Senate Bill 2212

    Florida Senate - 1998                                  SB 2212

    By Senator Kurth





    15-1492-98

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to rights of nursing home

  3         residents; amending s. 400.023, F.S.; providing

  4         a limit on the amount of attorney's fees that

  5         may be recovered from a licensee who has

  6         violated a nursing home resident's rights;

  7         providing that an attorney may receive

  8         additional fees from his or her client;

  9         providing an effective date.

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11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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13         Section 1.  Subsection (1) of section 400.023, Florida

14  Statutes, is amended to read:

15         400.023  Civil enforcement.--

16         (1)  Any resident whose rights as specified in this

17  part are deprived or infringed upon shall have a cause of

18  action against any licensee responsible for the violation.

19  The action may be brought by the resident or his or her

20  guardian, by a person or organization acting on behalf of a

21  resident with the consent of the resident or his or her

22  guardian, or by the personal representative of the estate of a

23  deceased resident when the cause of death resulted from the

24  deprivation or infringement of the decedent's rights. The

25  action may be brought in any court of competent jurisdiction

26  to enforce such rights and to recover actual and punitive

27  damages for any deprivation or infringement on the rights of a

28  resident. Any plaintiff who prevails in any such action may be

29  entitled to recover reasonable attorney's fees not to exceed

30  $25,000, costs of the action, and damages, unless the court

31  finds that the plaintiff has acted in bad faith, with

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 1998                                  SB 2212
    15-1492-98




  1  malicious purpose, and that there was a complete absence of a

  2  justiciable issue of either law or fact.  Prevailing

  3  defendants may be entitled to recover reasonable attorney's

  4  fees pursuant to s. 57.105.  The remedies provided in this

  5  section are in addition to and cumulative with other legal and

  6  administrative remedies available to a resident and to the

  7  agency. This section does not preclude an attorney from

  8  receiving attorney's fees from his or her client in addition

  9  to attorney's fees recovered under this section.

10         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 1998.

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13                          SENATE SUMMARY

14    Caps that amount of attorney's fees that an attorney may
      recover from a nursing home licensee in an action
15    resulting from the licensee's violation of a nursing home
      resident's rights.  That cap will not affect the
16    attorney's right to recover fees from his or her client
      in addition to those recovered from the licensee.
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