48 Fla. L. Weekly D698a GARY L. MARDER, D.O., Appellant, v. ROBERTA MUELLER, Appellee. 4th District. Case No. 4D22-1576. April 5, 2023. Appeal of a non-final order from the Circuit Court for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, St. Lucie County; Laurie E. Buchanan, Judge; L.T. Case No. 562018CA002257. Counsel: Dinah S. Stein and Aneta McCleary of […]
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Torts — Legal malpractice — Summary judgment — Independent analysis — Final summary judgment entered in favor of defendant law firm is reversed — Trial court’s adoption of defendant’s forty-page proposed order did not show independent judicial analysis where trial court adopted the proposed order word for word without allowing objection by plaintiff’s counsel, and made no factual findings or legal conclusions that could form the basis for the proposed order
48 Fla. L. Weekly D713a TERRELL KING, Appellant, v. FARAH & FARAH, P.A., EDDIE E. FARAH, AND CHARLIE E. FARAH, Appellees. 5th District. Case No. 5D23-20. L.T. Case No. 2014-CA-001683. April 6, 2023. Appeal from Circuit Court for Duval County, Bruce R. Anderson, Jr., Judge. Counsel: Kara Rockenbach Link and Daniel M. Schwarz, of Link […]
Insurance — Automobile — Bad faith — Insurance dispute arising out of accident involving the insured driver, the plaintiff driver, and a non-party driver — District court improvidently granted summary judgment to insurer on plaintiff’s claim for bad faith under Florida common law where material issues of fact remain in dispute as to whether insurer’s handling of plaintiff’s damages claim amounted to bad faith and whether insurer’s bad faith conduct caused the excess judgment against insured — Plaintiff is entitled to have a jury resolve those issues — When viewed under “totality of the circumstances,” including insurer’s substantial undue delay in initiating settlement negotiations and failure to provide plaintiff’s attorney and insured with the information they each needed to settle the case, a genuine issue of material fact remains in dispute as to whether insurer’s handling of plaintiff’s claim amounted to bad faith conduct — Causation — A genuine issue of material fact exists as to whether insurer caused the entry of an excess judgment against insured where evidence showed that case may have settled if insurer had complied with its duty to initiate settlement negotiations sooner or provided plaintiff’s attorney with affidavit confirming that insured had no additional insurance before plaintiff filed suit
29 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C2292a DANIEL ILIAS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. USAA GENERAL INDEMNITY COMPANY, Defendant-Appellee. 11th Circuit. Case No. 21-12486. March 14, 2023. Appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida (No. 8:20-cv-00834-WFJ-TGW). (Before WILLIAM PRYOR, Chief Judge, and ROSENBAUM and MARCUS, Circuit Judges.) (MARCUS, Circuit Judge.) On July 29, 2017, […]
Attorney’s fees — Sanctions — Bad faith conduct — Order requiring appellant and appellant’s counsel to pay attorney’s fees as a sanction for litigation conduct is reversed where, although order detailed conduct that trial court found “improper,” trial court did not find bad faith or use any “equivalent language”
48 Fla. L. Weekly D656a TRAVELERS HOME AND MARINE INSURANCE COMPANY, and SCOTT ALBEE, Appellants, v. WEST BOCA COLLISION, INC., a/a/o ROSEMARY SOTO, Appellee. 4th District. Case No. 4D22-716. March 29, 2023. Appeal from the County Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; Frank S. Castor, Judge; L.T. Case No. 50-2017-SC-003317-XXXX-SB. Counsel: Jack […]
Insurance — Homeowners — Windstorm loss — Coverage — Summary judgment — Continuance — No error in denying plaintiff’s motion for continuance and granting summary judgment in favor of insurer — Rule 1.510 did not give the court discretion to consider late-filed deposition — Rule requires that a nonmovant’s response and its supporting facts be served at least twenty days before time fixed for hearing — While plaintiff’s current counsel personally demonstrated due diligence in seeking a continuance for plaintiff, record does not otherwise explain why plaintiff was unable to timely submit deposition prior to the scheduled summary judgment hearing — No abuse of discretion in denying plaintiff’s motion for continuance of summary judgment hearing to allow for additional discovery where a continuance to obtain further discovery would not lead to any new evidence that would create a genuine issue of material fact precluding summary judgment — Additionally, record shows that plaintiff had an adequate opportunity to engage in further discovery and any further discovery was not likely to present any material facts relevant to trial court’s disposition of the issues
48 Fla. L. Weekly D537a FULL PRO RESTORATION, a/a/o Placido Fernandez, Appellant, v. CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE CORPORATION, Appellee. 3rd District. Case No. 3D21-2312. L.T. Case No. 19-20010 CC. March 15, 2023. An Appeal from the County Court for Miami-Dade County, Michael G. Barket, Judge. Counsel: Louis Law Group, PLLC, and Pierre A. Louis and Alibia […]