Civil Litigation
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Total Negligence Cases: 20
Plaintiff tenant sued defendants, the owners of her duplex, after a portion of her kitchen ceiling collapsed and fell on her head and shoulder. The jury returned a verdict for the tenant and awarded her $ 194,782.47 in damages. The owners appealed the judgment, contending that the trial court erred in failing to direct a verdict in their favor. The owners asserted that the tenant did not present any evidence to support her allegations of negligent repair of the roof or show a causal connection between the roof repair and her alleged injuries, claiming that the jury could have found liability only by impermissible stacking of inferences. Defendants argued that the jury was invited to infer that the attempted repair of the roof was negligently performed and then stack upon that the further inference that the defective roof repair caused the ceiling in the tenant's unit to collapse weeks later. The verdict could stand only if the first inference, i.e, that the repair was negligently performed, was established to the exclusion of any other reasonable inference. Although it was possible that the roof repair was negligently undertaken, one could also reasonably infer that any later leak had some other cause, such as concealed damage from the two recent hurricanes. Because the first inference was not established to the exclusion of all other reasonable inferences, the trial court should have granted the owners' motion for a directed verdict.
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Lowe
16 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C97 (11th Cir. December 13, 2002)
2002-12-13
NEGLIGENCE
Plaintiff
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Voineag v. Kline
27 Fla. L. Weekly D2592 (Fla. 4th DCA December 13, 2002)
2002-12-13
NEGLIGENCE
Defendants who move to change venue as soon as they discover venue is improper do not waiver their right to have venue changed.
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Viveiros v. Cooper
27 Fla. L. Weekly D2562 (Fla. 4th DCA December 6, 2002)
2002-12-06
NEGLIGENCE
When determining whether to compel disclosure of substance abuse treatment records, a court may require disclosure if the objecting party fails to provide a privilege log or if an in camera inspection of the records reveals that a psychotherapist-patient privilege does not apply. If the court decides the privilege applies to any of the records, it must then determine whether the requesting party has shown good cause for disclosure by examining whether the public interest and the need for disclosure outweigh the potential injury to the client, to the service provider-client relationship, and to the service provider itself as mandated in Section 397.501(7)(a), Florida Statutes (2001).
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A notice for trial is no longer viable if the plaintiff files an amended complaint, thereby reopening the pleadings. Florida R. Civ. Pro. 1.440 provides that
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The amendments proposed by the committee are: (1) a new instruction MI 8.1 on negligent supply of false information under section 552 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts (1977), with minor modifications to instruction MI 8 on fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation. The word
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Trial court
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An employer was able to apply defensive collateral estoppel against the employee in the remanded state law cause of action where a federal court had decided there was no causal connection between a whistle blower
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D
27 Fla. L. Weekly D1741 (Fla. 4th DCA August 9, 2002)
2002-08-09
NEGLIGENCE
The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court
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Gouveia v. Phillips
27 Fla. L. Weekly D1751 (Fla. 4th DCA August 9, 2002)
2002-08-09
NEGLIGENCE
In a medical malpractice action, expert testimony on the issue of informed consent is not necessary. The jury could decide whether the doctor told the plaintiff about the possibility of amputation and whether the plaintiff knew of and consented to the amputation.
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Pursuant to section 90.706, Florida Statutes, an expert witness may not use a treatise to bolster his or her testimony; treatises may only be used on cross-examination for impeachment purposes. Furthermore, experts may not testify that any magazine, periodical, treatise, or similar publication has listed them as a
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The subsequent filing of a non-suit when the filing attorney determines that the there is not sufficient proof, does not constitute an award of attorney
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The court embraced the holding in Bovis v. 7-Eleven, Inc., 505 So. 2d 661 (Fla. 5th DCA 1987), and held that property owners are not strictly liable or liable per se for injuries resulting from a dangerous condition on their property. Premises liability is not predicated on ownership of the property, but on the failure of the possessor of the property to use due care.
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D
27 Fla. L. Weekly D1283 (Fla. 5th DCA June 7, 2002)
2002-06-07
NEGLIGENCE
Any decision of the Florida Supreme Court announcing a new rule of law or applying an existing rule of law to a new fact situation must be given retrospective application by all Florida courts, unless the Supreme Court opinion states the application is to be prospective only. This includes
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In cases where part of expert opinion testimony is subject to the Frye test and part of the testimony is pure opinion, the trial court must determine which portions meet the Frye threshold for
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In cases involving equitable estoppel, the burden is on the party raising the claim to prove the three elements by clear and convincing evidence. Reliance cannot be claimed when the party asserting equitable estoppel knows the opposing party is mistaken, even when the opposing party was given notice of the error and failed to correct it. Furthermore, a claim of detrimental change in position cannot be claimed when the only harm was spending money that never should have been received in the first place.
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An insurer has an obligation to preauthorize surgery when an injury is within the coverage of the medical payments portion of the insurance policy.
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Respondents filed a personal injury suit against the insured. The insurer, Allstate, provided insurance coverage and defense to the parties allegedly at fault. Respondents then issued a subpoena directly to the insurer seeking extensive discovery including a privilege log. Pursuant to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.280(b)(5), the trial court ordered the insurer to produce the requested discovery. However, on appeal, the Third District Court of Appeal found that Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.280(b)(5) applied only to parties to an action. As the insurer was not a party to the litigation and the rule did not apply to non-parties, the insurer could not be made to produce its claim file or prepare a privilege log.
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The Georgia Board of Regents removed a case to Federal District Court and then sought dismissal under the Eleventh Amendment immunities for federal cases. If the case had remained in the State court, then the defendant State would have waived its sovereign immunity defense. The Supreme Court ruled that a State
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This was an action against the drainage district for negligent design and construction of a drainage canal into which decedent fell and drowned, and for failure to warn of the canal
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