1,064 results for 'court:"Florida Courts Of Appeal"'.
[Consolidated] J. Fernandez finds partially in favor of the individual bringing a defamation suit against the news broadcaster for what he claims was false reporting on his business dealings, as well as partially in favor of his attorneys ordered to pay fees as sanctions after a hearing and re-hearing before the trial court on the broadcaster's motion. The trial court correctly ordered that two of the attorneys should contribute for 50% of the fees ordered and ordered the other 50% to be covered by the litigant himself, but it incorrectly found that a third attorney was not involved enough with the litigation to bear responsibility for paying any fees, so the latter part of the ruling is overturned. Affirmed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Fernandez, Filed On: May 17, 2023, Case #: 21-1733, Categories: Sanctions, Defamation
Per curiam, the court of appeal grants the parties' motions to certify a question of great importance to the Florida Supreme Court regarding notice for public meetings during which a municipality is adopting proposed ordinances.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 17, 2023, Case #: 4D22-432, Categories: Municipal Law
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[Consolidated] J. Scales finds partially in favor of the estate representative in a probate dispute over who controls the assets of a bank account shared between the son and his now deceased father. The probate court properly ordered that the account's balance should be an estate asset whose funds are controlled by a constructive trust because it was a "convenience account," a decision supported by sound and substantial evidence. However, the probate court improperly found the son in civil contempt of court when he failed to promptly return $314,168 from the account to the estate, as the probate court judge delegating preparation of the contempt order to the estate's representative without making detailed factual findings creates the appearance that the judge did not exercise independent judgment. Affirmed in part.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Scales, Filed On: May 17, 2023, Case #: 21-2039, Categories: Contempt, Wills / Probate
J. Scales finds the trial court improperly ruled in favor of the tenant in a lawsuit from the landlord claiming the tenant, who operates a gym, is obligated to pay rent for around two months when Covid-19 pandemic mandates temporarily closed gyms throughout the state. The tenant is still on the hook for the disputed rents under the terms of the underlying lease agreement's force majeure clause, in part because the Covid-19 pandemic, though it caused the gym to temporarily close, did not actually prevent the tenant from paying its rent, so it was still obligated to do so. The tenant's equitable doctrine defenses also fail, so the case is remanded to the trial court to grant summary judgment in the landlord's favor. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Scales, Filed On: May 17, 2023, Case #: 22-1273, Categories: Landlord Tenant, Covid-19, Contract
J. Gross finds that the trial court properly dismissed negligence claims brought after an umpire was punched in the face by a baseball player because the organization that ran the baseball tournament did not have a duty to protect the umpire or to anticipate the player would assault an umpire.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Gross, Filed On: May 17, 2023, Case #: 4D22-399, Categories: Negligence
J. Damoorgian finds that the trial court improperly granted the bureau leave to seek punitive damages in this dispute over an allegedly fraudulent financial investment because the bureau failed to establish a reasonable basis for recovering punitive damages. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Damoorgian, Filed On: May 17, 2023, Case #: 4D22-2981, Categories: Fraud, Damages
Per curiam, the court of appeal grants a husband certiorari review of the decision allowing the wife to obtain financial information from a third party. The court should review the financial documents and determine whether evidence supports the wife's allegations that the documents had been withheld fraudulently.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: May 17, 2023, Case #: 4D23-165, Categories: Family Law, Discovery
J. Hendon finds the trial court properly dismissed all the claims the property owner brought against various news outlets, including BET and multiple newspapers, for reporting on interactions she had with a Black woman who applied to rent her property through a booking website in which she repeatedly called the woman a "monkey" and other racial slurs and accused her of committing credit card fraud. The property owner's claims for defamation and tortious interference, including over articles in which she was accused of going on a "racist tirade" or "rant," fail in part because the news outlets' statements were based on documented facts buttressed by the property owner's own admissions to using racist language, making the published stories protected speech. Affirmed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hendon, Filed On: May 17, 2023, Case #: 22-0628, Categories: Defamation, Contract
J. Bokor finds in favor of the university in a class action lawsuit from students claiming breach of contract because they were unable benefit from paying certain mandatory fees to the university while its campus was temporarily closed due to Covid-19 pandemic protocols. Though the students provide documents like invoices and portions of the student handbook as evidence of a contract to provide services in exchange for fees, they fail to point to an "express, written contract" that showing the university waived its sovereign immunity by temporarily ceasing on-campus or in-person services during the pandemic, so the trial court should have granted the university's motion to dismiss. The case is remanded to dismiss the students' lawsuit and vacate class certification. Reversed.
Court: Florida Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bokor, Filed On: May 17, 2023, Case #: 22-0072, Categories: Education, Covid-19, Contract