46 Fla. L. Weekly D2057a JOSHUA HOLCOMBE, Appellant, v. CITY OF NAPLES/JOHNS EASTERN COMPANY, INC., Appellees. 1st District. Case No. 1D20-565. September 15, 2021. On appeal from an order of the Judge of Compensation Claims. Jack A. Weiss, Judge. Date of Accident: August 6, 2018. Counsel: Jason L. Fox, Oliver & Fox, P.A., Tampa, for Read More »
Articles
Torts — Negligence — Causation — Evidence — Experts — Qualifications — Timeliness of challenge — Action alleging that defendant landlord’s negligence caused plaintiff tenants to be exposed to dangerous mold during pregnancy, resulting in plaintiffs’ child being born with one kidney and brain damage — No error in determining that defendant’s Daubert challenge, which sought to exclude plaintiff’s causation expert’s testimony, was timely — Although defendant waited approximately 230 days after deposing expert before challenging expert’s testimony, defendant’s motion was filed before the deadline provided in pretrial scheduling order — Plaintiffs were not prejudiced by the delay where trial court held a hearing on the motion two weeks prior to pretrial conference and plaintiffs failed to request a continuance to acquire a new expert or request another form of relief from trial court — Trial court did not abuse its discretion by excluding expert’s testimony — Expert, whose specialty was obstetrics and gynecology, was not qualified to testify as to causation because he lacked experience and knowledge to connect mold to child’s medical conditions
46 Fla. L. Weekly D2054a JACQUELINE HUGGINS, individually, and with ALEXANDER HUGGINS, as Mother and Father and Next Friends of A.R.H., a minor child, Appellants, v. JEFFREY SIEGEL, Appellee. 1st District. Case No. 1D19-3987. September 15, 2021. On appeal from the Circuit Court for Alachua County. Donna M. Keim, Judge. Counsel: Jordan S. Redavid of Read More »
Torts — Dog owner’s liability for damage done by dog to person — Non-bite incident — Strict liability — Affirmative defenses — Comparative negligence — Third-party liability — Action against dog owners brought by plaintiff who fell to ground, breaking her femur and left leg, when her dog’s leash wrapped around her ankles as her dog tried to run from defendants’ dog, who had escaped from his tether in defendants’ back yard — Affirmative defenses of section 767.04, which pertains to injuries resulting from dog bite, are available to defendants in section 767.01 claim for non-bite injuries caused by dog — Accordingly, district court erred when it deprived defendants of their comparative negligence defense — New trial required on issue of plaintiff’s comparative fault — Discussion of interplay between sections 767.04 and 767.01 — Trial court properly excluded defendants’ proffered Fabre defense asserting product liability claim against manufacturer of their dog’s collar, which they alleged broke because of defective manufacturing — Evidence — Damages — Although trial court erred in allowing jury to consider bills for plaintiff’s past medical expenses when those bills were paid at a reduced amount by Medicare, court did not, under circumstances, abuse its discretion when it denied motion for new trial based on this error — Apportionment — Trial court correctly precluded defendants from presenting alleged manufacturing defect in dog’s collar to jury for apportionment of third party’s fault
46 Fla. L. Weekly D2070a DAVID PARSONS and MARLA PARSONS, Appellants, v. PATRICIA CULP, Appellee. 2nd District. Case No. 2D20-600. September 17, 2021. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Highlands County; David V. Ward, Judge. Counsel: Jennifer J. Kennedy of Abbey, Adams, Byelick, & Mueller, L.L.P., Saint Petersburg, for Appellants. Thomas E. Mooney of Mooney Read More »
Torts — Premises liability — Slip and fall in supermarket — Foreign substance on floor — Trial court did not err by entering summary judgment in favor of defendant where plaintiff failed to establish that defendant had actual or constructive notice of condition — Civil procedure — Fact that discovery was ongoing does not change result where counsel did not file written motion for continuance of summary judgment hearing or affidavit in opposition to summary judgment based on need to conduct additional discovery
46 Fla. L. Weekly D1986b MARIA MESA DE LOS ANGELES, Appellant, v. WINN-DIXIE STORES, INC., Appellee. 3rd District. Case No. 3D19-2520. L.T. Case No. 17-20195. September 8, 2021. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Michael A. Hanzman, Judge. Counsel: Perez Law Group P.A., and Luis N. Perez and Williams Mesa, for appellant. Read More »
Torts — Automobile accident — New trial — Trial court did not abuse its discretion by denying motion for new trial in which plaintiff asserted that verdict was contrary to manifest weight of evidence, where conflicting evidence was presented at trial and jury’s verdict was product of weighing that evidence to resolve conflicts
46 Fla. L. Weekly D1986a TASHA MARIE SANTOS ALVAREZ, etc., Appellant, v. MIRIAM ACOSTA, et al., Appellees. 3rd District. Case No. 3D20-640. L.T. Case No. 13-25846. September 8, 2021. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, David C. Miller, Judge. Counsel: Law Offices of Oscar Syger, P.A., and Oscar Syger (Boca Raton), for Read More »