Alexander v. Kalitan
Alexander v. Kalitan
Opinion of the Court
This matter is before us for a second time.
Generally speaking, interest on a money judgment in a tort case runs from the date of the judgment. But a rule of appellate procedure provides an exception when a reversal on appeal requires the entry of a money judgment, in which case, interest runs from the date of the verdict. The parties dispute whether this rule applies in the instant case. Because this court's previous reversal required modification of an existing money judgment as opposed to initial entry of a money judgment, we agree with the appellants that the rule does not apply and we reverse.
The appellee, Susan Kalitan ("the plaintiff"), sued the appellants ("the defendants") for medical malpractice and won a sizable jury award, but the trial court reduced it based on a statute capping noneconomic damages in such cases. Consistent with Florida law the trial court imposed post-judgment interest from the *71date of the final judgment at a rate of 4.75 percent, per anum.
On appeal, we found that the statute limiting noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases was unconstitutional and we reversed. See N. Broward Hosp. Dist. v. Kalitan ,
The trial court is directed to reinstate the total damages award as found by the jury, though these damages may still be limited by the doctrine of sovereign immunity. Also, in the corrected final judgment, the University is not to be held liable for the damages attributable to the Nurse. As no challenge was raised as to liability in any other context, nor was a challenge raised regarding Plaintiff's economic damages award, those portions of the final judgment are affirmed.
On remand, the plaintiff moved for entry of an amended final judgment and requested interest to accrue from the date of the verdict citing rule 9.340(c), Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, which requires interest to run from the date of the verdict when a reversal on appeal requires the entry of a money judgment. In response, the defendants asserted that the rule did not apply, as a money judgment had already been entered prior to the appeal, and thus the reversal did not result in entry of a money judgment but merely modification of a previously entered money judgment.
The trial court was persuaded by the plaintiff's argument and ruled that interest would accrue from the date of the verdict. As support, the trial court cited Hyundai Motor Co. v. Ferayorni ,
On appeal, the defendants argue that rule 9.340(c) is not applicable when a money judgment is partially affirmed on appeal and remanded only for modification of the damage award. The defendants also argue that the trial court violated their vested right to the lower 4.75 percent interest rate imposed in the original judgment. The plaintiff responds that the trial court correctly found that the appellate rule applied based on opinions interpreting the rule. We "review de novo a trial court's decision regarding judgment interest." R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. Evers ,
Our analysis begins with section 55.03(2), Florida Statutes (2008), which governs interest on judgments and provides in pertinent part that "[t]he rate of interest stated in the judgment accrues on the judgment until it is paid." § 55.03(2), Fla. Stat. Section 55.03(3) provides that "[t]he interest rate established at the time a judgment is obtained shall remain the same until the judgment is paid." Our courts have cited to section 55.03 in recognizing that generally, interest accrues from the date judgment is entered. See Amerace Corp. v. Stallings ,
However, appellate rule 9.340(c) provides an exception to the rule:
Entry of Money Judgment. If a judgment of reversal is entered that requires the entry of a money judgment on a verdict, the mandate shall be deemed to require such money judgment to be entered as of the date of the verdict.
In Green v. Rety ,
Years later, in Amerace Corp. ,
The Amerace court also noted that the trial court stated that it would have entered a judgment sooner after verdict if the plaintiffs had requested the court to do so, and it opined that "the proper procedure in this case would have been to request that the court enter a judgment promptly after the verdict."
Consistent with Green and Amerace , our courts have held that appellate rule 9.340(c) does not apply under the circumstances present in the instant case-that is, when a money judgment was entered prior to appeal and the mandate issued by the appellate court requires only the modification of that judgment rather than the initial entry of a money judgment. See Shoemaker ,
*73St. Cloud Utils. v. Moore ,
But for the rule, in a case where a money judgment was not entered below, interest would only begin to accrue after the court of appeal ruled, after the appellate motions for rehearing were resolved, after the mandate issued, and once the judgment for money damages was finally entered, regardless of how many months intervened between the verdict and entry of the money judgment. Delaying interest in that fashion would financially punish the successful appellant by depriving post-trial interest for a considerable time. The rule avoids this unfair result.
However, where the trial court originally entered a money judgment and only the amount of the award is modified after an appeal, there is no logical reason to employ the rule. Under those circumstances, there is already a starting point for the accrual of interest, namely the date on which the original judgment was entered. Amerace ,823 So.2d 110 . The rule, by its plain language, applies only when the reversal calls for entry of a money judgment; it does not address, and therefore does not apply, where the mandate requires entry of an amended final judgment that only changes the amount of the monetary award.
Shoemaker ,
In spite of this body of case law, and the fact that the reversal in this case did not require the entry of a money judgment but rather the modification of one, the plaintiff argues that the trial court correctly modified the judgment so that interest would run from the date of the verdict. The plaintiff relies on two cases, General Motors Corp. v. McGee ,
In McGee , an appeal was taken after the trial court entered a money judgment, and on remand, the trial court awarded post-verdict, pre-judgment interest. McGee ,
The plaintiff also relies on Ferayorni , the opinion the trial court found comparable to and on point with the instant case. On appeal in Ferayorni , this court affirmed an award of post-verdict, pre-judgment interest which was imposed after we affirmed on liability but reversed the remittitur. Ferayorni ,
*74The Fifth District has read Ferayorni as holding that " rule 9.340(c) applies to all post-appeal amended money judgments." Shoemaker ,
There is no indication in the Ferayorni opinion that the appellant argued what is argued here-that the rule does not apply because the mandate requires only modification of a previously-entered money judgment. Thus, it is not apparent that this court entertained any such claim. Notably, when the Fifth District certified conflict with Ferayorni on the issue of whether rule 9.340(c) applies where a reversal requires only a modification of a previously entered money judgment, see Shoemaker v. Sliger ,
In sum, rule 9.340(c) is an exception to the general rule that interest runs from the date a judgment is entered. The appellate rule exception only applies when reversal on appeal results in the initial entry of a money judgment, not when reversal on appeal requires the modification of a previously entered money judgment. Because the latter is the case here, the rule does not apply, and the trial court erred in modifying the final judgment so that interest would run from the date of the verdict.
We reverse and remand for the trial court to amend the final judgment so that it reinstates the provisions contained in the original judgment regarding the accrual of interest and the interest rate.
Reversed and remanded with instructions.
Taylor and Conner, JJ., concur.
At the time of the verdict, June 2011, a non-variable interest rate applied pursuant to section 55.03(3), Florida Statutes (2011). But the statute was amended, and effective July 1, 2011, a variable interest rate applied. See Ch. 2011-169, § 1, Laws of Fla. (2011).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.