HB 841

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to supersedeas bond; creating s. 768.734,
3	F.S.; providing limits on the amount of supersedeas bond
4	in the aggregate necessary to stay execution of a
5	judgment; limiting the amount of supersedeas bond required
6	for certain appellants; providing an exception to limits
7	if an appellant engages in certain conduct for the purpose
8	of avoiding payment of the judgment; providing an
9	effective date.
10
11	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
12
13	Section 1.  Section 768.734, Florida Statutes, is created
14	to read:
15	768.734  Limitations on supersedeas bond; exception.--
16	(1)  Except for certified class actions subject to s.
17	768.733, in any civil action brought under any legal theory, the
18	amount of a supersedeas bond necessary to stay execution of a
19	judgment granting any type of relief during the entire course of
20	all appeals or discretionary reviews shall not exceed $25
21	million for all appellants in the aggregate, regardless of the
22	amount of the judgment appealed.
23	(2)  If an appellant is an individual or independently
24	owned and operated business with 400 or fewer full-time
25	employees, the supersedeas bond, at the discretion of the
26	appellant, may not exceed 5 percent of the appellant's net
27	assets or $1 million in the aggregate.
28	(3)  Notwithstanding subsections (1) and (2), if an
29	appellee proves by a preponderance of the evidence that an
30	appellant who has posted a supersedeas bond is intentionally
31	dissipating or diverting assets outside the course of its
32	ordinary business for the purpose of avoiding payment of the
33	judgment, a court may enter orders necessary to protect the
34	appellee or that require the appellant to post a supersedeas
35	bond in an amount up to and including the total amount of the
36	judgment.
37	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

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