Background
Boca View Condominium Association appealed a Palm Beach County circuit court final judgment awarding attorney’s fees and costs to unit owners Eleanor and Edward Lepselter.
The association challenged the calculation of prejudgment interest on the fee award. It argued that the court should have used the interest rate in effect when the owners established their entitlement to fees, rather than annually adjusted rates.
The Court’s Holding
The Fourth District affirmed. It held that the association waived its prejudgment-interest argument by not raising it in an earlier appeal involving the trial court’s ruling.
Because the issue had been waived, the court did not address the merits of the interest-rate calculation.
Key Takeaways
- An issue addressed by a trial court ruling may be waived for a later appeal if it was not raised in an earlier appeal.
- The court affirmed the attorney’s-fee and costs judgment.
- The court did not decide which prejudgment-interest rate should have applied.
Why It Matters
The decision underscores that parties must raise available challenges in the first appeal involving a trial court ruling. A later appeal cannot be used to obtain merits review of an argument previously omitted.