Entries by Jeffrey R. Davis
Spoliation of Evidence by Non-Parties
Spoliation of evidence means you “spoiled “the evidence in a case. Evidence can be an object, product, condition, documents, materials, electronic records -basically anything needed to prove the facts of a case. Spoiling can mean destroying it, throwing it away, losing it, failing to keep it secure or safe, allowing others to tamper with it or change it, or altering it, either intentionally or by accident or neglect. Up until recently, most Florida court decisions dealt with what happens when a party, whether plaintiff or defendant, commit this spoliation of evidence. A decision out of the 5th DCA addresses the decision where a non-party spoils evidence in a case. Shamrock-Shamrock Inc. v. Remark, 271 So. 2d 1200 (Fla. 5DCA 2019), involves a situation when the non-party witness owes a duty to preserve evidence for the litigation. In Shamrock, an individual that was a member of a city planning board had been an activist against a rezoning project in Daytona Beach before she […]
Please Read Your Auto Insurance Coverages
As an injury lawyer I receive thousands of calls every year from people involved in motor vehicle accidents. When I ask them about their own automobile insurance I usually get the same two responses: 1. Why are you asking me about my insurance, I did not cause the accident? and, 2. Don’t worry, I have full coverage. In Florida, we are what is known as a no-fault jurisdiction. The Florida Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law found in Florida Statute § 627.730 requires a Florida motorist to carry basic minimal insurance called Personal Injury Protection (PIP). This outdated and almost useless coverage pays up to $10,000 of your own medical bills if you are in a motor vehicle accident and injured. As anyone who has been to an emergency room in Florida knows, $10,000 hardly pays for anything. If you are in a serious accident and need surgery or emergency intervention, your bill will almost certainly be more than $10,000. Personal injury protection benefits […]
Letter to the Editor – Miami Herald: Repealing PIP Insurance is a Bad Deal for Floridians and a Costly One Too
In response to “Repealing PIP Insurance is a Bad Deal for Floridians and a Costly One Too”, the authors, both of whom are closely aligned to the insurance industry, claim that our current automobile insurance scheme in Florida is working and that to change it, and add mandatory bodily injury insurance with the repeal of PIP is a bad idea. Nothing can be further from the truth. Like all insurance acolytes, the authors dutifully blame the “trial lawyers” for seeking change to earn fees. The current system in Florida of requiring no bodily injury insurance is short sighted and obsolete. Florida is one of the few remaining states in the entire country that still does not require people who drive cars to carry adequate insurance for the damage they cause. Incredibly, you are not required to carry physical injury insurance in Florida in order to register your car. All you need to have is a policy that provides a driver with $10,000 […]
Cardiac Ablation Injuries: How it Happens
People with atrial fibrillation or an irregular heartbeat that are not well controlled with medication often have cardiac ablations. These procedures are performed by electrophysiologists who are cardiologists that have additional training. An electrophysiologist frequently uses a catheter that is inserted in the patient’s groin and threaded up through a vein into the heart. The end of the catheter tip delivers a radio frequency or electricity in order to make burns in certain places in the heart and around the pulmonary veins. The purpose of these burns or lesions is to interrupt the flow of electricity in the heart to prevent the abnormal rhythms associated with atrial fibrillation.
Slippery Sidewalks in Coral Gables, FL – Who is Responsible?
Believe it or not, the City of Coral Gables says the adjacent homeowner is. They even have a municipal code that says so.
According to the Code of the City of Coral Gables, Florida which contains the general and permanent ordinances of the City of Coral Gables, Chapter 62, Section 151 states, in pertinent part, “All owners of unimproved property and occupants, or occupants and owners of improved property shall maintain their property in a clean, litter-free and mowed condition, including sidewalks, grass strips, alleys up to and including the median point of the alley, curbs, swale areas, or rights-of-way up to the edge of pavement of any public street. Maintenance shall include, but not be limited to, mowing the grass and performing general edging, trimming and cleanup activities.”.
Judge revives lawsuit over Senate race ads
A Democratic lawmaker will get a second chance to force a secretive political group to reveal the donors who helped fund advertisements in a key Central Florida Senate race last year after the Orlando Sentinel identified the possible leader of the group.
Letter to the Editor Miami Herald
The dictionary defines hypocritical as behaving in a way that suggests one has higher standards or more noble beliefs then is the case. When it comes to protecting the rights of the unborn, Florida is hypocritical. Following the recent abortion legislation in Texas, Florida republicans plan to take up their own anti-abortion legislation early next year. Recently, Florida Senate President Wilton Simson reported to the media that Florida lawmakers are working on a so-called heartbeat bill. States like Ohio and Texas have banned abortion as early as 6-weeks into a pregnancy. House Speaker Chris Sprowles has said, “in Florida, we agree that killing an innocent human being with a beating heart is wrong. It is why we have worked every session to strengthen protections for unborn babies…
Homeowner has Duty to Maintain City Sidewalk in Front of their House
Coral Gables has a city code requirement that requires homeowners to clean and maintain the sidewalks adjacent to their homes*. We represent a woman who sustained multiple injuries requiring surgeries due to a fall while walking on a sidewalk coated with black/green slime. The litigation was instituted against both the City of Coral Gables and the homeowner. The homeowner defended by claiming the city of Coral Gables owns the sidewalks and it is their responsibility to maintain them. The City of Coral Gables defended the suit by claiming it was the pedestrian’s fault for walking on a dangerous sidewalk. After a series of hearings and the filing of multiple briefs and memorandum of law, the Court granted the Plaintiff’s limited motion for summary judgment. The Judge has ruled, that as a matter of law, the homeowner undertook a duty to maintain the sidewalks in front of his home by voluntarily pressure cleaning, brushing and hosing. The jury will now decide if the homeowner breached that duty by failing to reasonably maintain the sidewalks. This important ruling basically means that if you are going to undertake a job or project, you have a responsibility to do it correctly. This case is being co-counseled with Michael Lotto, Esq. of The Ward Law Group.