Tag: insurance-company
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Rethinking the Application of Contingency Risk Multipliers in Fee Awards Should Florida Courts Recede from Quanstrom?
Basically, a legal firm is representing a person who got hurt in a car accident. The person who caused the accident has insurance, but the firm is trying to get more money from them. The legal firm is asking the insurance company to pay more to cover the person’s medical bills and other expenses. The…
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Closing Protection Letters
Closing protection letters are offered by title insurance companies to address concerns of lenders about the liability of their approved attorneys or agents. These letters outline the conditions under which the title insurance company will accept liability for the acts or omissions of its agents. They indemnify lenders against damages arising from certain claims against…
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The Interpretation of 7(a) and 7(b) of Title Policies Under Florida Law: Synergism Revisited
Title insurance policies do not guarantee that the title is without errors, and a title company can take legal action to fix any issues. If the title company’s action causes a delay or financial loss, it was unclear who would be responsible for covering those costs, but recent court cases have clarified this issue. In…
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Servants of a Masterful Conflict
In a perfect world, a Florida real estate transaction would involve the buyer and their lawyer, the seller and their lawyer, a representative from the mortgage lender, and a title insurance agent. However, in reality, the buyer’s lawyer often takes on multiple roles, such as issuing title insurance, handling the lender’s documents, and preparing the…
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Five Tips Every Real Estate Practitioner Should Know About Defective Deeds
Real estate professionals often deal with mistakes in deeds, which can sometimes be fixed easily or might not even matter. The first thing to do is figure out if the mistake is harmless or if it will cause serious problems. If it’s harmless, it can be ignored for now, but it’s still best to fix…
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Partial Termination, Good Things Can Happen to Bad Projects
In the past ten years, the real estate market has been crazy. First, prices went way up, and now they’ve fallen a lot and are slowly going back up. Lots of people, even some who weren’t experienced, didn’t realize the real estate bubble was about to burst. They built condos hoping to sell them as…
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Trapped Between Tax and Foreclosure Law: A Receiver’s Power to Sell Mortgaged Real Estate and Its Effect on the CMBS Industry
Courts in Florida have made some decisions that have frustrated lenders and special servicers in the CMBS industry. These decisions prevent receivers in foreclosure cases from selling the real estate, which affects the industry. It’s important for lawyers representing these lenders to understand these decisions. In one case, the court ruled that a receiver couldn’t…
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The New Closing Protection Resets the Understanding Between Lenders and Title Insurers and Corrects Unhealthy Nationwide Trends in the Caselaw
A new closing protection letter (CPL) has been approved in Florida, and similar changes will soon appear in other states. The new CPL aims to make the language clearer and prevent misunderstandings between parties involved in real estate transactions. The CPL is a form that assures lenders that they can trust the attorneys and closing…
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Transferring Real Property into Limited Liability Companies in Florida: Benefits and Considerations
Transferring real property into an LLC in Florida can protect your personal assets if there’s a problem with the property. This means that only the assets owned by the LLC, and not your personal assets, are at risk. However, there are some things you need to consider before making this transfer. If an LLC has…
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Collateral Offsets to Workers’ Compensation Benefits
If you get hurt at work, you might get money and help with medical bills. But the company might take away some of that money if you already get other benefits. They do this so you don’t get more money than you did before you got hurt. If an employee gets injured at work and…
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Corporate Misdeeds and Their Impact Upon Enforceability of Executive Employment Agreement Indemnification Provisions
“The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the case against Company A for breach of contract. The plaintiff was awarded damages and attorney’s fees. This is a significant win for the plaintiff and sets a precedent for future similar cases.” Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan says that corporate greed has caused problems with…
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Serving Process in Brazil: Nascent Use of the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters
On June 1, 2019, Brazil joined the Hague Service Convention for serving legal documents. However, Brazil has made some reservations that may make the process more complicated. It can still save time and resources, but there are some risks involved. If you’re involved in a lawsuit that involves Brazil, it’s important to have a lawyer…
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Bifurcation of dissolution of marriage actions Part Two
In Florida, the law says that a court can dissolve a marriage if it finds that it’s irretrievably broken. But just because one party says the marriage is broken doesn’t mean the court can immediately dissolve it. A case called Hyman v. Hyman set the precedent that a court can dissolve the marriage but still…
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Proliferating Mold Litigation: Why Mold Is Not the Next Asbestos
The rise in mold litigation has led to large monetary awards in Texas and California due to property damage and health effects. The main factors driving this trend are the science behind mold and its effects on health, media coverage, and insurance company practices. Some believe that mold litigation could become the next big legal…
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Claims of Exploitation of the Elderly in the Sale of Financial Products
There’s a new trend of lawsuits against companies selling financial products to older people. These products, called annuities, come in two main types: fixed annuities and variable annuities. Fixed annuities earn a guaranteed interest rate for a certain time, like a CD from a bank. There’s also a type called equity indexed annuities, which is…
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Top 10 Appellate Mistakes (Or Why You Need an Appellate Specialist)
Here are 10 mistakes lawyers should avoid when handling appeals: 1) Making unauthorized motions that could affect the timeline for filing an appeal. This includes not understanding when the 30-day deadline for filing an appeal starts. 2) Not fully understanding the concept of “rendition” of an order, and how certain motions can delay the deadline…
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Changes to the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure
In 1997, the Florida Supreme Court made big changes to the Rules of Appellate Procedure. These changes combined all appellate rules into one set and made them effective on January 1, 1997. The purpose was to make one comprehensive set of rules for appeals. One important change is that the appellate rules now override any…
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Bidder Beware: Construction Contracting By and With Local Governments in Florida
When a local government wants to build something, they have to follow specific rules for hiring a construction company. There are different types of contracts they can use, and they have to follow certain laws and regulations. One important thing to know is that the construction lien law doesn’t apply to government contracts, so contractors…
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The Conflict PCA: When an Affirmance Without Opinion Conflicts with a Written Opinion
About two-thirds of all appellate decisions at the district court level include no opinion at all. The most common type of decision is an affirmance without opinion, which is when the court decides not to explain their decision and simply affirms the lower court’s ruling. This is done to efficiently handle the heavy case load.…
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The Growing Trend of Animal-Abuser Registries
A woman was hurt at a store and hired a lawyer to help her. The store’s insurance company asked for her medical records, but the lawyer said no. The insurance company took the case to court, but the judge ruled in favor of the woman. The insurance company had to pay for her legal fees.”…
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The People’s Court on Appeal: Three Years of County Court Appeals to the District Courts of Appeal
Before 2021, county court decisions in Florida could only be reviewed by higher courts if the county court certified a question of great public importance. Otherwise, the losing party had to file a petition to the district court of appeal (DCA). This led to a backlog of cases and confusion, as each circuit had its…
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Certiorari Review of Orders Denying Discovery in Civil Cases, Part I
The district courts of appeal generally don’t have the power to review orders denying discovery, unless the denial really hurts a party’s case. There’s a rare exception when the denial of discovery makes it nearly impossible for a party to prove their claim or defense. I’ve looked at a lot of court cases about this…
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If the Stud’s a Dud and Other Horse Tales: Mediation of Equine Law Disputes May Be Your Best Bet
Florida is a great place for horses and horse lovers. The equine industry is a big part of the state’s economy, with lots of different activities like breeding, racing, and showing. There are a lot of horses in the state, and they bring in a lot of money. But sometimes things can go wrong in…
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Why am I not allowed to select my preferred doctor?
As per the mentioned Florida Statute 440.13(2)(a), legislation mandates that the employer/insurance company must offer suitable medical care.