On March 24, 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill passed by the Florida Legislature aimed at limiting the rights of individuals from seeking and obtaining civil redress in the courts for personal injuries. The bill is House Bill 837. Parts of the bill became effective when…
We have a case in which the defendant knowingly did the same thing after we sued him that he denied doing knowingly in our case. The thing he has denied doing forms the crux of our case. The case is on the trial docket. In the lead-up to calendar call,…
With limited resources at their disposal, court systems nationwide endeavor to operate with judicial economy. This is one reason why the settlement of cases is encouraged. Presently, Florida has twenty-nine judges of workers’ compensation claims (JCC) statewide to handle a workforce of some 10 million people. Each JCC’s docket is…
For purposes of this blog, a transitory substance is any solid or liquid substance, object, or item that is located in a place where it does not belong. Certain legal standards must be met in order to prevail in a case for personal injuries caused by a transitory substance. Before…
Accidents happen. Being properly insured for motor vehicle crashes is good for the insured and for persons harmed through the insured’s negligence. Florida is one of only three states that does not require owners of motor vehicles registered in the state to maintain bodily injury (BI) insurance. Bodily injury insurance…
Injured employees are entitled to workers’ compensation benefits. Undocumented aliens are considered employees under Florida’s workers’ compensation system. Section 440.02(15)(a), Florida Statutes provides as follows: “Employee” means any person who receives remuneration from an employer for the performance of any work or service while engaged in any employment under any…
Florida’s liability law and workers’ compensation systems are cautious about awarding benefits for mental and nervous injuries. The underlying basis for the caution is that allowing recovery for injuries resulting from purely emotional distress would open the floodgates for fictitious or speculative claims. R.J. v. Humana of Florida, Inc., 652…
Florida employees hurt at work have the potential of being compensated under the State’s workers’ compensation and civil laws. To recover under civil law against employers and fellow employees (including corporate officers or directors, supervisors, and managers), employees must overcome workers’ compensation immunity. Section 440.11(1)(b), Florida Statutes sets out what employees…
Parties to civil lawsuits in Florida have the right to learn things about an opponent’s case through a process called discovery. The discovery procedures are set forth in the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. Rule 1.280 sets forth the general methods and scope of discovery. Concerning scope, subsection (b)(1) provides…
In an effort to extract attorney’s fees and costs from an opponent, any party to a lawsuit may utilize Florida Statute 768.79. In cases involving substantial amounts of litigation, the award under the statute can be sizable, even in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. For this reason, the statute…