News & Events

Tom McCausland and Josh Nathanson, both partners in the Hollywood office, tried an admitted liability auto negligence case where Plaintiff sustained significant fractures to both wrists with surgery and hardware secured to both wrists. Plaintiff had additional claims of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and PTSD, which would require treatment for over 50 years following the accident. The defense was Plaintiff sustained a permanent injury from an orthopedic standpoint, but received a good result and did not need any future treatment and that she did not suffer from Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. The defense stipulated to past medical bills of $126,439.51. The plaintiff’s attorney asked the Jury to award $20 million for her injuries and the Defense suggested the jury award $650,000. After deliberating for 3 hours, the jury returned a verdict of $1,465,439.51. There was over $5 million in coverage and there was never a demand of less than the policy limits. 

Hollywood partners Seth R. Goldberg, Joshua E. Nathanson, Michael J. Paris and appellate partner Hinda Klein recently obtained a defense verdict. This was a products liability case based upon a claim that the product, a portable generator was defective as it caused severe burns to the plaintiff. The defense was that there was no defect as several hundred of the same generators were sold by the defendant, our client without incident. Despite the fact that the plaintiff told the ER Doctor he was putting gasoline in the generator when it exploded, the plaintiff's attorney asked the jury to ignore this fact and argued that the generator was defective and that is what caused the injuries.

While plaintiffs’ lawyers like to continuously point their fingers at insurance companies, the reality is that insurers must contend with a number of minefields and difficulties on all sides. When insurance companies deny claims, they are portrayed as heartless and penny-pinching; however, increases in fraud and litigation have made things precarious for Florida’s homeowners' insurance companies. Now, many of them are on the verge of bankruptcy and could go out of business without help from the Florida Legislature.