Dissolution of marriage, writ of mandamus, and lamb roasted on a bed of rosemary and mint-infused olive oil, with heirloom tomatoes

Attorney's fees -- Costs -- Trial court properly awarded attorney's fees to city for successfully defending an action under Bert J. Harris Private Property Rights Protection Act -- Trial court erred by denying award of costs to prevailing city in inverse condemnation action in which court found that no taking had occurred -- A prevailing governmental entity in an inverse condemnation action is entitled to recover costs

CARIBBEAN CONDOMINIUM, ETC., ET AL., Appellants/Cross-Appellees, v. THE CITY OF FLAGLER BEACH, Appellee/Cross-Appellant. 5th District.

Dissolution of marriage -- Appeals -- Appeal from final summary judgment on breach of contract claim was untimely where notice of appeal was not filed within 30 days of rendition, and circuit court docket does not reflect that any motions for rehearing had been filed -- Attorney's fees -- Appeal of order awarding attorney's fees was timely -- Error to award attorney's fees under section 57.105 without setting forth basis for finding of entitlement and facts supporting amount awarded

MARK JACKSON, Appellant, v. MICHELLE JACKSON, Appellee. 2nd District.

Dissolution of marriage -- Equitable distribution -- Error to include in equitable distribution one of husband's pensions, which parties dissipated during pendency of action -- Error to divide furniture and furnishings where parties had stipulated that such property would not be equitably divided -- Error to fail to value or divide husband's second pension

DENISE M. TERRY, Appellant, v. DOUGLAS J. TERRY, Appellee. 4th District.

Guardianship -- Attorney's fees -- Amount -- Limitation -- Claims bill -- Appeal from refusal of guardianship court to authorize payment of attorney's fees in amount exceeding $100,000 limit placed on legal fees and costs by the legislature -- Question certified: After the enactment of section 768.28 and the adoption of Florida Senate Rule 4.81(6), is it constitutionally permissible for the Florida Legislature to limit the amount of attorneys' fees paid from a guardianship trust established by a legislative claims bill?

SEARCY DENNEY SCAROLA BARNHART & SHIPLEY, P.A.; MARK EDWARDS and MITZI DEE RODEN, as parents and natural guardians of AARON EDWARDS, a minor; WILLIAM S. FRATES, II, P.A.; EDNA L. CARUSO, P.A.; VAKA LAW GROUP, P.L.; and GROSSMAN & ROTH, P.A., Appellants, v. STATE OF FLORIDA, Appellee. 4th District.

Insurance -- Automobile liability -- Uninsured motorist -- Excess coverage -- Priority of coverage -- Accident involving permissive driver of car owned by another, following which owner's liability insurer tendered its $100,000 policy limits to injured party and injured party sought coverage from its UM carrier after injured party had unsuccessfully sought payment from owner's excess liability carrier, which required that owner maintain underlying limits of $250,000 per person -- Trial court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of UM carrier on its third-party claim against excess carrier where UM carrier asserted throughout litigation that excess carrier's umbrella policy came first after owner's liability policy, and that UM policy was last in priority, but trial court actually held that UM carrier was responsible for $150,000 gap between limit of owner's automobile liability policy and the $250,000 threshold at which excess coverage was triggered -- UM carrier could not claim victory on ground that it requested a generic priority of coverage determination and received what it requested where the priority determination was, in fact, the opposite of what UM carrier sought

ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION a/k/a USAA, MELANIE MANZO-PIANELLI and ALANA PROCTOR, Appellees. 4th District.

Insurance -- Homeowners -- Attorney's fees -- Award to insureds who prevailed in action against insurer which had denied request for appraisal -- Trial court did not abuse discretion in finding that $400 was a reasonable blended hourly rate for various attorneys who were involved in case -- 200 hours was an excessive number of hours billed, and trial court abused discretion in finding that 200 hours was reasonable -- Trial court abused discretion in awarding a multiplier where there was no showing that insureds had difficulty in obtaining competent counsel, the result obtained was not remarkable, and there were no novel or difficult factual or legal issues in case

STATE FARM FLORIDA INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, vs. JOSE ALVAREZ AND MARTHA ALVAREZ, Appellees. 3rd District.

