Car Accident Blog

In the case of Natalie S. Deutsch v. GEICO General Insurance Company, Case Number 4D18-2714 (Fla. 4th DCA October 30, 2019), Florida’s Fourth DCA held that a mobile gym operated out of the back of a truck was not considered an uninsured vehicle for purposes of UM...

In the case of Mastec North America, Inc. and Robert W. Dumas v. Kathleen Morakis, as guardian of Manual Perez Garcia, Case Number 4D18-1321 (Fla. 4th DCA October 2, 2019), Florida’s Fourth DCA held that an accident reconstruction expert’s opinion that an impaired...

Florida’s new law banning the use of cell phones in school zones and construction zones goes into effect October 1, 2019. Section 316.306, Fla. Stat. sets out new ways for law enforcement to enforce the “Florida Ban on Texting While Driving Law” found in section...

In the case of Jose Raul Angeles-Delgado and Jessica Carillo v. Julio Costa Benitez, Case Number 3D19-1022 (Fla. 3rd DCA September 11, 2019), Florida’s Third DCA held that financial relationships between the defendant’s experts, the defendant’s law firm, and the...

In the case of the Estate of Gustavo Ramirez-Lucas v. John Hutchinson and Andrew Hutchinson, Case Number 4D18-2109 (Fla. 4th DCA August 14, 2019), Florida Fourth DCA held that a father who had executed a bill of sale to his son and removed the vehicle from his insurance policy was...

In the case of Timothy Patrick Collins v. Auto Partners V. LLC, d/b/a McGuire Chevrolet, Case Number 4D18-1855 (Fla. 4th DCA July 31, 2019), Florida’s Fourth DCA held that a written rental agreement is not required to apply the federal Graves Amendment in 49 U.S.C. Sec....

In the case of Antonio Bejarano v. City of Coral Gables, Case Number 3D17-2636 (Fla. 3rd DCA July 10, 2019), Florida’s Third DCA reversed a summary judgment in favor of the city regarding the placement of palm trees near a roadway so as to obstruct the view of...

In the case of Progressive American Insurance Company v. Nancy N. Pawelczyk, Case Number 2D18-1651 (Fla. 2d DCA May 15, 2019), Florida’s Second DCA held that a passenger in a rental vehicle was not insured for UM benefits because a temporary substitute auto was not considered...

In the case of Steven Paul Anderson v. Mary Mitchell, Case Number 2D18-2864 (Fla. 2d DCA April 5, 2019), Florida’s Second DCA held that Florida’s so-called “accident report privilege” is not a true privilege to prevent disclosure but is instead just a bar on...

In the case of Ashley Rierson v. David Deveau, Case Number 3D18-0246 (Fla. 3rd DCA March 20, 2019), Florida’s Third DCA held that it was reversible error for lawyers to imply during closing argument that no traffic citation had been issued. Facts At Issue Rierson...

In the case of Shawn Restal v. Bridget A. Nocera, et al., Case Numbers 5D17-2 and 5D17-1635 (Fla. 5th DCA March 8, 2019), Florida’s Fifth DCA held that the negligence of the rear driver in a rear-end collision must be the sole (or only) cause of the collision in order to...

In the case of Serenity Harper v. GEICO General Insurance Company, Case Number 2D17-4987 (Fla. 2nd DCA March 1, 2019), Florida’s Second DCA held that the 60-day time (see section 624.155, Fla. Stat.) to cure an insurer violation runs from the date of electronic submission of...

In the case of Ammar Al Batha v. Agency For Health Care Administration, Case Number 1D17-828 (Fla. 1st DCA January 14, 2019), Florida’s First DCA held that the estate of a Medicaid recipient has standing to challenge Medicaid’s lien rights after the death of the...

In the case of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Karl H. Wallace, Case Numbers 5D17-813 and 5D17-2852, (Fla. 5th DCA December 21 2018), Florida’s Fifth DCA held that a testifying radiologist’s annotations made to MRI films were not admissible into...

In the case of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Denise Lorraine Hanania, Case Number 1D17-2237 (Fla. 1st DCA December 10, 2018), Florida’s First DCA refused to allow State Farm to defend an uninsured motorist claim with ridiculous arguments. In this case, a...

In the case of State Farm Automobile Insurance Company v. Marielle Lyde, Case Number 2D17-1014 (Fla. 2d DCA October 5, 2018), Florida’s Second DCA held that family members who live in the same household but have their own separate automobile policies do not get to choose the...

In the case of Ashley Pogue v. Jennifer Garib, Case Number 4D17-2638 (Fla. 4th DCA October 3, 2018), Florida’s Fourth DCA reversed a $20,000 additur for pain and suffering added by the judge after a jury awarded zero dollars in pain and suffering despite finding that the...

In the case of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company v. Joseph V. Ferranti, Case Numbers 5D16-3980 and 5D17-756 (Fla. 5th DCA September 28, 2018), Florida’s Fifth DCA held that summary judgment for causation issues in a car accident case is not appropriate. Facts Of...

In the case of GEICO Indemnity Company v. Ricardo Perez, Case Numbers 3D17-2317, 2407, and 2514 (Fla. 3rd DCA September 20, 2018), Florida’s Third DCA held that a $1.7 million jury verdict in a UM case needed retrial on the issue of whether the insured’s rejection of UM...

In the case of Alberto Valle v. Scott Flory, Case Number 2D16-2848 (Fla. 2d DCA August 15, 2018), a proposal for settlement that was missing an attorney’s signature in the certificate of service was held to be valid. Background Facts Mr. Valle sued Mr. Flory (of course there is...