News & Events

Partner Elliott Tubbs III and associate Ryan Shapot obtained Final Summary Judgment in a first party property claim on behalf of a major Florida homeowners insurance carrier. The claim arose from damages alleged to have come from a plumbing leak under the kitchen sink, but when the Insurer inspected the property, the repairs were already underway and the claimed damage was already removed and discarded.  The Insurer denied coverage based on it being significantly prejudiced by not having been given a reasonable opportunity to inspect the claimed damage.  The Court found that the Insureds failed to comply with the post-loss conditions contained in the insurance policy and that the Insureds materially breached the insurance policy.  

Joshua C. Canton, managing partner of the firm's Tallahassee, Florida office, along with Justin B. Hales, an associate in the firm’s Tallahassee, Florida office, recently prevailed on a motion for summary judgment in a private whistleblower action where they argued the employer did not qualify as an “employer” as defined, and even if the employer qualified as an “employer”, there were legitimate non-discriminatory reasons for the employees termination.

Tampa managing partner Michael Kraft secured a defense verdict in an admitted liability case in Hillsborough County, Florida, where a truck accident resulted in the total loss of the plaintiff’s car. Both the husband and wife received three injections to their neck and three to their back and each underwent a lumbar surgery, with medical expenses totaling $150,000 for the wife and $200,000 for the husband. The defense disputed causation, arguing that the plaintiffs already had an attorney on their first doctor’s visit and that the accident was not the cause of their injuries. Despite plaintiffs seeking $1.4 million each, the jury returned a total defense verdict and found no causation. Defense served Proposals for Settlement that were rejected and we are currently pursuing our attorneys fees and cost. 

Noelia C. Vaccaro recently prevailed on a motion to dismiss in an AOB case in Miami-Dade County, in which the Plaintiff filed a declaratory judgment action based on an alleged assignment of post-loss benefits (AOB) executed by the insured in late 2021. Defendant argued that the AOB failed to include a written, itemized, per-unit cost estimate of the services to be performed, only providing a price list, which violates section 627.7152(2)(a)4. The Court agreed with the Defendant, which held that a price list does not meet statutory requirements. The attached invoices were not incorporated into the AOB, rendering them insufficient to meet the statutory requirement.

Tom McCausland and Miles McGrane, IV, both partners in our Hollywood office, recently obtained a defense verdict in a Highlands County, Florida case involving an accident between our client’s tractor-trailer and the Plaintiff’s Honda.