Insurance -- Uninsured motorist -- Torts -- Automobile accident -- Damages -- Noneconomic -- Past and future pain and suffering -- Remittitur -- Trial court abused its discretion when it reduced jury awards for past and future pain and suffering against UM insurer by nearly $1 million without explaining what in the record demonstrated the need for remittitur and the reason for the amount chosen -- Comparison of pain and suffering awards in other cases does not show basis for affirming trial court in instant case -- Remand for entry of order which contains necessary findings and conclusions to support remittitur

JEFFREY P. ARNOLD and TINA ARNOLD, Appellants, v. SECURITY NATIONAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee. 4th District.

Licensing -- Driver's license suspension -- Refusal to submit to breath test -- Circuit court, in its appellate capacity, applied wrong law and improperly substituted its judgment for that of hearing officer when it reweighed evidence before hearing officer and reversed suspension of driver's license on basis that licensee's refusal to take breath test was not voluntary

STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY, etc., Petitioner, vs. JOSEPH S. BAIRD, Respondent. 3rd District.

Mandamus -- Denial -- Appeals -- Belated -- Appellate court has no authority to grant belated appeal in civil proceeding or to grant belated certiorari review

WILSON PEREZ, Petitioner, v. JULIE L. JONES, Secretary, Department of Corrections, Respondent. 1st District.

Torts -- Discovery -- Work product privilege -- Trial court improperly entered order compelling defendant to disclose to plaintiff post-accident photographs of area where plaintiff was injured where plaintiff failed to exercise due diligence to obtain substantially equivalent materials to the privileged photographs

SEABOARD MARINE LTD., Petitioner, vs. FARCONELLY CLARK, Repondent. 3rd District.

Torts -- Hospitals -- Medical malpractice -- Action arising out of incident in which nurse allegedly quickly and forcefully removed post-operative drainage tube from patient, unknowingly leaving section of drainage tube inside patient -- Jury instructions -- No error in refusing to give requested instruction on presumption of negligence arising from discovery of presence of foreign body -- Instruction was not appropriate where plaintiffs were able to present direct evidence of negligence -- At time of alleged negligence, patient was medicated, but was not unconscious, and patient's wife was in hospital room, and there were no genuine doubts surrounding identity of the allegedly culpable party or the events that led to tube being left inside patient by time case went to trial -- Foreign body instruction was not necessary to allow jury to resolve issues in case or supported by facts of case -- Whether foreign body instruction may have been properly applied to claim that nurse negligently failed to inspect tubing, although not applicable to claim of negligent removal, not considered by appellate court where parties did not submit proposed instructions differentiating claims despite trial court's request

SIMON DOCKSWELL and SANDRA DOCKSWELL, Appellants, v. BETHESDA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL, INC., a Florida corporation, Appellee. 4th District.

Torts -- Product liability -- Statute of repose -- Action by plaintiff who was injured when the filter of his swimming pool exploded, against the manufacturer of the filter, the installer of the pool and intermediate distributor of the filter, and the party who acted as the certified pool contractor -- Action was barred by twelve-year statute of repose -- Pool filter, a component part of the swimming pool, did not constitute an improvement to real property, and was not excepted from statute of repose

RYAN AND JESSICA DOMINGUEZ, Appellants, vs. HAYWARD INDUSTRIES, INC., CERTIFIED GUNITE COMPANY D/B/A CUSTOM POOLS, AND JOHN M. PIEKLO, Appellees. 3rd District.




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Product liability, class actions, equitable distribution, and lemon-garlic chicken sauteed in truffle oil with cumin seeds

Class actions -- Torts -- Negligence -- Certification of class -- Denial -- Trial court did not err in denying amended motion for class certification in action against road construction contractor brought by business owners who allegedly sustained lost profits in their respective businesses when contractor's employee allegedly damaged natural gas line, resulting in interruption of gas service to sizable region -- To establish numerosity and typicality for purposes of class action, plaintiffs needed to show that sufficient and clearly ascertainable number of proposed class members had suffered some compensable damage from alleged negligence -- Trial court did not err in determining that proposed class was overbroad and failed in this regard

LUCARELLI PIZZA & DELI and T.A.S. SUNSHINE ENTERPRISES LLC, Appellants, v. POSEN CONSTRUCTION, INC., Appellee. 2nd District.

Contracts -- Employment -- Non-compete and non-solicitation agreements -- Injunction -- Trial court properly entered temporary injunction to enforce non-compete and non-solicitation provisions of employment agreement with provider of home health care services -- Referral sources for home health care services are a legitimate business interest entitled to protection under section 542.335, Florida Statutes (2012) -- Conflict certified

INFINITY HOME CARE, L.L.C., and SYLVIE FORJET, Appellants, v. AMEDISYS HOLDING, LLC, Appellee. 4th District.

