January 6, 2022 | Legal Alerts, Newsletters - 2022

Supreme Court amends appellate rules to permit immediate appeals from punitive damage orders

Today, the Florida Supreme Court issued a new rule permitting immediate appeals from trial court orders granting or denying motions for leave to amend to add a punitive damage claim.  Until now, only orders permitting punitive damage claims were appealable, but only if the trial court did not follow the statutory procedure requiring that motions for leave to amend be supported by an evidentiary proffer and proposed amended Complaint.  In other words, the appellate courts could not review the merits of the motion for leave to amend, but could only determine whether the procedural requirements were met.  As of today, the appellate courts may review the merits of any proposed punitive damage amendment, along with any procedural irregularities.

December 21, 2021 | Legal Alerts

Uncovering Fraud in Workers' Compensation Claims

Workers’ compensation fraud remains a serious problem in Florida. When employees wrongly file fraudulent claims, it raises the cost of doing business for employers, who must then pay higher premiums. In turn, this affects employees who may get lower wages. Although state law aims to prevent workers’ compensation fraud and imposes stiff penalties on alleged fraudsters, it is not always a successful deterrent. There are hundreds of investigations each year in Florida, and many of them result in prosecutions. 

December 9, 2021 | Legal Alerts

MRI Associates: “a schedule of maximum charges establishes a ceiling but not a floor”

This morning, the Florida Supreme Court issued its long-awaited ruling in MRI Associates of Tampa v. State Farm  No. SC18-1390.  On appeal from The Second District Court of Appeal, the Court accepted jurisdiction in this matter to determine whether State Farm’s policy of insurance properly elected of the schedule of maximum charges. The Court agreed with the Second, finding the PIP policy permitted the insurer to utilize the schedule of maximum charges even though the policy refers to other statutory factors used to determine reasonableness.

December 9, 2021 | Legal Alerts

Insurance Claims for Mass Shooting Events

While there is no universal definition of what constitutes a mass shooting, after the Sandy Hook Elementary School murders, Congress defined “mass killings” as those involving “three or more killings in a single incident.” The FBI uses the term “mass murder” and defines it as an event where four or more individuals are killed in a single incident, but the FBI does not have a formal definition for mass shooting. The terminology and definitions matter because they can affect the type of insurance coverage that applies, as well as trigger exclusions.