News & Events

Partner William Mitchell, Sr. and associate Jesse Dyer obtained final summary judgment in a first party property claim on behalf of a major Florida homeowners insurance carrier. The claim arose from damages originating from a defective shower pan for which the Insurer denied coverage based on exclusions for long term seepage and leakage and pre-existing damages.  The Insureds’  argued that the cause of loss was a collapse of the subfloor below the 2nd story shower and therefore covered under the policy. However, after multiple hearings on the Insurer’s Motion the Court ruled that the Insureds failed to establish that a genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether or not the loss fell under the clear and unambiguous policy provision involving coverage for losses caused by collapse and that the Insurer had established that the damages were not covered under the policy of insurance. 

Noelia Vaccaro, an attorney in the firm’s first party practice group, and Amy Klotz, an attorney in the firm’s appellate litigation support division, prevailed on a motion for summary judgment in a case involving the services of an engineer the insured retained after reporting the loss. They argued that the services the plaintiff performed were not covered under the policy because defendant did not constitute a cost to repair or replace the damaged property, as the plaintiff merely prepared a report that contained no narrative — i.e., no observations, analysis, conclusions, or recommendations — and, instead, consisted primarily of photographs.

Joshua C. Canton, managing partner of the firm's Tallahassee, Florida office, along with Justin B. Hales, an associate in the firm’s Tallahassee, Florida office, recently prevailed on a motion for summary judgment in a premises liability case in Wakulla County,  Florida where they successfully argued the Defendant breached no duty owed to the Plaintiff and the cause of the subject incident was an unforeseeable “Act of God”.

Seth Goldberg, a partner in our Hollywood office, recently obtained a Defense Verdict in a slip and fall case in Broward County, Florida. Plaintiff alleged he slipped and fell down the exterior stairs, in the rain, at the apartment complex where he had lived for over a year before the fall. The Defendants owned and maintained the property. The Plaintiff testified that he did not hold onto the available handrail as he descended the steps. Plaintiff alleged his fall was caused by the exterior light that illuminated the stairwell being out on the evening of the fall and the construction of the steps violated the applicable building codes when they were built in 1990. 

Diane H. Tutt, an appellate partner in the firm’s Hollywood office, recently argued an appeal in a wrongful death case in which Dale L. Friedman, a partner in the firm’s Hollywood Office, had obtained summary judgment.  The case was brought by the personal representative (mother) of an intellectually disabled adult who was residing in a group home and was struck and killed by a vehicle as he walked across a roadway to get a snack. The Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for our client.