Dissolution of marriage -- Child custody -- Timesharing -- Modification -- Concerns related to distance between former wife's residence and child's school not basis for modification where location of parties' respective residences was known at time of final judgment when trial court selected former husband's residence as child's legal address and address to be used for school designation purposes -- Because substantial competent evidence of substantial change in circumstances was not presented, trial court abused its discretion by granting former wife's modification petition

JEROD B. BLEVINS, Appellant, v. JENNIFER BLEVINS, Appellee. 5th District.

Dissolution of marriage -- Equitable distribution -- Non-marital assets -- Real property -- Trial court erred in awarding wife any interest in marital home which husband had acquired prior to the marriage -- Evidence contradicted trial court's finding that wife had invested $40,000 in the home, and although mortgage payments had been made with pooled resources, the value of the home had decreased during the marriage -- Trial court erred in unequally distributing Georgia properties without making requisite findings or explanations -- Remand for further proceedings to equitably distribute marital assets

WILLIAM E. WEAVER, Appellant, v. LORI LYNN WEAVER, Appellee. 4th District.

Insurance -- Homeowners -- Declaratory judgment -- Duty to defend and indemnify -- Exclusions -- Damages arising out of sexual molestation, corporal punishment or physical or mental abuse -- Intentional shooting -- Plain meaning of words “physical abuse” includes an instance such as one at issue in which insured lent gun to his sister who then used gun to shoot plaintiff, her son-in-law, outside of her home -- Trial court properly entered summary judgment in favor of insurer based on determination that insurer had no duty to indemnify or defend its insured in a separate personal injury action arising from the shooting

SALVATORE MIGLINO, Appellant, v. UNIVERSAL PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY and HARVEY IRA STEIN, Appellees. 4th District.

Insurance -- Personal injury protection -- Medical expenses -- Coverage -- Statutory fee schedules -- Clear and unambiguous election by insurer -- Policy language providing that any amounts payable “shall be subject to any and all limitations authorized by section 627.736 . . . or any other provisions of the Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law, including, but not limited to, all fee schedules” did not make it clear whether insurer was actually and in fact electing to limit its reimbursements to providers under Medicare fee schedules or was simply announcing that it was reserving its right to elect to do so -- Language is ambiguous and must be construed in favor of providers -- Conflict certified

ORTHOPEDIC SPECIALISTS, as Assignee of KELLI SERRIDGE, Appellant, v. ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellee. 4th District.

Paternity -- Timesharing -- Default -- Trial court erred in entering default judgment in favor of father on his counter-petition requesting to establish paternity and timesharing where record did not reflect that mother received service of counter-petition, motion for default, order granting default, or notice of final hearing

GRANADA FELIPE, Appellant, v. RANDOLHF RINCON, Appellee. 5th District.

Torts -- Fraud -- Civil theft -- Limitation of actions -- Reconsideration by successor judge of order of recused judge dismissing complaint on basis of statute of limitations and statute of repose -- Successor judge properly denied motion for reconsideration of predecessor judge's order dismissing complaint where plaintiff failed to indicate how grounds alleged for recusal impacted the recused judge's rulings and failed to demonstrate any prejudice he suffered from initial judge's entry of order of dismissal

STEVE OGNENOVIC, Appellant, v. DAVID J. GIANNONE, INC., DAVID J. GIANNONE, and RICHARD ANDERSON, Appellees. 4th District.

Torts -- Nursing homes -- Violation of resident's rights -- Arbitration -- Trial court erred in denying defendant nursing home's motion to compel arbitration pursuant to arbitration agreement signed by resident's sister as attorney-in-fact for resident under durable power of attorney on basis that power of attorney limited sister to act as attorney-in-fact for resident to claims involving only liquidated damages -- Language of power of attorney, which granted sister ability to sue for “liquidated or liquidated” damages on behalf of resident, was ambiguous -- Remand for trial court to conduct further proceedings to determine intent of sisters in creating power of attorney

SANTA ROSA INVESTORS, INC. d/b/a SANTA ROSA HEALTH AND REHABILITATION CENTER; SUMMIT CARE II, INC.; GUY FARMER, and JOE D. MITCHELL, Appellants, v. BETTY WILSON AND VIOLET JOYCE CARTER, AS POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR BETTY WILSON, Appellees. 1st District.

