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By the passage of Fla. Stat. 768.79 and Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.442, the Legislature and the Supreme Court have done more to contribute to the volume of appellate cases than any other act in the history of Florida jurisprudence.  Fla. Stat. 768.79 is the offer of judgment statute which was implemented by Fla.R.Civ.P. 1.442.  In Hess v. [...]

Belmont v North Broward Hospital District, 727 So.2d 992 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999) stands for the proposition that a party may not be permitted to alter testimony after discovery is concluded and the trial commences.  Such a practice has been termed “sandbagging,” a term derived from a surprise attack from behind with a sandbag. In [...]

There is seemingly no end to the appellate interpretations necessary because of the Supreme Court’s holding in Fabre v Marin, 623 So.2d 1182 (Fla. 1993).  There the Court found that Fla. Stat. 768.81 required that all nonjoined parties who could potentially be liable should be included on the jury form.  That case was followed by [...]

The Supreme Court of Florida recently had an opportunity to describe the limits of the work product privilege.  Northrup v. Acken, 865 So. 2d 1267 (Fla. 2004) was a medical malpractice case in which a doctor’s attorney was compelled by the trial court to provide copies to the plaintiff of all depositions that were intended [...]

Anyone who has attempted to deal with the State or Federal government on Medicaid or Medicare liens knows the frustration of attempting to settle that kind of lien.  That frustration is heightened when the case is one of uncertain liability or limited coverage.  Oftentimes the lien exceeds the value of the settlement. Until recently, there [...]

For years the District Courts of our State have had different opinions as to whether or not improper comments in final argument to which there was no contemporaneous objection could constitute the basis of a new trial.  These disagreements are exemplified by the Third District’s decision in Borden v Young, 479 So.2d 850 (Fla. 3rd [...]

In Taylor v. School Bd. of Brevard County, 29 Fla. L. Weekly S421 (Aug. 19, 2004), the Supreme Court severely limits the application of Fla. Stat. 440.11(1) in which the Legislature created an exception to workers’ compensation immunity for “employees of the same employer when each is operating in the furtherance of the employer’s business [...]

Hearings on the admissibility of expert testimony have recently become common place.  The advance sheets are full of opinions interpreting the trial court’s responsibility to conduct a hearing mandated by the Federal case of Frye v United States, 293 F. 1013 (D.C. Cir. 1923).  Florida retains the “Frye” test despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s rulings [...]

R.C.P. 1.420(e) provides that if it appears on the face of the record that no activity has taken place within one year, the Court shall, on its own motion or on a party’s motion, dismiss for failure to prosecute unless the action has been stayed or the nomoving party can show in writing within five [...]

The Bible for bad faith suits against an insurance company who fails to settle within the policy limits is the case of Boston Old Colony Insurance Co. v. Guiterrez, 386 So. 2d 783 (Fla. 1980).  There the Supreme Court held: “An insurer, in handling the defense of claims against its insured, has a duty to [...]