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Order granting motion to confirm arbitration award was not final "judgment" for purposes of attorney's fee award under Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.525  [Added 7/15/08]

    In the trial court, Paige moved for attorney's fees and costs.  On April 28, 2007, the court had entered an order confirming an arbitration award.  Paige's motion for attorney's fees was filed on June 4, 2007.  The trial court granted the opposing party's motion to strike Paige's motion, concluding that "an order granting a motion to confirm an arbitration award is a final 'judgment' within the meaning of rule 1.525" of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.  Rule 1.525 requires that a party seeking attorney's fees shall serve a motion "no later than 30 days after filing of the judgment."  Paige appealed.

    The Fourth DCA reversed.  The trial court erred because "[t]he instant order granting the motion to confirm the arbitration award is not a final judgment because the order lacks words of finality.  . . .  Because the order was interlocutory and not a judgment, the order did not trigger the thirty-day cap provided in rule 1.525 for serving the motion."  Paige v. American Security Ins. Co., ___ So.2 d___ (Fla. 4th DCA, No. 4D07-3930, 7/9/2008).

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