A motion for sanctions under Florida Statute 57.105 punishes a party or attorney for pursuing a claim or defense they knew or should have known was baseless, or for taking any litigation action primarily to cause unreasonable delay. To file one successfully, you serve the proposed motion on the opposing party first, wait 21 days for them to withdraw or fix the offending filing, and only then file with the court. Skip that safe harbor and the judge will deny your motion no matter how frivolous the other side’s conduct.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 57.105 – Attorney’s Fee; Sanctions for Raising Unsupported Claims or Defenses
What Section 57.105 Actually Punishes
The statute covers two separate kinds of misconduct, and each has its own proof standard.
The first is a frivolous claim or defense. If a party or their lawyer files a claim or defense they knew or should have known lacked support in either material fact or existing law, the court is required to award reasonable attorney’s fees to the other side. The “knew or should have known” language is an objective test. Genuinely believing in a losing position does not save a party if a reasonable attorney would have spotted the problem.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 57.105 – Attorney’s Fee; Sanctions for Raising Unsupported Claims or Defenses
The second is unreasonable delay. Any litigation action — a pleading, a discovery response, a defense — taken primarily to cause unreasonable delay exposes the offender to damages covering the other side’s reasonable expenses. The moving party carries a preponderance of the evidence burden to prove the improper purpose.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 57.105 – Attorney’s Fee; Sanctions for Raising Unsupported Claims or Defenses
The 21-Day Safe Harbor
Before the motion is ever filed with the court, you must serve a copy of it on the opposing party. They then have 21 days to withdraw or correct the challenged filing. If they fix the problem inside that window, the motion cannot be filed. The safe harbor exists so parties can back off without judicial involvement.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 57.105 – Attorney’s Fee; Sanctions for Raising Unsupported Claims or Defenses
Serve first, wait the full 21 days, then file. Jumping the gun is the single most common reason these motions get denied.
One wrinkle catches litigants off guard. The statute limits the court’s ability to award sanctions on its own initiative after a voluntary dismissal, but when a party has properly served and filed a 57.105 motion, a last-minute dismissal by the opposing side does not automatically moot the request. The sanctions issue can survive the dismissal of the underlying case.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 57.105 – Attorney’s Fee; Sanctions for Raising Unsupported Claims or Defenses
What the Court Can Award
The penalties under 57.105 are almost entirely monetary. For a frivolous claim or defense, the court awards reasonable attorney’s fees, including prejudgment interest.
The unusual part is who pays. The fee award is split equally between the losing party and their attorney. The attorney is personally on the hook for half. The only way for the lawyer to avoid personal liability is to show good faith reliance on the client’s factual representations, and that defense is narrow: it covers situations where the client misrepresented the underlying facts, not situations where the legal theory itself was baseless.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 57.105 – Attorney’s Fee; Sanctions for Raising Unsupported Claims or Defenses
For unreasonable delay, the award is damages covering reasonable expenses plus other losses caused by the delay. Attorney’s fees can be part of that figure but are not the whole of it.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 57.105 – Attorney’s Fee; Sanctions for Raising Unsupported Claims or Defenses
Defenses and Statutory Exceptions
The responding party has several ways to defeat a 57.105 motion or limit its reach.
- A claim or defense presented as a good faith argument to change, extend, or reverse existing law is protected if there was a reasonable expectation of success. Novel legal theories are not sanctionable just because they lose.
- An attorney who acted in good faith based on the client’s account of the facts is shielded from personal liability.
- A represented party cannot be sanctioned when the problem is a bad legal argument rather than bad facts. Legal theories are the lawyer’s responsibility.
- If the court is acting on its own initiative instead of on a party’s motion, sanctions must be entered before any voluntary dismissal or settlement. After that, the court’s power to act on its own closes.
The exceptions strike a balance. The statute punishes knowingly meritless positions without penalizing parties who push the boundaries of the law or rely on their lawyer’s judgment.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 57.105 – Attorney’s Fee; Sanctions for Raising Unsupported Claims or Defenses
Higher Bar in Injunction-for-Protection Cases
Domestic violence, stalking, and similar protective proceedings get heightened treatment. In those cases, attorney’s fees cannot be awarded under 57.105 unless the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that a party knowingly made a false statement about a material fact. The higher standard exists so the fee-shifting rule does not deter people from seeking protection.1Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 57.105 – Attorney’s Fee; Sanctions for Raising Unsupported Claims or Defenses
The Hearing
Once the 21 days pass without correction, the motion is filed and set for hearing. The moving party carries the burden. For a frivolous claim or defense, that means showing the other side knew or should have known its position lacked factual or legal support. For a delay claim, it means proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the challenged action was taken primarily to cause unreasonable delay.
The responding party can argue merit, present the factual basis for the claim, or invoke a statutory exception. An attorney facing personal liability will usually argue good faith reliance on the client. The judge weighs both sides and, if sanctions are granted, specifies the amount and who pays.
Appealing a Sanctions Order
Florida appellate courts review 57.105 orders for abuse of discretion. The trial judge’s ruling gets significant deference, and a reviewing court will not overturn it just because it would have decided differently. The appellant must show the trial court’s error rose to a misuse of judicial authority.
Timing depends on where the case stands. A sanctions ruling folded into a final judgment can be appealed in the ordinary course. A standalone fee award entered mid-litigation is trickier: Florida’s rules on nonfinal orders allow immediate review in certain categories, but a mid-case fee ruling may have to wait for final judgment or be challenged through an extraordinary writ like certiorari.
Section 57.105 Is Not the Discovery Sanctions Rule
Litigants often try to use 57.105 to punish discovery misconduct. The better tool is usually Rule 1.380 of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, which governs failures to answer interrogatories, appear for depositions, or comply with orders compelling discovery. Rule 1.380 has no 21-day safe harbor, and its penalty menu is much broader: the court can deem facts established, restrict evidence, strike pleadings, dismiss the action, enter default, treat the violation as contempt, and order the offender to pay expenses and fees.
Section 57.105 does reach discovery conduct in one specific way: subsection (2) covers actions taken primarily to cause unreasonable delay, and a discovery response filed for that purpose can qualify. But the routine remedy for someone stonewalling discovery is a motion to compel under Rule 1.380, not a 57.105 motion.