Gindel v. Centex Homes, No. 4D17-2149, 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 13019 (4th DCA Sep. 12, 2018). The Fourth District Court of Appeal in Florida recently struck a blow to the state’s Statute of Repose in construction defect cases. In Gindel v. Centex Homes, 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 13019 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018), the appellate court reversed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment when it held that the homeowners commenced an action before the expiration of the statue of repose by providing pre-suit notice, in accordance with Chapter 558 of […]

Boyd & Jenerette is pleased to welcome Attorney, Meghan K. Bradley. She joins the firm’s Jacksonville office as an Associate. She focuses her practice on defending employers and insurance carriers in state workers’ compensation and federal longshore claims. Meghan was officially sworn in on Tuesday, September 25, 2018, by Florida’s First District Court of Appeal Judge Scott Makar, as shown in the images below.

The Third District Court of Appeal recently issued an opinion concerning the danger of joint proposals for settlement.  In Atlantic Civil, Inc. v. Swift, 3D15-1594, 43 Fla. L. Weekly D2253a (Fla. 3d DCA Oct 3, 2018) Atlantic Civil contracted to excavate fill material in Monroe County and temporarily store it on property owned by Key Haven and managed by Swift.  This civil action by Atlantic Civil against Key Haven and Swift arose out of a dispute over ownership of the fill material. Atlantic Civil served a single proposal for settlement […]

On October 5, 2018, Kansas R. Gooden moderated a panel on U.S. Supreme Court Practice in Washington, DC.  The panel included U.S. Supreme Court practitioners: Beth Brinkmann, Esq. of Covington & Burling, LLP, Benjamin Mizer, Esq. of Jones Day, and Joseph Palmore of Morrison Foerster.  The panel discussed appellate practice in the U.S. Supreme Court and offered pointers and practical advice, drawing upon their years of experience in various aspects of appellate advocacy in Washington, D.C.  This presentation was a part of the Florida Bar’s Appellate Practice Section’s Fall Retreat. Kansas Gooden […]

Harvey v. Geico, Case No. SC17-85, 2018 Fla. LEXIS 1705 (Fla. S.Ct. September 20, 2018)The Florida Supreme Court reversed a decision of the Fourth District Court of Appeal that held that there was insufficient evidence to support a bad faith verdict against GEICO.The underlying claim involved an August 8, 2006 auto accident which resulted in the death of 51-year-old John Potts. James Harvey was the GEICO insured who was determined by GEICO to be at fault for the accident. Harvey had a GEICO auto policy with $100,000 in liability coverage. On August 14, […]

Attorney Fees as Sanction for Untimely Discovery Responses In a recent JCC case out of Ft. Lauderdale, OJCC 17-025338, the Employer/Carrier failed to comply with a JCC’s order compelling discovery, and as a result the Claimant filed a motion for sanctions under the provisions of Rule 60Q-6.125(4).The Employer/Carrier neglected to respond to the motion for sanctions, and the JCC noted in his order that followed on July 24, 2018 that the Employer/Carrier did not dispute that sanctions in the form of attorney fees were warranted and the dispute at that […]

In Antigoni Stavrakis v. Underwriters at Lloyds London, (27 Fla. L. Weekly D101a M.D. Fla. June 29, 2018), Judge Kovachevich ruled on the amount of attorney’s fees that a plaintiff was entitled to as the prevailing party in a declaratory judgment action. The Plaintiff sought $128,565.00 in attorney’s fees. Judge Kovachevich first addressed Florida law that adopts the federal lodestar approach for determining reasonable attorney’s fees. The Judge discussed the factors to be considered by the Court and noted that the computation necessarily requires the exercise of judgment because there […]

Boyd & Jenerette is pleased to welcome Attorney, Candace W. Padgett. She joins the firm as an associate in our Jacksonville office. Her practice focuses on insurance defense litigation, including complex federal and state insurance coverage issues and insurer bad faith cases, and appeals.Prior to joining Boyd & Jenerette, Candace worked in insurance defense. She also focused her practice on appeals and representing private and governmental employers in the defense of claims of violation of civil rights and employment issues alleged by current and former employees.Born and raised in Jacksonville, […]

The Solo & Small Firm Section of The Florida Bar published an article written by Kevin D. Franz of Boyd & Jenerette, P.A. in its quarterly publication, the LINK.  The article is titled “The Impact of Typoes Typos In Proposals For Settlement.”  Proposals for settlement are hotly contested in most cases because thousands upon thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees turn on their validity.  The article discusses the impact that seemingly minor typos have on the enforceability of otherwise viable proposals for settlement.  For example, a misplaced apostrophe, number, or […]

Kansas R. Gooden recently obtained a per curiam affirmance from the First District Court of Appeal. The issue on appeal concerned whether the trial court properly setoff the attorney’s fees and costs awarded pursuant to a joint proposal for settlement against the jury award to the plaintiff. One defendant had served a proposal for settlement to the plaintiff. As a non-monetary condition, the proposal requested dismissal of the lawsuit against both defendants. The defense beat the proposal for settlement at trial. The trial court subsequently setoff the amount attorney’s fees […]