Volume 26

26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 536a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2607TORRInsurance — Personal injury protection — Counsel — Disqualification — Prior representation of opposing party — Abuse of discretion to deny insurer’s motion to disqualify law firm as medical provider’s counsel in 215 pending PIP cases based on fact that attorney who is now employed by provider’s law firm was previously employed by law firm that represents insurer where attorney possessed considerable confidential information regarding insurer’s defense of PIP claims in general, and defense of claims regarding whether insurer’s policy provides sufficient notice of election to use statutory fee schedules in particular, and fact that attorney’s representation of provider would require her to take opposite position regarding interpretation of insurer’s policy than position that she had represented to various courts as being legally correct when she was representing insurer demonstrates that current cases and cases in which attorney represented insurer are substantially related matters — Trial court departed from essential requirements of law by holding that insurer must prove that disclosure and use of confidential information resulted in unfair advantage to provider as predicate to disqualification and by placing reliance on statements that attorney’s new firm would screen attorney from cases in which insurer is defendant — Provider’s law firm remains disqualified despite fact that it no longer employs attorney

26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 30a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2601WADEInsurance — Complaint — Amendment — Motion to amend complaint by interlineation to correct name of defendant insurer is granted where named defendant and correct insurer are sufficiently related, and plaintiff moved to amend in timely manner so as to cause no prejudice

26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 752a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2609FELIInsurance — Complaint — Amendment — More definite statement required

26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 771c

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2609BRANInsurance — Personal injury protection — Motion to strike or exclude unpled or waived issues is granted — Bar to injection of new claim or theory subsequent to a recent Florida Supreme court ruling that undermined the original claim or theory

26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 231a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2603DELCInsurance — Personal injury protection — Complaint — Amendment — Medical provider’s motion to amend complaint to add count for declaratory judgment on issue of alleged misapplication of deductible is denied where primary issue framed for disposition by pleadings during almost five years of litigation was whether PIP policy provided sufficient notice of election of statutory fee schedules, provider did not move to amend complaint until after Florida Supreme Court decided election issue in favor of insurer in another case, and allowing amendment would unfairly prejudice insurer that has forfeited numerous defenses on assumption that election issue was primary issue in case

26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 745b

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2609LOWRInsurance — Personal injury protection — Class action concerning amendments to PIP statute requiring claimant to receive initial services and care within 14 days of accident — Standing — Issue of standing must be determined before addressing whether case is properly maintainable as class action — Medical provider lacked third-party standing at inception of lawsuit — Fact that insured had assigned PIP benefits to provider did not hinder insured from asserting her own rights, as demonstrated by fact that insured subsequently obtained reassignment of benefits from provider and was added as party — Insured’s addition as party plaintiff cannot cure standing defect where provider lacked standing at inception of case — Motion for class certification is denied and action is dismissed for lack of standing

26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 886a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2611SMITClass actions — Certification — Insurance — Homeowners — Coverage — Limitation of liability — Reasonable emergency services — Motion for class certification denied in action alleging insurer breached its contract with insured by improperly limiting reimbursement for repair/remediation costs pursuant to policy’s cap on Reasonable Emergency Measures although policy contained all risk coverage with no exclusions or limitations — Class certification is inappropriate where plaintiff seeks monetary damages, not declaratory or injunctive relief; there is no claim that a limited fund exists; and determining whether an insured met class definition would require a file-by-file analysis, an administratively unfeasible method of class determination

26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 876a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2611DICKInsurance — Automobile — Windshield repair — Policy provision limiting insurer’s liability for windshield repair to prevailing competitive price and providing that this is price insurer can secure from competent and conveniently located repair facility is not ambiguous and requires insurer to pay price of repair it can secure in competitive market from competent and conveniently located repair facility — Where trial court records are insufficient to evaluate whether prices proposed by parties met prevailing competitive price standard, judgments are vacated and cases are remanded for additional proceedings

26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 777a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2609DELAInsurance — Automobile — Windshield repair — Discovery — Relevance — Where primary issue in repair shop’s action against insurer involves meaning of term “prevailing competitive price” in limitation of liability clause of policy, information regarding vendor that has been used by insurer to administer claims, compile payment data for windshield claims, and provide records on which insurer relies as prevailing competitive prices is reasonably calculated to lead to discovery of admissible evidence — Privilege — Insurer is required to produce privilege log corresponding to privilege-based objections — If documents are found to be trade secrets after in camera inspection, parties will be required to jointly prepare confidentiality order

26 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 780a

Online Reference: FLWSUPP 2609RIVEInsurance — Automobile — Windshield repair — Term “prevailing competitive price” used in limit of liability clause in automobile insurance policy and described as “price we can secure from competent and conveniently located repair facility” is intrinsically ambiguous — Even if policy is not ambiguous, insurer cannot meet burden to show that invoiced amount for windshield repair is not prevailing competitive price by arguing that prevailing competitive price is limited to amount it alone could obtain from “in-network” shops with whom it has pricing agreement; insurer must demonstrate price it can secure in competitive market — Where insurer has paid amount of plaintiff’s invoice without reduction on multiple occasions, insurer itself has determined that invoiced amount does not exceed prevailing competitive price — Fact that plaintiff may have charged lower price to uninsured customers in isolated instances does not mean charge at issue is not prevailing competitive price