Zelman v. Metropolitan Dade County

In Zelman v. Metropolitan Dade County, the Third District initially ruled that the local administrative order setting the hourly rate for trial counsel in a capital case did not apply to appellate counsel in a capital case and ordered a new hearing to establish "a reasonable hourly rate." Zelman v. Metropolitan Dade County, 586 So. 2d 1286, 1287 (Fla. 3d DCA 1991)(Zelman I). On remand, the trial court set the fee based on a rate of $ 40 per hour for out-of-court services and $ 50 per hour for in-court services, causing a second reversal and remand for a new hearing to set a reasonable hourly rate using the factors set forth in rule 4-1.5, Rules Regulating the Florida Bar. Zelman v. Metropolitan Dade County, 622 So. 2d 6 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993) (Zelman II). On remand, the trial court made an identical fee award based on the $ 40/$ 50 hourly rates and, in Zelman III, 645 So. 2d at 58, the court ruled that a $ 40-$ 50 hourly rates "is not close to a reasonable fee for the difficult and uncommonly burdensome services Zelman performed in the capital appeal." The appellate court awarded Zelman $ 100 per hour for out-of-court services and $ 125 for in-court services. Id.