Update May 2021: The Florida Supreme Court has adopted the Federal Summary Judgment Standard as of May 1, 2021. Click to read my new article about the amendments to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510. On October 8th, the Florida Supreme Court will hear oral argument on the case of Wilsonart, LLC v. Lopez. In […]
Updated November 25, 2019 to reflect the court’s order on motion for rehearing, granting the appellant’s request to certify a question of great public importance In Suzuki Motor Corp. v. Winckler (Fla. 1st DCA Aug. 29, 2019), a divided panel of the First District Court of Appeal held that Plaintiff’s counsel in a personal injury […]
The Florida Supreme Court has issued an order seeking briefs on the issue of whether Florida should adopt the Federal summary judgment standard. Earlier this year, I wrote about the case of Lopez v. Wilsonart, LLC. In that case, a semi truck driver was granted summary judgment based upon dashboard cam video evidence, which clearly […]
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 […]
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 […]
In Lopez v. Wilsonart (Fla. 5th DCA Jul 12, 2019), the Fifth DCA held that a trial court erred by granting summary judgment based upon video evidence. A question of fact existed because an eyewitness’s testimony differed from the video, even though the video completely contradicted an eyewitness’s testimony about the facts of the incident. […]
In a recent opinion, the Florida Supreme Court held that proposals for settlement were not ambiguous despite failing to address separate claims brought against codefendants. With its holding, the majority opinion reiterated its policy of discouraging the “nitpicking” of proposals for settlement, and expressed the court’s continued frustration that proposals for settlement seem to create […]
Every week, Scott J. Edwards, P.A. brings you this summary of selected opinions issued by Florida’s appellate courts in the previous week, with a focus on opinions discussing civil procedure, appellate procedure, trial practice, evidence, commercial litigation, insurance litigation, technology, and personal injury litigation. This article covers the week of February 1-5, 2016. Click here to learn more about […]
Every week, Scott J. Edwards, P.A. brings you this summary of selected opinions issued by Florida’s appellate courts in the previous week, with a focus on opinions discussing civil procedure, appellate procedure, trial practice, evidence, commercial litigation, insurance litigation, technology, and personal injury litigation. This article covers the weeks of January 11-22, 2016. Click here to learn more about […]