YONTEF 23 1995 11 2011 v. COPELOW (2020)

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

Sharon YONTEF, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Sanford Copelow, and as Trustee of the Sanford Copelow Revocable Inter Vivos Trust Under Agreement Dated October 23, 1995, as Amended and Restated on October 11, 2011, Appellant, v. Jason COPELOW, Appellee.

No. 4D19-2401

Decided: May 27, 2020

Seth B. Burack of Fox Rothschild LLP, West Palm Beach, for appellant. Scott A Cole of Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A., Miami, for appellee.

Appellant Sharon Yontef appeals the trial court's order directing her to pay Appellee Jason Copelow $30,124.89 in connection with breaches of the parties’ Distribution Agreement. We affirm the trial court's order in all respects without comment, but reverse the trial court's award of $6,000.00 in attorney's fees to Appellee.

The client's affidavit was the only submission in support of the attorney's fee claim. An award of attorney's fees is improper where it is not supported by the testimony of the attorney who performed the services. See Rodriguez v. Campbell, 720 So. 2d 266, 267 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998). Because the record does not contain this essential evidentiary support, we reverse and remand to the circuit court to conduct an additional hearing on this issue.

Affirmed in part, Reversed in part, and Remanded.

Levenson, Jeffrey R., Associate Judge.

Ciklin and Klingensmith, JJ., concur.

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