WSHC+B partner and Chair of the Firm’s Appellate Practice Group, Edward Guedes, was recently featured in an article by the Daily Business Review discussing a significant ruling by Florida’s Sixth District Court of Appeal (DCA), which upheld a trial court’s decision in a contentious dissolution of marriage case.
The case centered around the Sixth DCA’s decision to affirm a trial court’s award of attorney fees in a dissolution of marriage proceeding despite the absence of a transcript that could confirm or refute the trial court’s findings. This decision was controversial because it conflicted with precedents set by other Florida appellate courts, which require written findings when awarding attorney fees.
“Even if the Sixth District believed those precedents were wrong, the trial court’s failure to follow precedent was error, in and of itself,” said Ed. “That alone should have led to a reversal of the order, but apparently, the Sixth District felt it needed to stake out its position on this issue and affirmed the order.”
Ed is Board Certified in Appellate Practice by the Florida Bar and is chair of the firm’s Appellate Practice Group. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. He has litigated dozens of appeals before the Florida Supreme Court, Florida’s district courts of appeal, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals in a wide variety of matters, including medical malpractice, premises liability, probate, First Amendment and constitutional litigation, family law, state and federal administrative rule-making and regulation, home rule authority and preemption, election law, civil rights, land use and zoning, intellectual property, and labor and employment issues.
Read more here: https://www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/2024/08/29/in-upholding-ruling-sixth-dca-certifies-question-to-florida-supreme-court/
