News & Events

Florida has been known as one of the most difficult states for insurance companies to do business in. However, recently, Governor Ron DeSantis signed two important bills, Senate Bills 2D and 4D, into law that will change how insurance companies do business in Florida and the legal climate they may face. Given that the new laws take aim at some of the worst abuses propagated by plaintiffs’ lawyers, they can be thought of as consumer-friendly.

Noelia Vaccaro, an associate in the firm’s first party property & coverage practice, and appellate associate, Sam Spinner, prevailed on a motion for summary judgment on a first-party property claim that was originally reported as a loss caused by a faulty sprinkler head. Several years later, and in the middle of the case, the plaintiffs changed the cause of loss to Hurricane Irma. The trial court granted final summary judgment for the defense, finding that the evidence showed that Hurricane Irma did not create an opening in the property’s exterior walls that allowed for interior water intrusion.  

Noelia Vaccaro, an associate in the firm’s first party property & coverage practice, and appellate associate, Sam Spinner, were recently successful in a first-party property Tropical Storm Gordon claim. The Defense filed a Daubert motion to strike the plaintiff’s expert. The court agreed that the plaintiff’s expert testimony did not meet the Daubert standard as the methodology was conclusory. As a result of the Court granting defendant’s Daubert motion, the plaintiffs dismissed the action on the eve of trial.