50 Fla. L. Weekly D685b BRENDA VALYOU, Petitioner, v. RONALD ESCUDERO NAVEDO, Respondent. 6th District. Case No. 6D2024-1407. L.T. Case No. 2023-CA-002510 AN. March 21, 2025. Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Circuit Court for Osceola County. Christine E. Arendas, Judge. Counsel: David L. Luck and Ladisleydi Almaguer, of Morgan & Morgan, P.A., Miami, […]
Articles
Insurance — Contracts — Property remediation services — Enforceability — Assignment of benefits — Action alleging homeowner breached contract for the provision of post-loss remedial services covered by the terms of a residential property insurance policy — Trial court erred by denying homeowner’s motion for summary judgment — Contract at issue was an “assignment agreement” as defined in section 627.7152(1)(b) because it was an instrument by which post-loss benefits under a residential property insurance policy were assigned or transferred to or from a person providing services — Because agreement did not adhere to the requirements of section 627.7152, it was invalid and unenforceable
50 Fla. L. Weekly D622c RONDA ELLIS, Appellant, v. TITAN RESTORATION CONSTRUCTION, INC., Appellee. 4th District. Case No. 4D2024-0085. March 12, 2025. Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Maxine D. Cheesman, Judge; L.T. Case No. 502021CA012105. Counsel: Luke Lirot of Luke Charles Lirot, P.A., Clearwater, for appellant. Paul […]
Torts — Premises liability — Slip and fall — Spoliation of evidence — Electronically stored information — Trial court erred in giving jury instruction on adverse inference arising from spoliation of evidence as sanction for 2-minute gap missing from surveillance videos of area in which incident occurred — Evidence did not support a finding of negligent nonproduction of material evidence that defendant had a duty to preserve and produce or a finding that gap was result of intentional bad faith conduct designed to deprive plaintiff of the missing information — Trial court impermissibly shifted burden of proof to defendant by requiring defendant to prove nonexistence of any of required elements for finding of spoliation without any initial showing by plaintiff — Trial court further abused its discretion by denying defendant an opportunity to present evidence rebutting adverse inference
50 Fla. L. Weekly D611a WAL-MART STORES EAST, LP, Appellant, v. ELIDA MARIA GARCIA PINEDA, Appellee. 3rd District. Case No. 3D23-0793. L.T. Case No. 20-26469. March 12, 2025. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, David C. Miller, Judge. Counsel: GrayRobinson, P.A., and Jack R. Reiter and Eric M. Yesner and Sydney Feldman […]
Insurance — Homeowners — Coverage — Water damage — Trial court prematurely granted summary judgment in favor of insurer on insureds’ breach of contract claim based on denial of their water damage claim because genuine issue of material fact existed relating to whether insured property sustained water damage during policy period — Affidavit of insureds’ engineer refuting findings of insurer’s expert was sufficient to create genuine issue of material fact where competing expert affidavit was appropriately based on engineer’s experience in the field, evaluation of all relevant documentation, and his own inspection of property
50 Fla. L. Weekly D610a MIGUEL BETANCOURT, et al., Appellants, v. CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE CORPORATION, Appellee. 3rd District. Case No. 3D23-0923. L.T. Case No. 20-11486. March 12, 2025. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Beatrice Butchko, Judge. Counsel: Giasi Law, P.A., Erin M. Berger and Melissa A. Giasi (Tampa), for appellants. Williams, […]
Torts — Automobile accident — Amendment of complaint to add claim for punitive damages — There is no requirement that trial court make affirmative findings when permitting plaintiff to plead punitive damages — Conflict certified — Trial court erred in granting motion for leave to amend complaint to add claim for punitive damages where proffered evidence fell short of providing reasonable basis for recovery of punitive damages — Voluntary intoxication — Deposition testimony that defendant was a regular user of marijuana who smoked marijuana throughout the day did not provide reasonable basis for punitive damages where there was no evidence that defendant had used marijuana in the morning prior to accident or was impaired at time of accident
50 Fla. L. Weekly D630b AMAZULU TRANSPORT, INC. and PETER STUART WELCH, JR., Appellants, v. GARY DINKINS, Appellee. 6th District. Case No. 6D23-2353. L.T. Case No. 2020-CA-8564-O. March 14, 2025. Appeal pursuant to Fla. R. App. P. 9.130 from the Circuit Court for Orange County. Margaret H. Schreiber, Judge. Counsel: Michael A. Sastre, of Sastre […]