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Defending Liability, Workers' Compensation, Employment Claims and Appeals Since 1982

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Wrongful death — Landlord-tenant — Premises liability — Bodies of water — Duty of care — Action brought against owner and manager of apartment complex stemming from drowning of a tenant’s child in river adjacent to defendant’s property — Trial court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of defendants based on determination that defendants had no duty to create a barrier between property and the river — Pursuant to body-of-water rule, absent an unusual, dangerous condition, an owner of a natural or artificial body of water has no duty to fence it — Exception to the body-of-water rule was inapplicable because the record does not demonstrate any evidence of a trap or unusual element of danger associated with the riverbank adjacent to the apartment complex that does not exist in similar rivers or on similar riverbanks — The slope leading down to the river, the river current, and the uneven ground along the river did not constitute traps or dangerous conditions that do not occur in similar bodies of water throughout the state — While section 83.51(2)(a)3 requires a landlord of a dwelling unit to make “reasonable provisions” for the clean and safe condition of common areas, “reasonable provisions” need only include fencing off a body of water if the particular circumstances create an unusual element of danger not presented by similar bodies of water

49 Fla. L. Weekly D1002a BARBARA FELICIANO, as personal representative of the Estate of Sthella Lopez Feliciano, a deceased minor, Appellant, v. RIVERTREE LANDINGS APARTMENTS, LLC, a Florida Limited Liability Company, and FIRST COMMUNITIES MANAGEMENT, INC., a Florida Corporation, Appellees. 2nd District. Case No. 2D2023-0561. May 10, 2024. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Hillsborough Read More »

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Wrongful death — Damages — Loss of consortium — Surviving spouse — A spouse who married the decedent after the onset of the injury that caused the decedent’s death is a “surviving spouse” under section 768.21(2) — Survivorship under the statute is determined at the time of decedent’s death — The common law “marriage before injury” rule does not bar recovery under section 768.21(2) by a surviving spouse who married decedent after date of injury — Juries are not precluded from considering the timing and duration of a couple’s marriage when evaluating a claim for damages under section 768.21(2)

49 Fla. L. Weekly S123a JENNIFER RIPPLE, etc., Petitioner, v. CBS CORPORATION, et al., Respondents. Supreme Court of Florida. Case No. SC2022-0597. May 9, 2024. Application for Review of the Decision of the District Court of Appeal Certified Direct Conflict of Decisions. Fourth District – Case No. 4D2020-1939 (Broward County). Counsel: Mathew D. Gutierrez of Read More »

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Contracts — Insurance — Settlement agreement — Enforcement — Trial court erred by granting defendants’ motion to enforce settlement agreement where plaintiff’s offer to settle expressly stated that it was contingent on defendant’s insurer’s verification that there were no other policies which may have provided coverage for underlying automobile accident, and an additional policy held by a codefendant was disclosed after acceptance of the settlement offer — Request to insurer for information on any known policies was an essential term of plaintiff’s offer to settle with which defendant’s insurer failed to comply

49 Fla. L. Weekly D924a PEDRO FUNDORA, etc., Appellant, v. ROBERTO DANGOND, et al., Appellees. 3rd District. Case No. 3D22-1749. L.T. Case No. 20-24948. May 1, 2024. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Beatrice Butchko, Judge. Counsel: Warrior Law, P.A., and Liah C. Catanese, for appellant. Boyd Richards Parker & Colonnelli, P.L., Read More »

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Insurance — Discovery — Depositions — Corporate representative — Privileged information — Claims file — Trial court departed from essential requirements of law by allowing insurer to designate as privileged any file materials reviewed by corporate representative during his deposition testimony and by preventing cross-examination of corporate representative on those materials

49 Fla. L. Weekly D931a ANN HAMILTON, Petitioner, v. CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE CORPORATION, Respondent. 3rd District. Case No. 3D23-1934. L.T. Case No. 23-04397 CC. May 1, 2024. A Writ of Certiorari to the County Court for Miami-Dade County, Luis Perez-Medina, Judge. Counsel: Higgs Law, P.A., and Earl I. Higgs, Jr. (Orlando), for petitioner. Paul R. Read More »

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Civil procedure — Default — Vacation — Service of process — Trial court did not err in granting motion to quash service of process and vacate judicial default where defendant established invalid service by clear and convincing evidence

49 Fla. L. Weekly D929b BLUE AGAVE IMPORTS, LLC, Appellant, v. JONATHAN ALEXIS WEINBERG PINTO, Appellee. 3rd District. Case No. 3D23-1612. L.T. Case No. 22-18863. May 1, 2024. An Appeal from a non-final order from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Carlos Lopez, Judge. Counsel: Ehrenstein | Sager, and Michael D. Ehrenstein and Latasha N. Read More »

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