Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice Blog

In the case of Nieves v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Case Number 5D17-893 (Fla. 5th DCA May 25, 2018), State Farm challenged all of the damages awarded to the plaintiff with a “remittitur” and ends up getting a new trial just on the narrow issue of the...

In the case of Robert Walerowicz v. Mandy Nicky Armand-Hosang, Case Number 4D17-1900 (Fla. 4th DCA)(May 23, 2018), the Fourth DCA held that a “combination of [the] Plaintiff’s testimony and [a] surgeon’s testimony, coupled with the introduction of the medical...

In the case of Rodriguez v. Nicolitz, Case Number 1D16-4604, (Fla 1st DCA May 18, 2018), the First DCA held that a pre-suit affidavit from an “infectious disease” specialist did not comply with section 766.106, Fla. Stat. as the “same or similar specialty” as...

In the case of Koppel v. Ochoa, Case Number SC16-1474 (May 17, 2018), the Florida Supreme Court held that the filing a motion for enlargement of time does not automatically extend the deadline to extend a proposal for settlement. What Happened In The Case This case arose from a 2011...

In the case of Dominos Pizza, LLC v. Wiederhold, 5D16-2794 (Fla. 5th DCA 2018), an injured person got married after becoming injured but before his death.  After his death, his surviving spouse sued the driver (and Dominos Pizza for vicarious liability) for causing the accident...

In the case of Jervis v. Castaneda, Case Number 4D17-332, GEICO sought to enforce a UM rejection form that was “electronically signed” by the plaintiff. The Fourth DCA held that electronic process used did not comply with Florida’s UM statute and was void. In...

In the case of Target Corporation v. Kaufer, 4D16-3413 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018) a jury verdict for the plaintiff was reversed on appeal where, as a matter of law, Target could not be held legally responsible for the actions of another customer dripping soap on a waxed and...

In the case of Simon’s Trucking, Inc. v. Lieupo, Case Number 1D17-2065, the First DCA held that section 376.313, Fla. Stat. does not permit a private right of action for personal injuries and certified a question of great public importance to the Florida Supreme Court. Facts Of...

In the case of The National Deaf Academy, LLC v. Townes, Case Number SC16-1587 (April 26, 2018), the Florida Supreme Court held that a physical hold or restraint placed on a patient residing at the facility by an employee was not considered medical treatment, and therefore, could not...

In the case of Cantore v. West Boca Medical Center, Inc., Case Number SC15-1926, the Florida Supreme Court released a corrected opinion on April 26, 2018 providing clarity on when the “reckless disregard” standard applies in medical malpractice cases involving the...

The So-Called One Expert Per Specialty Rule The “one expert per specialty” rule was addressed in Gutierrez v. Vargas, SC15-1924 (March 22, 2018) by the Florida Supreme Court. What Happened in the Case Gutierrez (a minor child) brought a medical malpractice case against...

In Faris v. Southern-Owners Insurance Company, Case Number 5D16-4037, the Florida Fifth DCA threw out sanctions ordered by the trial court against a plaintiff who underwent spinal surgery after being ordered to postpone his surgery so that the insurance company could obtain a...

What happens when one of the survivors in a wrongful death case bears some degree of fault and there was a settlement? The answer to this question can be found in Hess v. Hess, 758 So. 2d 1203 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) in that the probate judge should determine comparative fault among the...

It is very important to know what caused you to slip and fall.  In the case of Lago v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, Case Number 3D16-1899 (December 13, 2017), summary judgment was given to Costco because the claimant could not offer evidence as to what caused her to slip and...

The insurance company denied UM (underinsured motorist) coverage for a golf cart accident based on a policy exclusion in Amica Mutual Insurance Company v. Willis, Case Number 2D16-2319 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018). The Second DCA held that the insurance policy in question could not exclude UM...

Florida’s Second DCA announced a new rule in Payas v. Adventist Health System/Sunbelt, Inc. d/b/a Florida Hospital Celebration, et. al, Case Number 2D16-3615 (Fla. 2d DCA 2018), where it was stated that hospitals in Florida have a nondelegable duty maintain surgical robots and...

History Of Florida’s Medical Malpractice Damage Caps Florida initially passed its statute capping noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases in 2003 during the so-called “medical malpractice crisis.” Since that time, medical malpractice has become less of a...

In Stewart v. Draleaus, (Case Number 4D15-2320, 4D15-2321- and 4D15-2322), a violation of a temporary motorcycle license, not allowing him to the motorcycle driver to carry a passenger, was held to be considered relevant evidence in a trial. Contested Facts Of The Accident To...

In Florida, there is generally not a duty for a person to take affirmative action to protect or provide aid to another unless there is a “special relationship” that exists.  A “special relationship” exists under a number of different scenarios including...

In Weaver v. Myers, (Case Number SC15-1538)(Fla. 2017), the Florida Supreme Court held that ex parte communications with a plaintiff’s treating physicians as part of the medical malpractice pre-suit process is unconstitutional. In addition, the Court held that a person does not...