Wrongful death -- Medical malpractice -- Trial court did not err in entering summary judgment for defendant University of Miami on claim that University was vicariously liable for negligence of physicians where there had been no pleading that University was vicariously liable for negligence of those physicians -- On motion for summary judgment, trial court considers only issues raised in pleadings

LISA WILSON and KEISHA SALMON, etc., Appellants, vs. RICHARD STONE, M.D., et al., Appellees. 3rd District.

Wrongful death -- Product liability -- Tobacco

DIANA PAPPAS, as Personal Representative of the Estate of MINA PAPPAS, Deceased, Appellant/Cross-Appellee, v. R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY a foreign corporation, LIGGETT GROUP, LLC, a foreign corporation, f/k/a LIGGETT GROUP, INC., f/k/a LIGGETT & MYERS TOBACCO COMPANY and VECTOR GROUP LTD, INC., f/k/a BROOKE GROUP, LTD, a foreign corporation, Appellees/Cross-Appellants. 4th District


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Attorney fees under 57.105, sham pleadings, commercial leases, and sauteed day lillies with fresh sage and organic goat cheese

Attorney's fees -- Appellate fees -- Claim or defense not supported by material facts or applicable law -- Attorney's fees assessed against appellant and its counsel because of frivolous claim in initial brief that appellee's counsel made misleading statements to trial court at hearing on motion to dismiss

ASPEN AIR CONDITIONING, INC., Appellant, vs. SAFECO INSURANCE COMPANY OF AMERICA, et al., Appellees. 3rd District.

Civil procedure -- Default -- Abuse of discretion to enter judicial default against defendants as sanction for failure by defendants and their counsel to respond to discovery, failure to appear at court-ordered mediation, and failure to appear for calendar call without considering factors enumerated in Kozel v. Ostendorf and making explicit findings on each factor -- Where counsel is involved in conduct to be sanctioned Kozel analysis is required before entering judicial default, and failure to do so is, by itself, basis for remand

DOROTHY CHAPPELLE, CALVIN JOHNSON and EVELYN WILLIAMS, Appellants, v. SOUTH FLORIDA GUARDIANSHIP PROGRAM, INC., Appellee. 4th District.

Civil procedure -- Sham pleadings -- Action by individual plaintiff against law firm claiming that law firm failed to give credit to plaintiff for $50,000 retainer against fee awarded to law firm as required by fee agreement -- Trial court erred in striking plaintiff's pleadings as a sham on the ground that because plaintiff had treated the $50,000 as a capital contribution to his company only the company had the right to bring the action -- Record does not show that pleadings were “undoubtedly false” or that pleadings were a “mere pretense set up in bad faith without color of fact” -- Torts -- Trial court also erred in dismissing tort claims of breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, and civil theft on basis of economic loss rule -- Economic loss rule is limited to product liability context

STUART N. BORNSTEIN, Appellant, v. IRA MARCUS, individually, IRA MARCUS, P.A., a Florida corporation, and GRANADA, LLC, a Florida limited liability company, Appellees. 4th District.

Contracts -- Commercial lease -- Eviction -- Error to grant summary judgment in favor of plaintiff on claim for eviction where there were genuine issues of material fact about occurrence of alleged defaults and lessor's correction of any defaults within terms of lease and whether alleged violations of lease were material; and where plaintiff failed to refute affirmative defenses, that plaintiff had failed to give requisite notice of breach and opportunity to cure and that eviction would cause inequitable forfeiture, or to establish that these defenses were legally insufficient

ATRIA GROUP, LLC, Appellant, v. ONE PROGRESS PLAZA, II, LLC, Appellee. 2nd District.

Dissolution of marriage -- Equitable distribution -- Stock shares -- Valuation -- Trial court erred in setting value for shares of stock to be transferred from husband to wife without hearing parties' full evidence regarding value and, instead, setting the value at the average between value placed on stock by husband and value placed on stock by wife -- Remand for further proceedings

MICHELLE TUCKER, Appellant, v. LEONARD TUCKER, Appellee. 4th District.

Insurance -- Business owners's policy -- Breach by insured of policy condition requiring insured to maintain burglary alarm system monitored by a security company and to notify insurer if it became aware of any suspension or impairment of the system -- In entering summary judgment finding that insured was entitled to recover for loss resulting from burglary even though insured had not maintained burglary alarm system monitored by security company because insurer was not prejudiced by the breach, trial court improperly focused solely on the fact that the burglary would not have been detected even if the alarm monitoring system had been maintained -- Because insured breached condition subsequent of notifying insurer of any suspension or impairment of monitored alarm system, issue to be determined by court is whether insurer was prejudiced by the lack of an opportunity to decide whether it would cancel the policy, keep the policy in place with an increase in premium, or waive the obligation to maintain the alarm monitoring contract

DEPOSITORS INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. CC&C OF LAKE MARY, LLC D/B/A THE BEACH SCENE, Appellee. 5th District.

