Aislynn Thomas-McDonald v. Jorge E. Silva

── Aislynn Thomas-McDonald v. Jorge E. Silva ── Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida Date: May 20, 2026 Category: General Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida Opinion filed May 20, 2026. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing. ________________ No. 3D25-2466 Lower Tribunal Nos. 23-202-GD-02; 23-3910-GD-02 ________________ Aislynn Thomas-McDonald, et al., Petitioners, vs. Jorge E. Silva, Respondent. A Writ of Certiorari to the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Jose Luis Fernandez, Judge. Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP, and Robert M. Klein, and Christopher J. Fraga; Lawson Huck Gonzalez, PLLC, and Eric C. Reed, Jason B. Gonzalez, Alex J. Fumagali and Caitlin N. Emling (Orlando), for petitioners. Silva & Silva, P.A., and Paul Jon Layne, for respondent. Before LINDSEY, LOBREE, and BOKOR, JJ. LINDSEY, J.  This petition arises from guardianship proceedings initiated by Respondent, attorney Jorge E. Silva, to determine the capacity of his father, Orlando G. Silva (“Orlando”), and to be appointed his guardian. Petitioners, Aislynn Thomas-McDonald and Thomas-McDonald Law Firm, P.A. (“Thomas-McDonald” and the “Law Firm,” collectively, “Petitioners”), who are petitioners/counter-defendants in the proceeding below, seek a common law writ of certiorari directed at the trial court’s order overruling Thomas- McDonald’s Objections to Interrogatories 2 and 3 (the “Order”). Thomas- McDonald alleges that answering these interrogatories requires her to disclose her medical background, including any psychotherapy and medications taken. She argues this information is irrelevant to the claims and defenses in this action and is privileged under Florida’s statutory psychotherapist-patient privilege. We agree. The question before us is whether a court appointed attorney who provided legal services in a guardianship proceeding must disclose her confidential medical information as part of her fees application for services rendered to the opponent of those fees. The answer is a constitutional no.1 1 See FLA. CONST. art. I, § 23 (“Every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person’s private life except as otherwise provided herein. This section shall not be construed to limit the public’s right of access to public records and meetings as provided by law.”). 2 Further, no Florida case cited by Silva allows compelled disclosure of confidential medical information on these facts and we decline to do so here. For the reasons below, we grant the petition and quash the order on review. BACKGROUND This petition arises from Silva’s guardian proceedings to determine the capacity of his father, Orlando, who is the Ward in this proceeding. In March 2023, Silva was appointed Orlando’s guardian after Orlando was found to be incapacitated. Thomas-McDonald was also approved as Orlando’s court- appointed counsel. It is undisputed that under section 744.108, Florida Statutes (2025), an attorney who renders services to a ward is entitled to a reasonable fee for those services. Consequently, in January 2023, Thomas-McDonald filed a Petition for Order Authorizing Payment of Attorney’s Fees and Costs from December 14, 2022, through January 15, 2023. Silva objected to this fee request in his capacity as Orlando’s guardian. In June 2023, Thomas-McDonald filed an Amended Verified Petition for Payment of Attorney’s Fees and Costs (“Amended Petition”). Under the Amended Petition, Thomas-McDonald requested that “an Order be entered awarding Final Judgment in favor of a fee award for the counsel of Orlando 3 G. Silv