2001

26 Fla. L. Weekly D1555a
788 So. 2d 369

Insurance — Liability — Duty to defend — Coverage — Declaratory judgments — Torts — Wrongful death — Claims of negligent hiring and retention against medical transportation company by injured passenger/client and estate of deceased passenger who was not insured’s client — Action for declaratory relief to enforce Coblentz settlement agreements providing for entry of consent judgments against insured and an assignment of insured’s rights against its insurer to plaintiffs — Trial court erred in finding that estate of passenger who was not client of medical transportation company could not enforce settlement agreement against company’s insurer where trial court found that insurance provided coverage for negligent hiring and retention, trial court’s finding was not challenged on appeal, and estate’s complaint succinctly and sufficiently stated a cause of action against insured for negligent hiring and retention — When insurer refused to provide defense to its insured, and as result insured entered into settlement agreement with estate, insurer lost its chance to litigate factual issues surrounding duty, breach, and proximate cause which were pivotal to ultimate resolution of the legal principles involved in estate’s claims — Because settlement of negligent hiring claim served to establish insured’s liability to estate, trial court erred in finding that there was no coverage for estate’s claims — Error to render final judgment on consent judgments without hearing on reasonableness issue where parties specifically agreed to bifurcate the proceedings and to reserve the issue of reasonableness of amount of consent judgments for another day — Remand for evidentiary hearing on whether consent judgments are reasonable in amount and, thus, enforceable

26 Fla. L. Weekly D228a777 So. 2d 1034 COLONY INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant, v. G & E TIRES & SERVICE, INCORPORATED, Appellee. 1st District. Case No.

26 Fla. L. Weekly D75a
777 So. 2d 1034

NOT FINAL VERSION OF OPINION
Subsequent Changes at 26 Fla. L. Weekly D228aInsurance — Garage liability and garage keepers legal liability — Defense of suit with reservation of rights — Where insurer provided defense of claims which were clearly excluded from coverage under policy and reserved right to be reimbursed for defense costs incurred, insurer was entitled to be reimbursed for expenses incurred in defending suit after court found in declaratory judgment action that insurer had no duty to defend — Error to deny reimbursement to insurer which defended suit against insured under reservation of rights where there was an absence of even a potential basis for duty to defend

26 Fla. L. Weekly D2831a

Insurance — Uninsured motorist — Stacking — Insured seeking to stack UM coverage from two policies, with insurer defending on basis that insured had specifically selected and paid for nonstacking coverage — Discovery — Error to grant production of voluminous material seeking information relative to how selection process concerning stacking coverage option was handled by insurer where trial court acknowledged that the requested discovery was irrelevant to any pleadings before the court — Having to defend against potential, unstated cause of action while at the same time having to defend against action properly before court is sufficiently prejudicial to warrant certiorari — Order to produce documents unrelated to present controversy but which might possibly lead to evidence supporting some subsequent cause of action is quashed

26 Fla. L. Weekly D1302a

Civil procedure — Discovery — Order requiring defendants’ liability insurance carrier and their attorneys to produce information relating to a frequently employed independent medical examiner quashed — Request was overly burdensome and irrelevant, and company was erroneously required to create records which did not exist — Plaintiffs are entitled under prevailing law to production of carrier’s taxpayer identification number and 1099 forms concerning the physician

26 Fla. L. Weekly D2541a

Civil procedure — Insurance — Personal injury protection — Discovery — Pure bill of discovery — Petitions for pure bills of discovery and discovery pursuant to section 627.736(6)(c) filed by PIP insurer which became concerned that payment for six insureds was being sought for services which may not have been performed — For good cause shown, PIP insurer can obtain informal discovery authorized by appellate court in Kaminester v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, including depositions, interrogatories, and production of documents or other things — Remand for further proceedings

26 Fla. L. Weekly D2493a

Insurance — Civil procedure — Discovery — Privilege — Trial court did not err in compelling production of letters between insurer and its attorney alleged to be protected by work-product or attorney-client privilege where insurer’s failure to prepare a privilege log waived the privilege

26 Fla. L. Weekly D2837a
800 So. 2d 689

Insurance — Discovery — Privilege — Petition to review discovery order compelling insurer in bad-faith insurance action to produce documents in claim file and face-sheet notes over insurer’s attorney-client and work product objections — Trial court departed from essential requirements of law in requiring production of claim file documents that consist of communications to and from insurer’s attorneys, billing statements, and a report of the civil action that insurer provided to defense counsel after the insureds filed complaint — No error to require production of witness statements taken long before insureds threatened or filed suit where insurer failed to satisfy its burden of proving that it prepared statements in anticipation of litigation — Insurer failed to prove that diary entries which commenced at time insured’s truck was stolen were made in anticipation of litigation — Error to require production of entries in face-sheet notes that constitute attorney-client communications, designated as conversations or summaries of conversations with defense counsel

26 Fla. L. Weekly D462a

Insurance — Civil procedure — Discovery — Petition for writ of certiorari seeking review of order compelling discovery of privileged information granted — Trial court’s order requiring production of documents alleged to be protected by attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine and allowing counsel for party seeking discovery to determine if any documents are privileged quashed — Trial court could not properly delegate to party’s attorney the authority to perform a purely judicial function — Proper procedure is for trial court to examine disputed documents in camera and remove those documents which fall into privileged category

26 Fla. L. Weekly D2304a

Administrative law — Department of Insurance — Sale of insurance without license — Appeal from final order directing club to cease and desist sale and transaction of legal expense insurance in Florida — Department erroneously rejected administrative law judge’s finding that club provided only a referral and did not provide specific legal services or reimburse for specific legal expenses where that finding was supported by competent substantial evidence — Under plans at issue, club member pays annual membership fee and receives referral from club to a plan attorney who has agreed to abide by a schedule of free and discounted services; member contacts attorneys directly when legal issue arises; and plan members are responsible for payment directly to attorneys of all legal fees incurred