by the material facts necessary to establish the claim or defense; or (b) Would not be supported by the application of then-existing law to those material facts. The filing of such a claim is often met with a motion for attorney fees filed against you and your attorney. The statute gives you twenty one (21)days to dismiss such a claim voluntarily. If you don't dismiss then after the 21 days the motion itself which was served upon you will likely be filed with the Court. That is what happened it seems for Mr. Nordt and his attorney. COURT UPHELD AWARD OF §57.105 FEES. Nordt v. Nordt, 39 Fla. Law Weekly D2184 (Fla. 3rd DCA October 15, 2014): A former husband and his attorney brought an appeal that presented no justiciable question and was on its face devoid of merit. After the court in a concurring opinion reminded litigants and attorneys of the Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 4-3.1 (meritorious claims and contentions) and 4-3.3 (candor towards the tribunal), the court found the award of attorney’s fees proper in the face of the baseless appeal. Judge Rothenberg noted she was writing a concurring opinion, not only because of the frivolousness of the claim, but specifically because of counsel’s lack of candor to the court, and his failure to admit to the err of his argument and failure to apologize when confronted by his omission of the “clear, unequivocal, and dispositive evidence contrary to his position” before the court. With the numerousity of attorneys doing family law cases, the desire to please the clients and demonstrate their adversarial prowess to their client's and peers is ever present. The temptation to wield the client's sword of vengance are strong. When your anger over takes your reason remember Mr. Nordt from the foregoing case. As always the two most important words at law remain "prove it". If you can't prove a claim or defense-don't argue it. Simply knowing it to be true in your heart is a far cry from your ability to prove an issue. Don't make claims for which you do not have facts to support. At Brawer, Hirsch as Associates, P.A ( www.bhalaws.com) we provide our family clients with our work product tool for determining what we can and can't prove when it comes to the issues of the time sharing of their children. You may not like the reality but you can save a lot of money by not chasing claims you cannot prove.