The Supreme Court in Florida recently settled a division among the District Courts of Appeal on whether or not a medical malpractice arbitration agreement was void when it included terms only favorable to the hospital. In Hernandez v. Crespo (No. SC15-67), the Supreme Court determined that any arbitration agreement that left out required provisions of the Medical Malpractice Act and was only favorable to medical providers was void as against ... [Read More]

Personal injury lawsuits must prove four things:  that there was a duty created by statute or case law and that the at-fault party was obligated by the duty, that the at-fault party failed to uphold that duty, that injuries resulted from this failure, and that a certain amount of damages were incurred from the injury. While it is essential to prove the first three elements in order to obtain monetary damages, it is ... [Read More]

In Florida car accident cases, it is commonplace to see an insurance company indemnify, or take on a personal injury action on behalf of its insured. It is not often a hospital takes on a claim on behalf of a patient, but it happened in the recent Florida Court of Appeal case, Putnam Community Medical Center v. Florida Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Association (aka NICA), No.1D16-32. The appellate court certified ... [Read More]

Part of the proof that must be presented in a Florida car accident case are the damages that one suffered as a result of the accident.  These include lost wages, medical expenses, and future medical expenses.  The Fifth District Court of Appeal recently reviewed a directed verdict regarding damages in favor of an injured driver in Auto Club Ins. Co. of Florida v. Babin (Case No. 5D15-1337). In this case, ... [Read More]

When an accident happens while working, one generally counts on insurance to be available through one's employer.  A Fourth District Court of Appeal case, Gelsomino v. Ace American Ins. Co. (No. 4D14-4767), deals with the nightmare scenario of an employee seriously injuring himself in a car accident, only to find that the broker tasked with obtaining insurance for his employer failed to do so properly.  In this case, the Court of Appeal ... [Read More]

Filing lawsuits against a governmental entity is different from filing lawsuits against an at-fault individual or business. Historically, under case law, the doctrine of sovereign immunity shielded governmental entities from liability in order to allow governance to proceed. Through various statutes and cases, governments can now be held liable for negligent acts.  For governmental tort liability to exist, there must be “either an underlying common law or statutory duty of ... [Read More]

In State Farm v. Bailey (Case No. 2D15-3487), an appellate court reversed a ruling in favor of an injured motorist, ruling that the scope of the injured person's employer's UM (uninsured/underinsured) motorist coverage did not extend to the injured person. In this case, the injured man was working when the accident happened. The injured man was driving a flatbed vehicle with a crane attached, but he was standing 10 to ... [Read More]

There are two types of damages in Florida medical malpractice cases:  non-economic and economic. Non-economic damages are for things like disfigurement, permanent disability, blindness, loss of a limb, trauma, paralysis, or physical pain and suffering. Economic damages compensate damages that can be verified, like loss of income or the cost of medical care. In a recent medical malpractice case involving negligent obstetrical care, Port Charlotte HMA v. Iala Suarez (Case ... [Read More]