Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice Blog

In the case of Frank Bellezza v. James Menendez and Crary Buchanan, P.A., Case Number 4D17-3277 (Fla. 4th DCA March 6, 2019), Florida’s Fourth DCA held that “while letters of protection may be admitted to establish bias, any further inquiry regarding the ‘cozy...

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 Steven Younkin v. Nathan Blackwelder, Case Number 5D18-3548 (Fla. 5th DCA February 22, 2019), Florida’s Fifth DCA held that the argument of “what is good for the goose is good for the gander” does not apply to Boecher discovery for a plaintiff. ...

In the case of Steven B. Katz et al. v. Frank, Weinberg & Black, PL, Case Number 4D18-1215 (Fla. 4th DCA January 30, 2019), a noncompliant agreement for approximately $500,000 in referral fees on a contingency fee case was considered void under Florida because the attorneys did...

In the case of Michelle Davis as personal representative of the Estate of Sandra Dale Essex v. Michael A. Karr, M.D., et al, Case Number 5D18-149 (Fla. 5th DCA January 25, 2019), Florida’s Fifth DCA held that pre-suit affidavits from an emergency room physician, a radiologist,...

In the case of Arch Insurance Company, v. Kubicki Draper, LLP, Case Number 4D17-2889 (Fla. 4th DCA January 23, 2019), the insurance company sought to hold the law firm it hired to defend its insured responsible for malpractice after the insurance company was “forced” to...

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 Lee Memorial Health System v. Progressive Select Insurance Company, the Florida Supreme Court held that Lee County’s hospital lien ordinance was unconstitutional as a “special law” improperly impairing private contracts. The LMHS Lien Law And How...

In the case of Rolando P. Ruiz v. Tenet Hialeah Healthsystem, Inc., Case Number SC17-1562 (Fla. December 20, 2018), a directed verdict in favor of a defendant doctor was reversed by the Florida Supreme Court because a directed verdict is improper unless all potential malpractice has...

In the case of Jesse Anthony Eckols v. 21st Century Centennial Insurance Company, Case Number 5D17-2904 (Fla. 5th DCA December 7, 2018), Florida’s Fifth DCA held that the UIM exclusion while riding a motorcycle in the plaintiff’s automobile policy was ambiguous and,...

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 Hayes Robertson Group, Inc. v. Timothy Christopher Cherry, Case Numbers 3D-18-106 and 3D17-2704 (Fla. 3rd DCA December 12, 2018) Florida’s Third DCA upheld a trial court’s exclusion of expert testimony regarding “habitual addiction” in a...

In the case of Brown & Brown, Inc. v. James T. Gelsomino and Ace American Insurance Company, Case Number 4D17-3737 (Fla. 4th DCA November 28, 2018), Florida’s Fourth DCA held that a right to have a case outcome determined by the joint and several liability scheme in...

In the case of Sandra Mattick v. Ernie Lisch, Case Number 2D17-3645 (Fla. 2d DCA November 2, 2018), Florida’s Second DCA reversed a dismissal for failure to substitute a deceased party and outlined the proper procedure for what should be done when the defendant to a personal...

In the case of Fleurimond Barthelemy v. Safeco Insurance Company of Illinois, Case Number 4D17-1254 and 4D17-1543 (Fla. 4th DCA October 24, 2018), Florida’s Fourth DCA held that an insurance company could not deny coverage for “failure to cooperate” when the insured...

In the case of Richard Delisle v. Crane Co., Case Number SC16-2182 (Fla. October 15, 2018), the Florida Supreme Court announced its disapproval of the Daubert standard as an unconstitutional infringement on the Court’s rule making authority.  The Court had previously rejected...

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 W. Riley Allen v. Jairo Rafael Nunez, Case Number SC16-1164 (Fla. October 4, 2018), the Florida Supreme Court issued an opinion upholding the simple terms of a proposal for settlement and calling a challenge to “plain language” as...

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...