48 Fla. L. Weekly D285a JAMES RANDOLPH HARRIS, Appellant, v. SUNBELT RENTALS, INC., etc., et al., Appellees. 3rd District. Case No. 3D21-2164. L.T. Case No. 18-792-P. February 8, 2023. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Monroe County, Timothy J. Koenig, Judge. Counsel: McLuskey, McDonald & Hughes, P.A., and John W. McLuskey, for appellant. Wallen […]
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Torts — Automobile accident — Sanctions — Damages — Additur — New trial — No abuse of discretion in ordering new trial after defendant rejected additur — Trial court did not err in determining that sanctions were warranted where sufficient evidence supported the trial court’s determination that, in first trial and in hearing on the motion for sanctions, defense counsel made intentionally misleading and deceptive statements regarding his prior professional relationship and experiences with one of the physician witnesses, and had utilized improper discovery procedures in an effort to obtain plaintiff’s medical records — Trial court abused its discretion in sanctioning defendant by striking defendant’s pleadings where there was no evidence that defendant participated in defense counsel’s actions, or that plaintiff was prejudiced by defense counsel’s use of improper discovery procedures — Additionally, record does not reflect that defense counsel’s misconduct was sole cause of necessity to grant earlier mistrial — Trial court should have imposed sanctions directly upon counsel
48 Fla. L. Weekly D258b RANDY RHOADES, III, Appellant, v. LILMISSETTE RODRIGUEZ, Appellee. 5th District. Case No. 5D21-2295. L.T. Case No. 2014-CA-25416. Opinion filed February 3, 2023. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Brevard County, Curt Jacobus, Judge. Counsel: Derek J. Angell, of Roper, P.A., Orlando, for Appellant. Maegen Peek Luka, of Newsome Melton, P.A., […]
Attorney’s fees — Amount — Hours reasonably expended — Legally sufficient evidence — Sworn testimony from attorney performing work is not required to satisfy first step in lodestar analysis, which requires court to determine number of hours reasonably expended on the litigation — Because invoices in evidence were sufficient, trial court erred in denying motion for attorney’s fees and costs on ground that testimony from attorneys concerning legal services performed was not presented — Conflict certified
48 Fla. L. Weekly D261c CED CAPITAL HOLDINGS 2000 EB, LLC, Appellant, v. CTCW-BERKSHIRE CLUB, LLC Appellee. 6th District. Case No. 6D23-1136. L.T. Case No. 2018-CA-013886-O. February 3, 2023. Appeal from the Circuit Court for Orange County. John E. Jordan, Judge. Counsel: Tucker H. Byrd and Scottie N. McPherson, of Byrd Campbell, P.A., Winter Park, […]
Attorney’s fees — Experts — Amount — Excessiveness — Reduction — No error in awarding fees for counsel’s preparation and examination of expert witness who testified at evidentiary hearing about whether hospitality services provided by defendant pursuant to the obligations imposed by an arbitral award met the required standard of amenity — Amount of fees awarded for preparation of order that resulted from evidentiary hearing were not excessive — Trial court did not abuse its discretion by reducing billable hours by a flat twenty-five percent where trial court made sufficient findings supporting reduction
48 Fla. L. Weekly D228b BATH CLUB ENTERTAINMENT, LLC, Appellant, v. THE RESIDENCES AT THE BATH CLUB MAINTENANCE ASSOCIATION, INC., et al., Appellees. 3rd District. Case No. 3D21-2297. L.T. Case No. 13-36250. February 1, 2023. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Michael A. Hanzman, Judge. Counsel: Armstrong Teasdale LLP, and Glen H. […]
Jurisdiction — Non-residents — Tortious act in state — Extortion — Computer Fraud and Abuse Act — Dispute over ownership of digital software — Allegations of complaint suggesting that plaintiff is rightful owner of digital software and alleging that defendant has refused to relinquish possession of the digital software without additional payment states cause of action under CFAA and therefore satisfies Florida long-arm statute — Requirements of Due Process Clause are also met because emails that defendant sent into Florida triggered the plaintiff’s claims — Discussion of elements of CFAA claim under § 1030(a)(7)(A), which imposes liability on person who “with intent to extort from any person any money or other thing of value, transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any . . . threat to cause damage to a protected computer” — Threat to cause harm — Plaintiff plausibly alleged that defendant made threats by stating that defendant would turn over all source code and intellectual property to plaintiff only if plaintiff tendered a payment of $1.1 million, without which defendant stated it would not provide passwords or other electronic property — Damage — Because plaintiff cannot access and independently modify its software without passwords, defendant’s refusal to provide those passwords impaired the availability of the software and therefore caused damage — Finally, complaint sufficiently alleged that defendant acted with intent to extort money or other thing of value, transmitted a communication in interstate or foreign commerce, and made alleged threats that would have damaged “a protected computer”
29 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C2157a SKYHOP TECHNOLOGIES, INC., a Delaware corporation, SKYHOP GLOBAL, LLC, a Florida limited liability company, KRISTINE SCOTTO, an Individual, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. PRAVEEN NARRA, an Individual, INDYZEN, INC., a California corporation d.b.a. AppDevelopment.com, Inc. d.b.a. Tech.US, Inc, Defendants-Appellees. 11th Circuit. Case No. 21-14051. January 26, 2023. Appeal from the U.S. District […]