Our Latest Blogs
Structural inspections for every condo in Florida?
Every condo three stories or taller should undergo a structural inspection in no later than three years, and structural re-inspection every five years thereafter. That’s one recommendation from a Florida Bar Task Force studying the Champlain Tower tragedy. Other reforms being proposed: Condos should be required to have inspection, maintenance and replacement protocols covering roof, […]
What is the COVID shield law, and how does it affect you?
Florida leads the nation in the deaths of nursing home residents and staff due to COVID-19. And the state has one of the lowest rates of vaccination among nursing home staff in the country, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Yet now, seniors who succumb to COVID because their residential facility failed to maintain safe […]
Condo collapse and the law: Why some who were at fault may not be held responsible
You can’t sue the building department for not enforcing the building code. The City of Surfside can’t be held legally responsible for failure to enforce the building code during initial construction, or in recent years. Neither can the Surfside building official who reportedly told residents that there was nothing to worry about. The main reason […]
When a condo collapses: Are our condos deferring maintenance to death?
That seems to be the morality lesson from the Champlain Towers South catastrophe. News reports cite potentially major structural repairs that went undone for years as the condo association grappled with how to deal with a multi-million dollar special assessment. Well, your condo may not collapse, but in our practice, far too often we see […]
Covid lawsuit update
Published March 22nd, 2021 Proposals to ban damage claims for covid infection are rapidly turning into action. The GOP-dominated Florida Legislature is moving ahead with bills that would restrict claims against businesses, churches, schools, doctors, hospitals, and nursing homes for failing to protect from COVID. Among the restrictions on the table: One-year statute of limitations […]
Florida Supreme Court makes it easier to get a case thrown out
Published March 15th, 2021 Unless you’re a lawyer, you probably don’t think much about summary judgments. But for attorneys, and perhaps for your case, summary judgment is life or death. It’s the procedure by which the judge–not a jury, just a judge–can rule that, assuming certain facts to be true, you still don’t have a […]
On the road: Should Florida require bodily injury coverage?
Published March 2nd, 2021 It’s a bad day when you have to tell a seriously injured client that the other driver had no “bodily injury” insurance, and therefore, you can’t help them. That happens all too often in Florida, where drivers are required to carry “property damage” insurance, which pays if you damage someone’s car, […]
Our latest: How to win a sidewalk trip-and-fall case
Published February 11th, 2021 Sidewalk trip-and-fall cases are very difficult to win. The local municipality always points out, correctly, that it’s impossible to monitor sidewalk conditions on every street in town all the time. So the challenge becomes to show not that they should have known about the defect, but that they actually did know about it. Take the […]
David’s secret weapon against Goliath
Published January 28th, 2021 As a former investigative reporter-turned-personal injury attorney, one of the sharpest arrows in my quiver is the Florida Public Records Act, Chapter 119 of Florida Statues. The Public Records Act decrees that it is the policy of the state that its records shall be open to the public. When investigating certain […]
On appeal: Parkland parents lose in Florida Supreme Court
Published January 12th, 2021 Florida law limits the amount of a money judgment that can beentered against the State of Florida and any of its sub-divisions. Ifyou are injured because of the negligence of a state agency, like,your local school board, you are limited to a judgment of no morethan $200,000 per person, and no […]
