Legal Forum For Local Legal News and Commentary
In the case of Brown & Brown, Inc. v. James T. Gelsomino and Ace American Insurance Company, Case Number 4D17-3737 (Fla. 4th DCA November 28, 2018), Florida’s Fourth DCA held that a right to have a case outcome determined by the joint and several liability scheme in...
In the case of Sandra Mattick v. Ernie Lisch, Case Number 2D17-3645 (Fla. 2d DCA November 2, 2018), Florida’s Second DCA reversed a dismissal for failure to substitute a deceased party and outlined the proper procedure for what should be done when the defendant to a personal...
In the case of Fleurimond Barthelemy v. Safeco Insurance Company of Illinois, Case Number 4D17-1254 and 4D17-1543 (Fla. 4th DCA October 24, 2018), Florida’s Fourth DCA held that an insurance company could not deny coverage for “failure to cooperate” when the insured...
In the case of Richard Delisle v. Crane Co., Case Number SC16-2182 (Fla. October 15, 2018), the Florida Supreme Court announced its disapproval of the Daubert standard as an unconstitutional infringement on the Court’s rule making authority. The Court had previously...
In the case of State Farm Automobile Insurance Company v. Marielle Lyde, Case Number 2D17-1014 (Fla. 2d DCA October 5, 2018), Florida’s Second DCA held that family members who live in the same household but have their own separate automobile policies do not get to choose the...
In the case of W. Riley Allen v. Jairo Rafael Nunez, Case Number SC16-1164 (Fla. October 4, 2018), the Florida Supreme Court issued an opinion upholding the simple terms of a proposal for settlement and calling a challenge to “plain language” as...
In the case of Ashley Pogue v. Jennifer Garib, Case Number 4D17-2638 (Fla. 4th DCA October 3, 2018), Florida’s Fourth DCA reversed a $20,000 additur for pain and suffering added by the judge after a jury awarded zero dollars in pain and suffering despite finding that the...
In the case of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Joseph V. Ferranti, Case Numbers 5D16-3980 and 5D17-756 (Fla. 5th DCA September 28, 2018), Florida’s Fifth DCA held that summary judgment for causation issues in a car accident case is not appropriate. Facts Of...
In the case of Anthony Newton v. Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation, et al., Case Number SC17-67 (Fla. September 27, 2018), the Florida Supreme Court held that front end loaders are considered a “dangerous instrumentality” under Florida law. Underlying Case...
In the case of GEICO Indemnity Company v. Ricardo Perez, Case Numbers 3D17-2317, 2407, and 2514 (Fla. 3rd DCA September 20, 2018), Florida’s Third DCA held that a $1.7 million jury verdict in a UM case needed retrial on the issue of whether the insured’s rejection of UM...
In the case of Suzanne Harvey v. GEICO General Insurance Company, Case Number SC17-85 (Fla. September 20, 2018) the Florida Supreme Court held that GEICO’s failure to comply with a request to take a statement of the insured was bad faith. The Underlying Liability Case In 2006,...
In the case of Tuyuana Morris v. Orlando Muniz, M.D., Case Number SC16-931 (Fla. September 6, 2018), the Florida Supreme Court held a finding of prejudice is required in order for a trial judge to dismiss a medical malpractice action for an alleged Chapter 766 pre-suit...
In the case of Trugreen Landcare, LLC v. Charles Lacapra, Case Number 5D17-1594 (Fla. 5th DCA August 31, 2018), Florida’s Fifth DCA held that a palm tree planter in the parking lot of a movie theater where the plaintiff was cutting through was not dangerous as a matter of law...
In the case of 21st Century Centennial Insurance Company v. Dwayne Walker, Case Number 4D17-2937 (Fla. 4th DCA August 29, 2018), Florida’s Fourth DCA held that the “preferable approach” to awarding attorney fees in a UM case is to wait until the plaintiff has...
In the case of GKK v. Petronila Cruz, Case Number 3D18-560 (Fla. 3rd DCA July 5, 2018), Florida’s Third DCA held that the failure of a party to file a privilege log does not waive categorical privileges (i.e. work-product and attorney-client privileges). This case arose...
In the case of Alberto Valle v. Scott Flory, Case Number 2D16-2848 (Fla. 2d DCA August 15, 2018), a proposal for settlement that was missing an attorney’s signature in the certificate of service was held to be valid. Background Facts Mr. Valle sued Mr. Flory (of course there is...
In the case of Craig Simmons v. Jackson Memorial Hospital, Case Number 3D17-2291 (Fla. 4th DCA August 1, 2018), a patient who was violently beaten by a third party during his stay at the hospital was not required to follow medical malpractice pre-suit requirements under Chapter 766,...
In the case of Nachelle Moss v. Estate of Curt Hudson, Case Number 5D17-3356, Florida’s Fifth DCA held that a plaintiff’s complaint should allege the jurisdictional grounds for substituted service of process under section 48.171, Fla. Stat. in order to invoke substituted...
In the case of Allstate Insurance Company v. Marlene Harmon, Case Number 17-23202-CIV-MORENO (U.S. Dist. Ct. S. Dist. Fla. March 21, 2018), a federal judge in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted summary judgment to Allstate regarding coverage for a...
In the case of Osceola Regional Hospital v. Calzada, Case Number 5D17-4097 (Fla. 5th DCA July 6, 2018), Florida’s Fifth DCA reminded medical malpractice litigants that judges are required to hold an evidentiary hearing and make evidentiary findings in cases involving an alleged...
