New Appellate Rule on Punitive Damages Rulings Takes Effect April 1

By Jonathan Mann, Esq.

On January 6, 2022, the Florida Supreme Court approved a change to the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure proposed by The Florida Bar’s Appellate Rules Committee. In Re: Amendment to Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.130, Case No. SC21-129 (Fla. Jan. 6, 2022).

Recent Litigation Concerning COVID-19 Vaccination Mandates and Religious Exemptions

by: Robin Bresky and Randall Burks

As the coronavirus pandemic continues, courts are grappling with issues such as whether COVID-19 vaccine mandates must provide for religious exemptions. A related issue is whether the employer or school can seek verification that an exemption request is based on sincerely held religious beliefs....

Significant Caselaw: When Expert Testimony Is Not Required to Obtain an Award of Attorney’s Fees

April 1, 2020* Robin Bresky argued before the Fourth DCA and successfully defended an award of attorney’s fees involving an important issue of law. Bresky Law assisted the appellee, another law firm, in an appeal by that firm’s former client, a condominium association. The association challenged the fee award due to the absence of supporting...

Bresky Law Assists Estate in Obtaining Per Curiam Affirmance of Order Sanctioning Plaintiffs and Plaintiffs’ Attorneys

Bresky Law recently assisted a defendant’s estate in defending the propriety of a sanctions order in an appeal by the plaintiff. The plaintiff sued the defendant after the defendant stopped payment on a check for goods to be purchased from the plaintiff. The defendant filed a motion for sanctions pursuant to section 57.105, Florida...

Bresky Law Obtains Order Denying Discretionary Review of Probate Matter in Florida Supreme Court

October 25, 2018* Bresky Law recently assisted an elderly client in obtaining dismissal of a trustee’s attempt to take a probate proceeding to the Florida Supreme Court. Our client was the beneficiary of a decedent’s will and trust. The Trustee initiated the probate case as personal representative of the estate. Our client later initiated a separate...

Bresky Law Helps Clients Obtain Reversals of Final Judgments Entered Without Due Process

July 5, 2018 The two most basic elements of due process are notice and a hearing. A court action without notice would violate due process. Bresky Law recently secured reversals of two substantial final judgments that had been entered against our clients without notice of their trial dates. The case started when three plaintiffs filed three...

“Filing” Means Electronic Filing: Bresky Law Wins Affirmance of Trial Court Order Disallowing Claim Submitted to Clerk in Paper Form

United Bank v. Estate of Frazee, Case No. 4D15-826 (Fla. 4th DCA, July 13, 2016)* UPDATE: Mandate issued on September 2, 2016. Bresky Law recently obtained affirmance of a trial court order that found a bank’s claims against a decedent’s estate untimely. The appeal required the Fourth DCA to examine the meaning of “filing” court documents...

Bresky Law Obtains Unanimous Decision as Co-counsel in Supreme Court of Florida Appeal Addressing Use of Pre-Arrest, Pre-Miranda Silence Against Accused

State v. Donna Horwitz, SC15-348 (Fla., May 5, 2016).* On May 5, 2016, the Supreme Court of Florida issued a unanimous decision in favor of our client in an appeal that is likely to have substantial consequences for police-citizen encounters and criminal defendants across the state. Board-certified appellate specialist Jonathan Mann of Bresky Law served...

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?: Bresky Law Wins Reversal of Summary Final Judgment; Now the Injured Plaintiff Can Proceed to Seek Recovery from the Landowner and Lessee

Grimes v. Family Dollar Stores, Case No. 3D14-1874 (Fla. 3d DCA, May 4, 2016)* On behalf of an injured plaintiff, Bresky Law recently obtained reversal of a summary final judgment that was in favor of the defendants, the landowner and long-term lessee, which were allegedly negligent in the maintenance of their premises and failing to...

The Fundamental Error Exception to the Preservation-of-Error Rule

This article was featured in the November Issue of Attorney At Law Magazine. An appeal is an opportunity for the appellate court to review an order or judgment of a lower tribunal and correct reversible errors. But “an appellate court will not consider an issue unless it was presented to the lower court. Furthermore, in...