48 Fla. L. Weekly D192a PUBLIX SUPER MARKETS, INC., Petitioner, v. ERNESTO BLANCO, Respondent. 3rd District. Case No. 3D22-0852. L.T. Case No. 20-27601. January 25, 2023. A Writ of Certiorari to the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, William Thomas, Judge. Counsel: Weiss Serota Helfman Cole & Bierman, P.L., and Edward G. Guedes, for petitioner. Morgan Read More »
Articles
Insurance — Uninsured motorist — Bad faith — Complaint — Amendment — Addition of claim for punitive damages — Action alleging that insurer violated law by issuing policies without a written rejection form and by accepting verbal rejections of UM coverage — Error to grant insured’s motion for leave to add punitive damages claim where insured failed to provide reasonable basis to find that insurer’s acts occurred with such frequency as to indicate a general business practice, and were willful, wanton, and malicious and in reckless disregard for insured’s rights
48 Fla. L. Weekly D168b PROGRESSIVE SELECT INSURANCE COMPANY f/k/a PROGRESSIVE AUTO PRO INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. JANELLE OBER, Appellee. 4th District. Case No. 4D22-1134. January 18, 2023. Appeal of non-final order from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; Carlos A. Rodriguez, Judge; L.T. Case No. CACE09-003236. Counsel: Kristen M. Fiore Read More »
Insurance — Homeowners — Windstorm loss — Notice of loss — Timeliness — Prejudice to insurer — No error in entering summary judgment in favor of insurer based on determination that insured failed to overcome presumption that insurer was prejudiced by his failure to timely report claim for hurricane damage — Insured failed to act with reasonable dispatch and within a reasonable time where insured waited two years and seven months to report claim of hurricane damage to his roof — Conclusory affidavits submitted by insured in opposition to summary judgment were insufficient to rebut presumption of prejudice where passage of time rendered insurer unable to determine what current damage was directly attributable to the storm — Court rejects argument that policy was ambiguous because it contained a clause imposing a blanket bar on any hurricane-related claim beyond three-year window and a second clause requiring insured to provide prompt notice of any claim — Clauses, when read together, require an insured to file any hurricane-related claim within three years of the storm, and to act swiftly upon discovering damages
48 Fla. L. Weekly D152b PEDRO NAVARRO, Appellant, v. CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE CORPORATION, Appellee. 3rd District. Case No. 3D22-0032. L.T. Case No. 20-14830. January 18, 2023. An appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, David C. Miller, Judge. Counsel: Giasi Law, P.A., Melissa A. Giasi, and Erin M. Berger (Tampa), for appellant. Franklin Legal Read More »
Insurance — Personal injury protection — Dismissal — Matters outside four corners of complaint — Trial court erred in dismissing assignee’s action against insurer based on unverified consent final judgment against the insured which declared the subject policy void ab initio due to insured’s misrepresentations on insurance application — Trial court was confined to allegations asserted in complaint
48 Fla. L. Weekly D147a AJ THERAPY CENTER, INC., Appellant, v. IMPERIAL FIRE & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee. 2nd District. Case No. 2D21-3264. January 13, 2023. Appeal from the County Court for Hillsborough County; Jessica G. Costello, Judge. Counsel: Chad A. Barr of Chad Barr Law, Altamonte Springs, for Appellant. William J. McFarlane, III, and Read More »
Torts — Self-incrimination — Stay of proceedings — Appeals — Certiorari — Civil action brought against two police officers in their individual capacities while criminal proceedings against plaintiff were ongoing — Trial court departed from essential requirements of the law by granting plaintiff’s motion for indefinite stay pending resolution of criminal proceedings against plaintiff based on plaintiff’s invocation of her privilege against self-incrimination — Delay in determining defendants’ claim for qualified immunity constitutes irreparable harm, irremediable on appeal — Plaintiff failed to justify stay where plaintiff proffered no case where a stay was granted in favor of a plaintiff asserting her Fifth Amendment privilege, and no special circumstances exist — Plaintiff remains free to assert her privilege against self-incrimination where appropriate — To extent asserting privilege amounts to an adverse inference as to material allegations or claims plaintiff brings, that is the choice she made in filing a civil action
48 Fla. L. Weekly D133a IVETTE PEREZ, et al., Petitioners, v. MARGLLI GALLEGO, et al., Respondents. 3rd District. Case No. 3D22-0267. L.T. Case No. 20-23064. January 11, 2023. A Writ of Certiorari to the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Valerie R. Manno Schurr, Judge. Counsel: Geraldine Bonzon-Keenan, Miami-Dade County Attorney and Rachel C.G. Walters and Read More »