NO RECOVERY NO FEES
Wed 19th Oct | 2016

The Week in Torts – Cases from the Week of October 7, 2016

The Week in Torts BY

FLORIDA LAW WEEKLY

VOLUME 41, NUMBER 40

CASES FROM THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 7, 2016

INSURANCE COMPANY NOT ENTITLED TO SECOND TIER CERTIORARI REVIEW OF CIRCUIT COURT APPELLATE DECISION, WHERE THERE IS NOT A VIOLATION OF CLEARLY ESTABLISHED LAW RESULTING IN A MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE.

Allstate Fire & Cas. Co. v. Hallandale Open MRI, 41 Fla. L. Weekly D2208 (Fla. 3rd DCA September 28, 2016):

The question in this case was whether certain language in a PIP insurance policy was sufficient to put insureds on notice that the reimbursement of their medical bills would be limited by the statutory fee schedule set forth in section 627.736 (200% of Medicare). The appellate division of the circuit court found that it was not.

The certified issue has already been accepted by the Florida Supreme Court for review, and because different districts have decided the issue a different way, it is clear that there is no “clearly established” law. 

The court noted how the dissent correctly observed that its refusal to accept jurisdiction had the net result of leaving intact a decision that the court has since concluded is an incorrect interpretation of the policy. However, it admonished that circuit court appellate decision opinions are intended to be final, and they are, “with further review tightly circumscribed as specified in Custer Medical Center and Kaklamanos” (certiorari is only warranted when there is something more than a simple legal error when the lower tribunal has violated a clearly established principle of law, resulting in a miscarriage of justice, an illegal or irregular act, or a grievous error). The court cannot grant a second level of review over a simple dispute.

AN ORDER DISMISSING FIVE OF SIX COUNTS IS A NON-FINAL, NON-APPEALABLE ORDER WHEN THE REMAINING COUNT ARISES OUT OF THE SAME FACTS AS THE DISMISSED COUNTS–TRIAL COURT ERRED IN DISMISSING CLAIMS IN AMENDED COMPLAINT AS BARRED BY THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS WHERE THEY AROSE FROM THE SAME CONDUCT TRANSACTION OR OCCURRENCE IN THE INITIAL TIMELY COMPLAINTS AND RELATED BACK.

Anderson v. Epstein, 41 Fla. L. Weekly D2211 (Fla. 3rd DCA September 28, 2016).