News & Events

Tampa managing partner Michael Kraft secured a defense verdict in an admitted liability case in Hillsborough County, Florida, where a truck accident resulted in the total loss of the plaintiff’s car. Both the husband and wife received three injections to their neck and three to their back and each underwent a lumbar surgery, with medical expenses totaling $150,000 for the wife and $200,000 for the husband. The defense disputed causation, arguing that the plaintiffs already had an attorney on their first doctor’s visit and that the accident was not the cause of their injuries. Despite plaintiffs seeking $1.4 million each, the jury returned a total defense verdict and found no causation. Defense served Proposals for Settlement that were rejected and we are currently pursuing our attorneys fees and cost. 

Noelia C. Vaccaro recently prevailed on a motion to dismiss in an AOB case in Miami-Dade County, in which the Plaintiff filed a declaratory judgment action based on an alleged assignment of post-loss benefits (AOB) executed by the insured in late 2021. Defendant argued that the AOB failed to include a written, itemized, per-unit cost estimate of the services to be performed, only providing a price list, which violates section 627.7152(2)(a)4. The Court agreed with the Defendant, which held that a price list does not meet statutory requirements. The attached invoices were not incorporated into the AOB, rendering them insufficient to meet the statutory requirement.

Tom McCausland and Miles McGrane, IV, both partners in our Hollywood office, recently obtained a defense verdict in a Highlands County, Florida case involving an accident between our client’s tractor-trailer and the Plaintiff’s Honda.

Michael Bonfanti, partner, and Nicholas Monk, associate from the Tallahassee office recently obtained a defense verdict on behalf of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation. This case was a total denial of claimed roof damage and interior damage resulting from the entry of water through a peril created opening. The lawsuit was the culmination of nearly two years of litigation. On behalf of Citizens, evidence was presented through expert testimony to support the affirmative defenses of wear and tear, no peril created opening and faulty design and construction of the roof. Through diligent research, a composite of aerial photographs of the insured property were obtained which demonstrated the years long issue with the roof. This composite included clear images of a tarp being used directly over the area of water intrusion prior to the Plaintiffs purchasing the home, and subsequent use of the tarp shortly after purchase. The jury deliberated for under two hours and found that Citizens had demonstrated sufficient evidence to support the affirmative defenses and awarded no damages as a result. Citizens will now seek to collect attorney’s fees and costs from a rejected Proposal for Settlement that was served a year prior to the trial. 

Noelia Vaccaro, an attorney in the firm’s first party practice group prevailed on a motion for summary judgment in a case involving the services of an engineer the insured retained after reporting the loss. She 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.