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 […]
Articles
Insurance — Homeowners — Water damage — Assignee’s action against insurer — Where insurer sent insured a letter unequivocally denying coverage, not because of insured’s failure to comply with policy provisions, but because, after inspection, it believed that roof leak on which claim was based was the result of “wear, tear and deterioration” not covered in policy, trial court erred in entering summary judgment in favor of insurer based on lack of compliance with insurance policy’s requirement that insured submit certain documentation to support the claimed loss
47 Fla. L. Weekly D1551a WATER RESTORATION GUYS, INC., a/a/o Felisa Sanchez, Appellant, v. CITIZENS PROPERTY INSURANCE CORPORATION, Appellee. 3rd District. Case No. 3D21-0653. L.T. Case No. 18-8949-CC. July 20, 2022. An Appeal from the County Court for Miami-Dade County, Luis Perez-Medina, Judge. Counsel: Ramon Rodriguez & Blanco-Herrera, LLP, and Daniel J. Rodriguez; Kula & […]
Insurance — Personal injury protection — Coverage — Medical expenses — X-rays — Reasonable, related, and necessary treatment — Trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of provider on relatedness and necessity issues — Insurer’s expert affidavit, in which qualified expert opined that the ordering of x-rays was not necessary or related to the accident in the absence of objective findings and documentation warranting x-rays, created a genuine issue of material fact as to relatedness and necessity — Trial court erred in striking insurer’s affirmative defenses of fraud, upcoding, and unbundling based on determination that claims for reimbursement of charges relating to those defenses had been voluntarily withdrawn from complaint — Defenses were not wholly irrelevant to claims remaining in operative complaint
47 Fla. L. Weekly D1549a STAR CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. GABLES INSURANCE RECOVERY, INC., a/a/o Ana Maria Correa, Appellee. 3rd District. Case Nos. 3D21-0033 & 3D21-0377. L.T. Case Nos. 19-63 AP, 10-11718 SP. July 20, 2022. Appeals from the County Court for Miami-Dade County, Linda Melendez, Judge. Counsel: Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A., and […]
Arbitration — Award — Vacation of award — Rehearing — Attorney’s fees — Prevailing party — Determination by arbitrator — First judge did not err in vacating initial arbitration award in its entirety because first arbitrator exceeded his powers by fashioning a remedy not authorized by arbitration agreement — Judge did not err in denying motion filed by party who sought damages for breach of contract to be declared prevailing party for purpose of awarding fees and costs because agreement required arbitrator to determine prevailing party and any decision as to prevailing party was premature because matter was not final — Rehearing followed by second arbitration award — Second judge did not abuse discretion in confirming second arbitration award — Second arbitrator did not exceed powers as authorized by arbitration agreement and parties’ stipulation that, rather than proceeding with full rehearing, they would file competing summary disposition motions based upon evidentiary record established during the prior ten-day evidentiary hearing conducted by original arbitrator — Arbitrator did not deviate from controlling precedent by concluding that party’s failure to prove damages at original hearing rendered opponent the prevailing party for purposes of award of attorney’s fees and costs, notwithstanding determination that opponent had materially breached the parties’ agreement — Argument that a party who proves a material breach of contract is always the prevailing party in litigation is rejected
47 Fla. L. Weekly D1533a ANTHONY PERERA, Appellant, v. BOBBY GENOVESE, Appellee. 4th District. Case Nos. 4D21-2060 & 4D21-2755. July 20, 2022. Appeal from the Circuit Court for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; Martin Bidwill, Judge, and Renatha Francis, Judge, sitting by designation; L.T. Case No. CACE19-002815. Counsel: Wayne R. Atkins of Xander Law […]
Contracts — Noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements — Discovery — Customer lists — Trade secrets — Appeals — Certiorari — Trial court did not depart from essential requirements of the law by denying plaintiff’s request for production of defendant’s customer lists without conducting an evidentiary hearing or an in-camera review of the requested documents — Confidential business information, such as the customer lists at issue, are trade secrets as a matter of law, and plaintiff has failed to show a reasonable necessity for the documents — Judges — Disqualification — Facts stated in plaintiff’s motion to disqualify are insufficient to require disqualification where motion and attached affidavit base assertions on trial judge’s tone of voice — Additionally, trial court’s statement that plaintiff should come forward with names of its clients it alleges to have been solicited was made only in trial court’s required assessment of whether plaintiff had shown a reasonable necessity of entitlement to defendant’s client list
47 Fla. L. Weekly D1546a NEXUSVC and FIRST HEALTH SOLUTIONS, LLC, Petitioners, v. HIEG PARTNERS, LLC, et al., Respondents. 3rd District. Case No. 3D22-635. L.T. Case No. 20-20667. July 20, 2022. On Petition for Writ of Certiorari from the Circuit Court for Miami-Dade County, David C. Miller, Judge. A Case of Original Jurisdiction Prohibition. Counsel: […]