Division of Administrative Hearings, Florida
Filed: Jan. 31, 1994
The issues for determination are whether Petitioner, John Allison Rowe, and Petitioner, Ralph E. Toombs, D.D.S., are entitled to recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs under section 57.111, Florida Statutes, for defending against certain disciplinary actions initiated by the Respondent, Department of Professional Regulation (now Agency for Health Care Administration), Board of Dentistry. After stipulation of the parties, these central issues remain for disposition: whether Petitioner, John Rowe, D.D.S., is a prevailing party as provided under Section 57.111(3)(c), Florida Statutes; whether the underlying disciplinary proceeding had a "reasonable basis in law and fact at the time that it was initiated by [the] state agency," as provided in Section 57.111(3)(e), Florida Statutes; whether special circumstances exist making an award to Petitioners unjust; whether Petitioner's attorney's fees and costs were reasonable or necessary; and whether multiple Department investigations in a single complaint and multiple complaints consolidated for a single evidentiary hearing "stack" the $15,000.00 maximum award provided for in Section 57.111(4)(d)2, Florida Statutes.Thorough investigation and adequate probable cause panel review indicates there was reasonable basis for complaints at time they were filed.
