47 Fla. L. Weekly D1804b UNIVERSAL PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. MARIA GURREONERO and JOSE GURREONERO, Appellees. 4th District. Case No. 4D22-1378. August 31, 2022. Appeal of nonfinal order from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; Jeffrey R. Levenson, Judge; L.T. Case No. CACE-20-010803. Counsel: Elizabeth K. Russo of […]
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Attorney’s fees — Costs — Offer of judgment — No error in denying motion claiming entitlement to attorney’s fees under section 768.79 after action against appellant was dismissed without prejudice, and subsequent amended complaint did not name appellant as a defendant — Likewise, section 57.041(1) did not provide a basis for appellant to recover his costs because no adjudication on merits occurred — Trial court’s involuntary dismissal without prejudice did not constitute a judgment on the merits — Because trial court entered the involuntary dismissal, the subsequent dismissal of appellant by plaintiff failed to trigger adjudication on the merits “second dismissal” provision under rule 1.420(a)(1) — Appellant was entitled to costs under rule 1.420(d) where trial court acted under rule 1.420(b) in voluntarily dismissing complaint against appellant, and action concluded with respect to appellant
47 Fla. L. Weekly D1738a JOHN ANNESSER, Appellant, v. INNOVATIVE SERVICE TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT SERVICES INC., Appellee. 3rd District. Case No. 3D19-2429. L.T. Case No. 17-12030. August 17, 2022. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Antonio Arzola, Judge. Counsel: Annesser Armenteros, PLLC, and John W. Annesser, Miguel Armenteros and Megan Conkey Gonzalez, for […]
Insurance — Homeowners — Coverage — Summary judgment — Affidavits — Error to enter summary judgment in favor of insurer on breach of contract complaint where decision was predicated on fatally deficient affidavit — Affidavit executed by insurer’s corporate representative was insufficient where it failed to state basis for affiant’s knowledge, was not dated, included numerous unsupported legal and factual conclusions, and was a cut-and-paste of insurer’s motion for summary judgment — While the court is permitted to strike inadmissible portions of an affidavit and rely on the admissible parts, subject affidavit remains invalid due to its complete failure to state any basis for the claims presented therein
47 Fla. L. Weekly D1672a THERESA GROMANN, Appellant, v. AVATAR PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee. 4th District. Case No. 4D21-1896. August 10, 2022. Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County; John S. Kastrenakes, Judge; L.T. Case No. 50-2017-CA-004244-XXXX-MB. Counsel: Monique A. Low of David Low & Associates, P.A., […]
Torts — Dismissal — Matters outside four corners of complaint — Action arising out of injuries sustained when plaintiff lost control of vehicle after he drove over defect in roadway that was covered with water and struck guardrail — Trial court did not err in dismissing with prejudice claims against owners of property abutting roadway alleging they negligently failed to maintain proper elevation of swale area by roadway as required by provision of county code — Trial court did not consider matters outside four corners of complaint when it determined that county code provision making property owners responsible for maintaining proper elevations within swale did not impose a legal non-delegable duty on property owners for injuries to motorists on roadway — Further, complaint did not allege that accumulated water caused defect in roadway, did not contend that property owners had duty to repair defect in roadway, did not allege that the accident occurred in swale area which owners had duty to maintain, and did not allege that owners had any prior warning or knowledge of defect in roadway or accumulation of water that allegedly resulted because of the swale
47 Fla. L. Weekly D1686a ALFREDO LOPEZ, Appellant, v. MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, etc., et al., Appellees. 3rd District. Case No. 3D22-162. L.T. Case No. 19-31342. August 10, 2022. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Vivianne Del Rio, Judge. Counsel: Giasi Law, P.A., Melissa A. Giasi and Erin M. Berger (Tampa), for appellant. Law […]
Attorney’s fees — Prevailing party — Appeal from order awarding attorney’s fees and costs and attorney’s fees for fees incurred in litigating amount of fees reversed in light of appellate court’s reversal of substantive portion of summary judgment on which awards were based and remand with instructions — Reversal is without prejudice to filing new appeal after trial court has concluded its labor
47 Fla. L. Weekly D1585a NEW HORIZONS CONDOMINIUM MASTER ASSOCIATION, INC., Appellant, v. ROBERT HARDING AND FIFTH HORIZONS CONDOMINIUM, INC., Appellees. 3rd District. Case No. 3D21-810. L.T. Case No. 16-27442. July 27, 2022. An Appeal from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, Charles K. Johnson, Judge. Counsel: Scott J. Edwards, P.A., and Scott J. Edwards […]