RTN LAW PA - Rajeev T. Nayee, Esquire

01/28/2023

The fact that the actions of some bad actors has made this necessary is honestly despicable. The law can be frustrating and even disappointing at times, but each gear, cog, and lever contained within the machine that provides due process are integral thereto and should be protected. Judicial assistants have a very tough job that oftentimes places them on the front lines of legal battles...for this they should be respected and yes, their personal information should absolutely be protected in the same manner as that of judges, justices, and other public officials.

Another attempt to exempt the personal identifying information of judicial assistants from public records laws is moving through the Florida Legislature. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-1 on January 17 to approve SB 50 by Sen. Tom Wright, R-Port Orange. HB 75, a companion by Rep. David Smith...

01/21/2023

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FindLaw discusses false advertising claims against a movie studio for including an actor in the movie trailer who does not appear in the final film.

12/29/2022

Jurisdictional changes of note taking effect 1/1/2023:
CIRCUIT CIVIL: will only hear cases where the amount in dispute is greater than $50,000.00;
COUNTY CIVIL: will only hear cases in which the amount in dispute ranges from $8,000.00-$50,000.00;
SMALL CLAIMS: will hear cases in which the amount in dispute is $8,000.00 or less.
For more information, click the link.

Appeals of county court decisions pending before circuit courts and subject to the jurisdiction change will be transferred automatically to the appropriate district court of appeal.  Beginning January 1, 2021, parties appealing certain county court decisions will have their appeal heard in the dist...

12/28/2022

Next November could mark the State of Florida's very first "Family Court Awareness Month"! Wonderful things are often born of tragedy and the submission of SB 70 by Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boynton Beach, is one such example.
Click the link for more info:

Florida would begin marking “Family Court Awareness Month” in November 2023 under a measure by filed by a South Florida lawmaker who is also an attorney. Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boynton Beach, filed SB 70 on December 14. The measure has not been referred to committees and there is no companion. The ...

12/08/2022

Wanting to claim punitive damages? Make sure you plead accordingly!

PLAINTIFF FAILED TO ESTABLISH ENTITLEMENT TO PUNITIVE DAMAGES AGAINST CORPORATE DEFENDANT UNDER EITHER DIRECT OR VICARIOUS LIABILITY

Grove Isle Assoc. v. Lindzon, 47 Fla. L. Weekly D2293 (Fla. 3rd DCA Nov. 10, 2022):

A condo owner claimed that his unit suffered severe water damage due to a failing roof assembly. Once the association finally agreed to repair the roof, other problems were discovered, prompting the plaintiff to amend his complaint to include a claim for punitive damages.

Punitive damages are utilized in order to punish a defendant for its wrongful conduct (not to award additional compensation) and to deter similar misconduct in the future by the defendant as well as other actors.

Plaintiff asserted that in an effort to save money, the association had not retained a structural engineer to pull the necessary permits, even though the association’s own contractor advised it to.

The plaintiff sued the association, but failed to name the property manager in said suit. In revising his claim so as to include punitive damages, the plaintiff necessarily intended to impute the property manager’s alleged intentional misconduct or gross negligence to the association.

In order to do this a plaintiff has to establish that the employees’ conduct meets the criteria outlined in § 768.72(2) (intentional misconduct or gross negligence) and also establish that (a) the employer, principal, corporation, or other legal entity actively and knowingly participated in such conduct; (b) the officers, directors or managers of the employer, principal, et al., knowingly condoned, ratified, or consent to such conduct; or (c) the employer, principal, corporation, et al., engaged in conduct that constituted gross negligence and contributed to the loss, damages, or injury.

In his amended complaint, the plaintiff failed to specify whether the claim for punitive damages was based on direct or vicarious liability, and further, allegations of wrongdoing by the association were conspicuously absent (the complaint only included allegations of wrongdoing by the property manager while using the term association broadly).

The complaint did not contain any separate independent allegations setting forth any actions taken by an association officer, director, or managing member. While the complaint referenced a single unnamed board member, said references did not allege active, knowing participation by the association with the misconduct by the property manager or the contractor’s employees.

As a result of the foregoing, there was also no vicarious liability properly alleged. To hold a corporate employer vicariously liable for punitive damages, the plaintiff must establish (1) fault on the part of the employee that rises to the level of willful and wanton misconduct and (2) some fault on the part of the corporate employer that rises to the level of at least ordinary negligence.

Since the complaint did not contain any allegations of even simple negligence against the association, the plaintiff failed to meet his heightened evidentiary standard for imposing punitive damages on the employer based on vicarious liability.

11/24/2022

Wishing all my family, friends ,and clients A Happy Thanksgiving!

With best wishes from
RTN Law. 🦃

Checkout my new and improved website :
www.rtnlaw.com

11/18/2022

The Best Law School rankings may no longer be as predictable as they historically have been with Yale and Harvard declining to participate in the rankings as assembled by U.S. News and World Report.

