Articles Posted in Miscellaneous

Corporate America has campaigned for more than 30 years to turn the thinking of average citizens against the civil justice system. Sadly, the campaign has worked, fostering views that are contrary to one of the fundamental principles on which America was founded, namely, that the individual should be able to seek redress from the powerful…

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a test that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to make pictures of organs and structures inside the body. In many cases MRI gives different information about structures in the body than can be seen with an X-ray, ultrasound, or computed tomography (CT) scan. MRI also…

The legal principle which binds a litigant to the path chosen to right a wrong is known as election of remedies. The principle should not be confused with the procedure of seeking alternative remedies within the same forum, best illustrated by a multi-count complaint asserting various legal theories of recovery. Although not a common element…

Sovereign Immunity derives from the medieval principle that “The King can do no wrong.” Prior to 1975, its application in Florida meant that the government could not be sued for damages caused by its wrongdoing. In that year, the Florida Legislature enacted Florida Statute 768.28, which allowed actions against the state or any of its…

I have blogged here in the past that the 2011 Republican-controlled Florida Legislature seemed bound and determined to gut one of the state’s most important laws at holding vehicle manufacturers accountable for producing defective products. Although some within the legislature may have had this outcome as a goal, reasonable minds prevailed in the 2011 legislative…

Florida’s dangerous instrumentality doctrine imposes vicarious responsibility upon the owner or other possessor of a motor vehicle who voluntarily entrusts it to another for any subsequent negligent operation which injures a member of the traveling public. Jackson v. Hertz Corporation, 590 So.2d 929, 937. See Kraemer v. General Motors Acceptance Corp., 572 So.2d 1363 (Fla.…

Job one of lawyers who represent individuals who have suffered personal injuries and/or property damage losses is to maximize the client’s recovery. The conventional thinking is that the recovery in every case is limited by the measure of actual damages, in other words, the recovery cannot exceed the loss. Surprisingly, this is a rule that…

On the 4th of July, of all days, the following topic should be considered one of utmost importance. The 7th Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right to a trial by jury in civil cases. Seventh Amendment of the US Constitution“In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty…

One would hope and expect in a society purporting to be civilized, that the negligence of any person or company could not be waived before it happened. Astonishingly, Florida law allows just that: pre-accident releases/waivers barring actions based on the subsequent negligence of the released party. In other words, Florida law sanctions the equivalent of…

Jury trials are at the very foundation of American participatory democracy. According to Alexis de Tocqueville, in Democracy in America, “The jury contributes powerfully to form the judgment and to increase the natural intelligence of a people; and this, in my opinion, is its greatest advantage. It may be regarded as a gratuitous public school,…