Earlier this year, the Florida Supreme Court issued a surprise decision adopting the Daubert evidentiary standard for the admission of expert witness testimony. Although the legislature had passed legislation adopting the Daubert standard, the Florida Supreme Court as previously composed rejected the legislation to the extent it was procedural, and later ruled that the Daubert […]
In Arch Insurance Co. v. Lender Processing Services, Inc. (Fla. 1st DCA Aug. 29, 2019), the First District Court of Appeal rejected a party’s attempt to appeal a previously-rendered order by obtaining a new order on the same motion. In 2016, the trial court entered an order ruling that there was no valid settlement agreement […]
In Hopson v. Deutsche Bank Nat’l Trust Co (Fla. 2d DCA Aug. 28, 2019), the Second DCA held that a borrower that successfully challenges a lender’s standing to bring a foreclosure action cannot also recover contractual attorney’s fees. In the trial court, the borrower successfully argued that Deutsche Bank was not the true party in […]
In Real State Golden Investments, Inc. v. Larrain (Fla. 3d DCA Aug. 21, 2019), a trial court judge made improper comments following his denial of a motion to intervene. Although the Defendants had not filed a motion to stay the proceedings, nor suggested that they intended to file one, the trial court nonetheless denied a […]
In Varela v. OLA Condominium Ass’n, Inc. (Fla. 3d DCA Aug. 21, 2019), a condominium association subpoenaed a nonparty attorney to appear for deposition in the case, and produce numerous documents related to various corporate entities. The attorney filed a motion for protective order, claiming that the subpoena requested documents protected by the attorney-client privilege. […]
In Reno v. Hurchalla (Fla. 3d DCA Aug. 21, 2019), Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal approved a trial court’s order approving the transfer of the historic Janet Reno homestead to Miami-Dade College. Janet Reno was a prominent figure in Florida history. She was the first woman to serve as Dade County state attorney, and […]
Under Florida law, the mere fact that a negligent act occurred in a medical setting does not make it medical negligence. The distinction is important, because vastly different laws and procedures apply to each class of claim. Most importantly, a condition precedent to bringing a medical negligence claim is compliance with the presuit screening and […]
Under a new law passed by the legislature earlier this year, the amount in controversy threshold between county court and circuit court cases will raise to $30,000 on January 1, 2020. The threshold will raise again to $50,000 in January of 2023. However, until January 2023, the District Courts of Appeal will retain jurisdiction over […]
In Sanchez v. GEICO Indem. Co. (Fla. 1st DCA July 22, 2019), an unusual series of events caused a juror to be improperly included on a panel. The First DCA affirmed the trial court’s granting of a new trial, despite the fact that the party opposing the juror did not make a final objection to […]
In Harrell v. The Ryland Group (Fla. 1st DCA Aug. 13, 2019), a homeowner was injured when an attic ladder collapsed underneath him. The homeowner sued the builder, alleging that the builder was negligent in its installation of the ladder. The builder moved for summary judgment, arguing that the homeowner’s claim was barred by the […]