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Torts — Premises liability — Negligent security — Criminal attack — Action against owner of apartment complex and property manager by plaintiff who was attacked by unknown assailant positioned outside property at time of the incident on a public street that was not controlled by defendants — Trial court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of defendants where plaintiff failed to demonstrate that genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether assailant was in fact off the premises and failed to present any evidence suggesting that defendants created a dangerous condition that would expand their zone of foreseeable risk outside of the property limits — Moreover, record reflects that armed security guards were actively patrolling the property at time of incident and that operable security cameras were positioned throughout the apartment complex, and plaintiff presented no evidence illustrating that defendants failed to have adequate security measures in place to safeguard or prevent the shooting in which plaintiff was injured — Finally, trial court found that uncontroverted facts and record evidence established that plaintiff was victim of personal, targeted attack by unknown assailant and, accordingly, plaintiff failed to demonstrate that a genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether shooting was foreseeable

49 Fla. L. Weekly D802a ADEON BROWNLEE, Appellant, v. 22ND AVENUE APARTMENTS, LLC, et al., Appellees. 3rd District. Case No. 3D23-998. L.T. Case No. 20-27167. April 10, 2024. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Vivianne Del Rio, Judge. Counsel: Law Office of Lance A. Garrett, P.A., and Lance A. Garrett (Plantation), for Read More »

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Insurance — Declaratory judgment — Trial court erred in granting motion for summary judgment seeking declaration that policy at issue was in full force and effect, not void ab initio, and that there was no material misrepresentation in the application for insurance where complaint sought only a declaration that policy was not properly cancelled for alleged nonpayment

49 Fla. L. Weekly D801a FLORIDA INSURANCE GUARANTY ASSOCIATION, Appellant, v. MANUEL V. FEIJOO, M.D., and MANUEL V. FEIJOO, M.D., P.A., etc., Appellees. 3rd District. Case No. 3D22-1529. L.T. Case No. 17-14026 SP. April 10, 2024. An Appeal from the County Court for Miami-Dade County, Elijah A. Levitt, Judge. Counsel: Kubicki Draper, P.A., and Caryn Read More »

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Torts — Jurisdiction — Nonresidents — Tortious act in state — Trial court erred in denying motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction filed by defendant, an interactive social networking platform, in an action seeking to hold it liable for failing to suspend a user who cloned plaintiff’s marketplace vendor account, solicited orders for plaintiff’s product, and refused to deliver goods as promised — General jurisdiction — Plaintiff abandoned any assertion of general jurisdiction by failing to file a counter-affidavit or provide any sworn proof to prove jurisdiction in response to defendant’s legally sufficient affidavit — Specific jurisdiction — Complaint did not sufficiently allege tort claim against interactive social networking platform — Instead, plaintiff alleged equitable claims seeking to suspend unknown user’s fraudulent account and obtain documents that would enable plaintiff to identify the user who cloned vendor’s account — Moreover, there were no extraneous factual allegations in complaint to support contention that inaction of social networking platform rose to level of tacit complicity in the commission of any of the tort claims advanced against the unknown user or any unpled torts — Further, there is no precedent to support proposition that platform’s purported violation of its own policies and procedures is a sufficient substitute for alleging that the platform engaged in a tort in the state — Finally, “effects test” cannot be used to circumvent language of statute, as this requires a tort that was intentional, aimed at the forum state, and caused harm that defendant should have anticipated would be suffered in the forum state

49 Fla. L. Weekly D715b FACEBOOK, LLC, Appellant, v. GRIND HARD HOLDINGS, LLC, Appellee. 3rd District. Case No. 3D23-0948. L.T. Case No. 22-17030. April 3, 2024. An appeal from a non-final order from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Migna Sanchez-Llorens, Judge. Counsel: Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, Dwayne Robinson, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Robbie Read More »

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Attorney’s fees — Appellate — Sanctions — Claim or defense not supported by material facts or applicable law — Allocation of fees — Relief from judgment — Motion for appellate attorney’s fees under section 57.105 filed in prior appeal before counsel had entered appearance — Trial court erred in denying motion for relief from judgment which awarded attorney’s fees against appellate counsel — Judgment awarding fees against appellate counsel was void for lack of due process where neither the motion for appellate attorney’s fees filed in the prior appeal when party was pro se nor the notices for the fee hearing thereafter filed in the trial court gave any indication that an award of fees was being sought against appellate counsel, and order granting motion for fees in prior appeal contained no finding of entitlement to recover fees against appellate counsel — Furthermore, nothing in record indicates compliance with the safe harbor provision mandated by section 57.105(4) prior to asking the trial court to award fees against counsel

49 Fla. L. Weekly D700a ANTHONY J. FANTAUZZI, Appellant, v. JOHN P. FLECK, JR., and JAMES C. DAY, Appellees. 2nd District. Case No. 2D23-1390. April 3, 2024. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Manatee County; Charles Sniffen, Judge. Counsel: Nicole Deese Newlon and Bradley F. Kinni of Johnson, Newlon & DeCort, P.A., Tampa, for Appellant. Read More »

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Torts — Premises liability — Negligent security — Duty — Commercial lease — Action brought against property owner and entity that managed the property which was leased to an adult entertainment club where plaintiff was shot — Trial court erred by denying defendants’ motion for directed verdict on allegations of breach of duty for failure to provide a reasonably safe premises based on determination that defendants had a non-delegable duty to club’s business invitees — Evidence showed that neither defendant had sufficient control over the premises to establish a duty of care where defendants had no control over general operation of club’s business practices and were not involved with security — While lease provision granted property manager the right to enter the premises and operate the club upon the lessee’s failure to continually conduct adult entertainment, defendants were never in a position to exercise that right — Existence of a right to take control of premises in event of default is not the same as actually exercising that control — Defendants’ ability to enter premises to inspect property and make repairs does not constitute sufficient control for purposes of establishing liability where any control defendants retained to enter premises was completely unrelated to injuries plaintiff suffered — Court rejects argument that lease provision requiring tenant to abide by the law should be treated as evidence of a landlord’s control of the premises for purposes of imposing liability

49 Fla. L. Weekly D756b KEITH R.E. JOHNSON and KREJ LEASING, INC., Appellants, v. AKEEFE GARRETT, Appellee. 6th District. Case No. 6D23-1205. L.T. Case No. 2015-001414-CA. April 4, 2024. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Orange County. Chad K. Alvaro and Vincent Falcone, III, Judges. Counsel: Michael M. Brownlee, of The Brownlee Law Firm, P.A., Read More »

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