The reasoning behind their decisions might surprise you.

FindLaw looks at the decisions of Harvard and Yale law schools to drop out of U.S. News & World Report's Best Law Schools rankings.

11/11/2022

Web-based slander claim fails to pass muster when it comes to establishing personal jurisdiction.

Robolledo v. Chaffardet, 47 Fla. L. Weekly D2119 (Fla. 3rd DCA Oct. 19, 2022)

This appeal underscores the inherent issues in applying traditional personal jurisdiction framework to a web-based defamation claim. The plaintiff, an exiled former Venezuelan Judge, challenged an order dismissing his slander lawsuit for lack of personal jurisdiction over the defendant.

Plaintiff claimed defendant defamed him in an interview with a well-known Venezuelan journalist outside of the State of Florida. Said interview was uploaded to YouTube by a third party and was watched by viewers in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.

The trial court ruled that the defendant lacked sufficient minimum contacts with Florida to satisfy due process integral to any jurisdictional analysis.

In cases dealing with intentional torts, courts have applied the "effects test" as established by the U.S. Supreme Court in Calder v. Jones, as an alternative method for establishing purposeful availment.

In Calder v. Jones, it was concluded that a California state court had personal jurisdiction over The National Enquirer, a nationally distributed paper with editorial offices located in the State of Florida, as well as a reporter and an editor who happened to be Florida residents, in a libel lawsuit centering around an article about a California actress in California. The Court reasoned that jurisdiction was proper based on the "effects" of the Florida-based conduct in California.

30 years after Calder, in Walden v. Fiore, the court refined the parameters of this "effects test", providing that there could be no jurisdiction unless the plaintiff felt the effects while residing in that forum. In order for a state to exercise jurisdiction consistent with due process, the defendant's suit-related conduct must have a substantial connection with the forum state.

Under the precedent established by these cases, a single tortious act may be sufficient to establish purposeful availment without regard to the defendant having any other contacts with the forum, in cases where the tort was intentional, aimed at the forum state, and caused harm that the defendant should have anticipated would be suffered in the forum state.

However, utilizing this test when dealing with torts that are web-based is not so cut-&-dried due to the unique nature of the web providing access to potentially harmful communication anywhere in the world.

In this matter, unlike in Calder, there was no indication that the defendant sourced his statements in Florida or that his comments concerned Florida-based activities. While the plaintiff persuasively claimed how it was reasonably foreseeable that the comments would reach an audience in Florida, mere knowledge of the brunt of the alleged harm is not sufficient to establish purposeful direction at the forum state.

What is more, a third person uploaded the video to YouTube in this instance, and it is well-established that unilateral activity of another party or a third person is not appropriate for jurisdictional consideration.

The court stated that it was "remaining cognizant that the relationship between internet activities and personal jurisdiction is a dynamic and evolving area of the law," but still ultimately held that here, there was no jurisdiction.

11/08/2022

For those believing rent control might be the answer to the current rental crisis in the State of Florida, here's one expert's opinion why, in all likelihood, it will not be.

The Florida statute governing rent control originated from an initial court battle between the city of Miami Beach and real-estate tycoons in the 1970s.

10/28/2022

Before you agree to settle, make certain you know how and to whom the proceeds will be disbursed:

The Florida Supreme Court, on Thursday [Oct. 20] overturned a jury’s award determination in a personal-injury lawsuit filed by Adam Sounders, who had initially agreed to a settlement before realizing that the entire settlement would be used to reimburse a worker’s compensation lien holder. The high court said in a 5-1 decision that the settlement became enforceable when Suarez Trucking filed its acceptance with the court, even though the payout check named Guarantee Insurance Co. as a payee. “This notice of acceptance created a binding settlement contract by unequivocally and fully assenting to the terms of the offer,” the opinion says. “It is hard to imagine a form of acceptance that could be more clear or more effective.” The decision overturned a ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeals and the Hillsborough County trial court.

Adam Sounders agreed to settle his personal-injury lawsuit against a trucking company for $500,000, but pulled out of the deal when he received a

10/19/2022

In the wake of Hurricane Ian, Citizens Insurance toys with the idea of requiring all Florida policyholders purchase of flood insurance.

Problem: Less than 20% of Floridians in vulnerable areas carry flood insurance. Uninsured flood losses from Hurricane Ian are projected to be as high as

09/30/2022

Some courts reopen today while many more remain closed in order to cope with the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. If you need to find out whether your local court has reopened or will be reopening today, please see below.

Opinion Release: The Clerk's Office usually releases opinions, if any are ready, at 11 a.m. each Thursday. Court staff posts them to this website as soon as possible. There will be times when opinions are released outside this schedule, such as in emergencies. Scheduled and unscheduled opinion relea...