2002

27 Fla. L. Weekly D637b FIRE & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY OF CONNECTICUT, Appellant, v. JAMES DAVID SEALEY, Appellee. 1st District. Case No. 1D01-3651. Opinion filed

NOT FINAL VERSION OF OPINION
Subsequent Changes at 27 Fla. L. Weekly D637b

27 Fla. L. Weekly D428d

Insurance — Uninsured motorist — Appeals — Timeliness — Time for appeal from final judgment began to run on date judgment was reduced to writing, signed, and filed — Defendant’s post-trial motions for new trial and for judgment notwithstanding verdict were ineffective to suspend rendition of final judgment where motions were filed more than ten days after return of verdict — Motion for remittitur filed more than three months after verdict was untimely and therefore ineffective to suspend rendition — Taking into consideration content of motion for remittitur, motion was conditional motion for new trial, not a motion to alter or amend the judgment which would have suspended rendition — Distinction made between post-trial motions that challenge verdict and those that challenge judgment — Motion for new trial or motion for judgment in accordance with a prior motion for directed verdict must be filed within ten days after return of verdict — Motion to alter or amend must be served within ten days of judgment

27 Fla. L. Weekly D266a

Insurance — Appeals — Certiorari — Appellate court lacks jurisdiction to entertain merits of petition for writ of certiorari where petitioner has not made prima facie showing that order granting partial summary judgment creates irreparable harm — Where trial court did not rule on merits of insurer’s affirmative defense of misrepresentation, but merely ruled insurer’s notice of cancellation ineffective based on policy’s terms, there is no injury that cannot be remedied on plenary appeal

27 Fla. L. Weekly D1189b

Insurance — Appraisal — Appeals — Law of the case — Appeal from nonfinal order compelling appraisal affirmed on ground that prior appeal serves as law of the case — Adherence to law of case will not result in manifest injustice, even though law of district has since changed

27 Fla. L. Weekly D1364a

Jurisdiction — Non-residents — Forum non conveniens — Insurance — Aircraft hull war risks — Other hull risks — Action against insurers and underwriters arising out of denial of claims for loss of airplane, which was lost, stolen, and/or hijacked after landing on island in center of lake in Nicaragua — Minimum contacts — Jurisdiction does not lie against defendant from whom insured obtained aircraft hull war risks policy where defendant did not have any contacts with Florida whatsoever — Fact that Honduran insurance broker maintained Florida bank account which may have been used to collect premiums in Florida is too tenuous to support jurisdiction — Error to deny motion to dismiss — Abuse of discretion to deny remaining defendants’ motions to dismiss on basis of forum non conveniens where non-war-risk hull policies included overseas jurisdiction clause that provided that insurance would be governed by law of Nicaragua — Nicaraguan courts can provide adequate alternative forum; most relevant evidence and witnesses are in Nicaragua, and perhaps Colombia; documentary evidence is in Nicaragua or Honduras; there is no relevant evidence in Florida; and plaintiff was unable to list even one Florida witness

27 Fla. L. Weekly D2477c

Insurance — Fire — Misrepresentations on application — Insured’s action against insurer for breach of contract after insurer had denied coverage for fire on insured’s property on ground that insured had made material misrepresentations on application for insurance — Error to enter summary judgment for insurer where there is factual issue as to whether insurer’s agent had knowledge of facts that insurer claims insured failed to disclose on application — Notice to the agent at the time of application for insurance of facts material to the risk is notice to the insurer