2018

43 Fla. L. Weekly D425b
239 So. 3d 751

Torts — Insurance — Automobile liability — Settlement agreement — Where defendant’s automobile liability insurer complied with essential terms of plaintiff’s settlement demand and tendered a check for the full limits of policy, the fact that settlement check included hospital which may have had a lien for medical services as a co-payee did not convert the acceptance of plaintiff’s offer into a counteroffer — Trial court properly enforced settlement and dismissed plaintiff’s action

43 Fla. L. Weekly D2379a
257 So. 3d 1029

Insurance — Automobile — Post-loss obligations — Examination under oath — Jury instructions that in order to prevail on its failure to cooperate defense, insurer was required to establish that insured did not comply with post-loss obligations and that insurer was “actually” prejudiced by this failure to comply was incorrect statement of law — To establish failure to cooperate defense, insurer must show “material failure” to cooperate which “substantially” prejudiced insurer — New trial required

43 Fla. L. Weekly D86a
240 So. 3d 43

Insurance — Automobile liability — Nonjoinder of insurer in action against insured — Third-party bad faith claim asserted against insurer in negligence action against insured — Trial court departed from essential requirements of law in abating plaintiff’s third-party bad faith claim to await resolution of plaintiff’s underlying negligence action against insured rather than dismissing third-party bad faith claim

43 Fla. L. Weekly D2430a
264 So. 3d 1018

Insurance — Automobile — Windshield replacement or repair

43 Fla. L. Weekly D1592a
250 So. 3d 858

Insurance — Attorney’s fees — Trial court abused discretion in awarding attorney’s fees against insurer under court’s inherent authority to impose sanctions for egregious or bad faith conduct based on misconduct of attorney retained to represent insured where there was no evidence to support finding that insurer directed and orchestrated actions of the attorney, and evidence did not support finding that insurer had engaged in egregious or bad faith conduct — Appeals — Appellate court has jurisdiction of appeal of order awarding attorney’s fees where order is an executable judgment against insurer concluding a portion of litigation ancillary to ongoing litigation, and conclusion of attorney’s fees proceedings ended judicial labor as to insurer — Prior certiorari proceeding which was limited to attorney’s disqualification did not bar appeal under law of the case doctrine

43 Fla. L. Weekly D101a
235 So. 3d 1018

Attorney’s fees — Proposal for settlement — Timeliness of service — Service of proposal of settlement on 91st day after insured’s complaint against insurer was served on Chief Financial Officer of state was valid and binding on insurer when served and was not premature under rule 1.442(b) — 90-day period during which proposal for settlement may not be served commenced when complaint was served on CFO and not, as insurer argued, when CFO forwarded complaint to insurer

43 Fla. L. Weekly D395a
239 So. 3d 183

Insurance — Attorney’s fees — Proposal for settlement — Where trial court had entered summary judgment for insurer in insured’s action alleging breach of insurance contract on basis that claimed loss was not covered under policy, it was an abuse of discretion to deny insurer’s motion for attorney’s fees pursuant to offer of judgment statute on ground that insurer’s nominal proposal for settlement was not made in good faith — Insurer had a reasonable basis at the time of the proposal to conclude that its exposure was nominal

43 Fla. L. Weekly D2000h
254 So. 3d 978

Attorney’s fees — Proposal for settlement — Insured prevailing in action against uninsured motorist insurer — When case involves a first-party bad faith claim alleging that an insurer is liable for an amount in excess of policy limits, the full application of such judgment against the insurer, including an award of attorney’s fees and costs based on section 768.79, should not be considered by the trial court until the bad faith litigation is resolved — Trial court appropriately stayed execution against insurer of any amount over the policy limits pending resolution of bad faith case, but erred in awarding trial and appellate fees and costs prior to resolution of bad faith litigation

43 Fla. L. Weekly D1934b
259 So. 3d 169

Insurance — Attorney’s fees — Insured prevailing in action against insurer — Contingency fee multiplier — Trial court did not err in awarding insured a 2.0 contingency fee multiplier — Award of contingency fee multiplier is no longer limited to rare and exceptional cases — Trial court did not abuse discretion in finding that relevant market required a multiplier to obtain competent counsel, that results obtained warranted a multiplier, and that complexity of case warranted application of multiplier

43 Fla. L. Weekly D1140b
242 So. 3d 1208

Insurance — Attorney’s fees — Insured prevailing in action against insurer — Trial court did not err in applying contingency fee multiplier to attorney’s fee award