Prevailing Party&#39;s Legal Fees
<p>In Florida non-binding arbitration, legal fees can be be recovered by the prevailing party.  Assume that the prevailing party is an HOA, however, its fees are paid for by insurance and not by the HOA.
Assume that insurance does not lend the Association the funds to pay for counsel. Instead, Insurance pays counsel's fees directly to counsel.</p>
<p>Therefore, the HOA has not paid any fees to counsel.  Under what argument can the Association demand the legal fees be reimbursed by the other party?</p>

<h2>The insurer stands in the shoes of the insured</h2>
<p>As between the parties to the court case, the fact that one of them has insurance is irrelevant. The losing party has a debt to the winning party. The insurer, under the subrogation clause that is invariably in every insurance policy, the insurer can enforce that debt.</p>

<h2>The HOA's fees are not 0</h2>
<p>The Insurence might pay for the fees of the HOA, but they have incurred fees. The fees, if awarded, can thus be recovered - to repay the Insurance that <em>lent</em> the money to the HOA.</p>

florida