588 So. 2d 317 | Fla. Dist. Ct. App. | 1991
The issue presented by this appeal is whether the plaintiff’s voluntarily-dismissed substantive claim under the Florida RICO statute was so lacking in a legal foundation that the defendants are entitled to an award of attorney’s fees.
Beck’s contentions here are essentially twofold: (1) a court cannot award attorney’s fees under a “substantial justification” statute simply because no court in the jurisdiction has construed the statute on the point presented, and (2) a credible treatise published in the jurisdiction advocating the plaintiff’s position,
The order awarding fees to the defendants-appellees is reversed.
. Section 772.104, Florida Statutes (1989), entitles a defendant to reasonable attorney’s fees
. Gough, Wrongful Discharge: Can RICO Come To The Rescue?, 61 Fla.B.J. 91 (June 1987).
. Because we hold that the defendants were not entitled to a fee award in the first instance, we need not address the contention made by cross-appeal that the fee award was wholly inadequate.