Family Law

In an appeal arising from dissolution of marriage proceedings, the firm was able to obtain a reversal of an order improperly distributing the parties’ assets. The firm obtained this reversal by convincing the appellate court that the trial court had not considered the factors necessary to distribute the parties’ assets and, accordingly, that further litigation in the trial court was necessary under Florida law.

The firm was able to obtain a complete win for its client in a consolidated appellate proceeding in which the appellant challenged eleven orders entered by the trial court. The appellant sought relief through both non-final appeals and original proceedings, such as petitions for writs of certiorari, prohibition, and mandamus. This victory, in an appeal spanning the waterfront from equitable distribution issues to children’s issues, allowed the firms’ client to finalize the dissolution of marriage proceeding on remand and end the long-running family-law litigation.

The firm reversed an attorney’s fees and costs judgment entered against the client when, following their conditional grant by the appellate court, the trial judge failed to hear evidence regarding the parties’ financial resources, the former wife’s need for appellate fees or the former husband’s ability to pay.

The firm successfully reversed the entry of an order setting aside the former spouses’ marital settlement agreement as incorporated into a final judgment of dissolution. Agreeing with the firm’s argument, the court recognized there was no case law specifically supporting the former wife’s position that a final judgment and marital settlement agreement can be set aside purely as a sanction.

The firm successfully reversed determinations by the trial judge that non-marital assets had been commingled so as to become assets subject to equitable distribution, and that retirement accounts had so enhanced in value as to transform into marital assets.