Summary of Case by Oliver Bryce Clark, Associate Attorney Upon Defendant’s removal, the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division ruled on the merits of Defendant, Rockhill Insurance Company’s Motion for Summary Judgment, finding, for the below-stated reasons, that the same admitted of disputed issues of material fact which precluded judgment in favor of Defendant. In Donald E. Clark; and Stacy…
Arguelles v. Citizens Property Insurance Corporation
Summary of Case by Oliver Bryce Clark, Associate Attorney Faced with an appeal from the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Appellant, Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the Third District Court of Appeal for the State of Florida addressed whether said grant was appropriate where the insurance policy in effect between Appellee, Donato Arguelles, and Appellant required the…
American Integrity Insurance Company v. Estrada
Summary of Case by Allison Van Fleet, Associate Attorney American Integrity Insurance Company v. Estrada, not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing (Fla. 3d DCA June 26, 2019) Issue: Whether the trial court’s striking of American Integrity’s affirmative defense alleging the insured concealed or misrepresented material facts or circumstances, engaged in fraudulent conduct, or made false statements…
Lehrfield v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company
Summary of Case by Emily Walsh, Associate Attorney FACTS OF THE CASE: The insureds’ policy imposed a duty to promptly notify Liberty Mutual of a suspected covered loss. On April 5, 2017, the insureds discovered a water leak under their kitchen sink. A plumbing company repaired the leak the same day and Liberty Mutual was not given the opportunity to…
Hatch v GeoVera Specialty Insurance Company
Summary of Case by Oliver Bryce Clark, Associate Attorney Faced with competing Motions for Summary Judgment, the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, recently considered whether an insurer bears responsibility for structural damage done to an insureds’ property and the consequent loss of the insureds’ water heater system based upon a plain language analysis of the extant insurance contract between…
Kennedy v. First Protective Insurance Company
Summary of Case by Allison Van Fleet, Associate Attorney The Third District Court of Appeal has recently interpreted Florida Statute § 627.7015 to preclude an insurer from demanding appraisal prior to informing the insureds of the statutory right to mediate. In Kennedy v. First Protective Insurance Company, No. 3D18-1993, 2019 WL 1051386 (March 6, 2019), a dispute arose between the…
People’s Trust Insurance Company v. Garcia
Based upon a recent decision, in Florida when a homeowner’s insurance carrier admits coverage of a portion of an insurance claim and causation is disputed, causation can now be determined by an appraisal panel, rather than solely a question of law to be determined by the court. The Third District Court of Appeal of Florida has recently made this distinction…
You’ve been hacked: Now what?
Lawyers have an obligation to safeguard client data and notify clients of data breaches, and the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility has issued a formal opinion that reaffirms that duty. In Formal Opinion 483, issued in October, the standing committee also provided new guidance to help attorneys take reasonable steps to meet this obligation. “Lawyers today face…
Caselaw Access Project gives free access to 360 years of American court cases
A major project digitizing court cases launched Monday, making available 6.4 million American cases dating back to 1658. The Caselaw Access Project—a partnership between Harvard Law School’s Library Innovation Lab and the legal research company Ravel Law—spent the last three years digitizing 627 reporters for a total of 40 million scanned pages. Outside of the Library of Congress, it is the…