Kansas Gooden and Lara Edelstein prevailed in an appeal involving a declaratory action in the First District Court of Appeal.  The case involved a work-related injury.  The insurance carrier sought a declaratory judgment that the worker’s bodily injury claims were excluded from coverage based on two exclusions in the policy.  The carrier alleged it had no duty to indemnify or defend the employer for the accident with respect to the injured worker’s personal injury lawsuit.  The trial court agreed that one of the exclusions applied as a matter of law and granted summary judgment in favor of the carrier.  The trial court entered final summary judgment in favor of the carrier declaring that the policy did not provide coverage for the worker’s injuries nor did the policy require the carrier to defend or indemnify the employer.  On appeal, Kansas and Lara focused on the language of the Employee Exclusion and application to the undisputed facts to argue that the exclusion precluded coverage for injuries to any employee, worker or contractor and the worker admitted that he sustained injuries while performing work for the employer.

The First District agreed and affirmed the trial court’s summary judgment.

About Kansas R. Gooden:

Kansas R. Gooden, a Board Certified Appellate Specialist and AV Rated attorney, serves as the firm’s Appellate Practice Group Leader. Ms. Gooden has extensive experience handling all types of civil appellate proceedings in the Florida Supreme Court, all Florida District Courts of Appeal, and the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She is one of the only attorneys who has argued back-to-back cases on the same day before the Florida Supreme Court. Ms. Gooden often handles cases of first impression, and those involving insurance coverage and bad faith issues.

About Lara J. Edelstein:

Lara J. Edelstein is a Senior Associate with the firm’s Appellate Practice department based in the Boca Raton office. Ms. Edelstein has extensive experience in appellate law, having argued hundreds of cases in the appellate courts throughout Florida, including the Supreme Court of Florida. Ms. Edelstein is also admitted to practice law in Georgia, where she has handled several appeals.