Appeals in Brief
A Primer on the New Privacy Rules for Florida Court Filings
Real electronic filing may finally make its way to Florida courts in the not-too-distant future. But before that happens, the Florida Supreme Court wants to make sure that there isn't too much private information in court filings for the public to access. On...
FL Supreme Court Says Mid-Trial Isn’t Too Late to Serve DFS
It must be a trial lawyer’s worst nightmare. You’re in the middle of the trial you spent months preparing for. Your opening went well. Your witnesses are doing great. You can see that your client’s case is resonating with the jury. Your clients are...
Walmart v. Dukes Primarily Impacts Civil Rights Class Actions
2011 will surely go down as the Year of the Class Action in the Supreme Court of the United States. If you were surprised at the potential effects of Concepcion v. AT&T Mobility LLC for consumer class actions (unlike many observers, I didn't see it as their end),...
Malpractice Insurance Covers Client Trust Funds Lost in Scam, 11th Circuit Holds
If you’re like me, some mornings you’re greeted by an email that purports to be from a potential client (usually located in China, Hong Kong, or Japan) that reads something like this: Dear Counsel [or Sir or some other generic greeting], On behalf of XYZ...
FLORIDA’S 4TH DCA SAYS PIP POLICY PAYMENT TERMS TRUMP STATUTORY LIMITS
Building on its May 4, 2011 decision in MRI Associates of America, LLC v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Company, No. 4D10-2807, which I covered in this recent post, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal issued a second major PIP decision on May 18, 2011, Kingsway...
Swift and Automatic Payment of Florida PIP Claims? 4th DCA Says Not So fast.
The Florida Motor Vehicle No Fault Law has been described over and again by the Florida Supreme Court as designed to “provide swift and virtually automatic payment” for medical treatments to car accident victims “so that the injured insured may get...
More Evidence of Changing Winds in Florida Foreclosure Appeals
The Foreclosure Tide May Be Turning — In Florida Appellate Courts, At Least
Florida’s Third District Court of Appeals had harsh words for a foreclosing bank's counsel in Jade Winds Association v. Citibank, N.A., No. 3D11-275, released on Wednesday, May 4, 2011. The 3rd DCA not only reversed an order that had cancelled a foreclosure sale...
Concepcion Decision Not Surprising And Not the End of Consumer Class Actions
Sometime around 2004, I heard that consumer class actions were dead. Why? Companies were inserting into consumer contracts mandatory arbitration clauses that waived the right to proceed as a class action. Courts were upholding them – arbitration clauses are,...