Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart & Shipley v. State of Florida, Respondent

Summary

The Court held that a legislative claims-bill provision limiting attorneys’ fees to $100,000 unconstitutionally impaired the law firm’s preexisting contingency-fee contract with the injured child’s family. Because the statutory sovereign-immunity scheme anticipated recovery of fees up to 25 percent of amounts recovered through the claims-bill process, and no important public purpose justified the severe impairment, the fee limitation was invalid and severable from the remainder of the claims bill. Justice Canady and Justice Polston dissented, arguing that the Legislature retained authority to impose the limitation and that severance improperly defeated the Legislature’s expressly stated allocation of funds.