MARK v. WATLER (2024)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

Barry MARK, Kelly D. Feig, and The Law Office of Kelly D. Feig, P.A., Appellants, v. Jennifer WATLER, Appellee.

No. 4D2022-3408

Decided: February 07, 2024

Kelly D. Feig of The Law Office of Kelly D. Feig, P.A., Hallandale Beach, for appellants. Timothy H. Crutchfield of Mintz Truppman, P.A., North Miami, and Michael A. Citron and Kristen D. Montgomery of MAC Legal, P.A., Hollywood, for appellee.

We affirm the final order denying the Ex-Parte Petition for Injunction and Temporary Injunction for Protection Against Exploitation of a Vulnerable Adult without further comment.

We dismiss without prejudice the portion of the order awarding attorney's fees as a sanction as premature. See Keldie v. Dennstedt, 330 So. 3d 61, 62 (Fla. 4th DCA 2021). “Although the trial court found that appellee was entitled to attorney's fees, it has not yet determined the amount of the entitlement. Without that determination, an attorney's fees award is not ripe for appellate review.” Id.; see also Schmidt v. Schmidt, 319 So. 3d 65, 65 (Fla. 4th DCA 2021) (“An order merely finding entitlement to attorney's fees is a non-final, non-appealable order.”); Dania Beach Boat Club Condo. Ass'n v. Forcier, 290 So. 3d 99, 102 (Fla. 4th DCA 2020) (“A finding of entitlement to attorney's fees without a determination of the amount of fees is not appealable.”).

Affirmed in part and dismissed in part.

Per Curiam.

Warner, Damoorgian and Forst, JJ., concur.

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