Insurance -- Commercial general liability -- Coverage -- Declaratory judgment -- Appeals -- Partial final judgment in declaratory judgment action which determined insurer's duty to defend insured, but did not determine its duty of indemnification, is not a final appealable order or an appealable nonfinal order

FLORIDA FARM BUREAU GENERAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. PEACOCK'S EXCAVATING SERVICE, INC., ROYAL CORINTHIAN HOMES, INC., J.L. WALLACE, INC., and MATRIX CONCRETE SYSTEMS, INC., Appellees. 2nd District.

Torts -- Equitable subrogation -- Action by tortfeasor and its liability insurer against whom judgment has been entered finding tortfeasor liable in personal injury action, seeking equitable subrogation from medical providers who are allegedly responsible for a substantial portion of the damages in the underlying personal injury action -- Trial court erred in dismissing equitable subrogation action on the basis that tortfeasor and tortfeasor's insurer have not paid the entirety of injured party's damages -- Right to equitable subrogation arises when payment has been made or judgment has been entered, so long as the judgment represents the victim's entire damages -- Question certified to Florida Supreme Court: Is a party that has had judgment entered against it entitled to seek equitable subrogation from a subsequent tortfeasor when the judgment has not been fully satisfied?

ALLSTATE INSURANCE COMPANY, ET AL., Appellants, v. BASIL THEODOTOU, M.D., ET AL., Appellees. 5th District.

Torts -- Jurisdiction -- Service of process -- Substitute service at private mailbox was not effective where plaintiff failed to demonstrate that the private mailbox was the only address for defendant discoverable through public records -- Although plaintiff unsuccessfully attempted to serve defendant at other addresses, that is insufficient to invoke service under section 48.031(6), Florida Statutes -- Trial court erred in denying defendant's motion to quash service of process and vacate default judgment

TAMAS TIBOR KRISZTIAN, Appellant, v. STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE CO., as Subrogee of RENEE M. FIORE, Appellee. 4th District.

Torts -- Nursing homes -- Arbitration -- Validity of arbitration agreement -- Where nursing home admissions director told patient, who was alert and lying in bed with her husband standing nearby, that she was there with admission documents, including arbitration agreement, that needed to be signed, and patient responded that she wanted her husband to review and sign the documents, it was error to find that husband was not authorized to sign the arbitration agreement and that his signature did not bind the patient -- Husband had apparent authority to sign agreement on behalf of the patient -- Error to deny nursing home's motion to compel arbitration

FI-EVERGREEN WOODS, LLC, ET AL., Appellants, v. THE ESTATE OF MAY L. ROBINSON, ETC., Appellee. 5th District.

Wrongful death -- Medical malpractice -- Presuit requirements -- Statutory amendments which allow for presuit ex parte interviews between potential defendants and potential claimants' treating health care providers, and require potential claimants to sign a written waiver of federal privacy protection concerning relevant medical information prior to instigating a medical malpractice lawsuit, are constitutional and are not preempted by Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act -- Amendments do not violate separation of powers doctrine by intruding upon Florida Supreme Court's procedural rule-making power -- Amendments do not constitute a special law -- Amendments do not burden right of access to courts -- Amendments do not violate right to privacy

EMMA GAYLE WEAVER, individually, and as Personal Representative of the Estate of THOMAS E. WEAVER, deceased, Appellant, v. STEPHEN C. MYERS, M.D., WEST FLORIDA SPECIALTY PHYSICIANS, LLC d/b/a WEST FLORIDA CARDIOVASCULAR AND THORACIC SURGERY and d/b/a and a/k/a WEST FLORIDA MEDICAL GROUP, and WEST FLORIDA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, INC. d/b/a WEST FLORIDA HOSPITAL, Appellees. 1st District.

Wrongful death -- Nursing homes -- Jury trial -- Denial -- Appeals -- Certiorari -- Order striking request for jury trial based on express waiver in nursing facility residency agreement is not reviewable by certiorari

TRICIA ANN WALTER, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Norine C. Walter, Petitioner, v. SUNRISE SENIOR LIVING SERVICES, INC., d/b/a BRIGHTON GARDENS OF TAMPA; JAI LARMAN; and CARLA RUSSO, Respondents. 2nd District.

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