Attorneys: Richards "Dick" Ford, Krista Cammack

We recently represented the previous General Counsel for a Central Florida State Improvement District in a high profile lawsuit brought by the State of Florida against a prominent Entertainment Company which also owns theme parks. This case involved complex issues relating to allegations of improper collaboration between the District and the Entertainment Company which resulted in a development plan which the State claimed was unfairly favorable to the Entertainment company.

Attorneys: Richard E. Ramsey

Our client in this case, a lawyer, represented the Plaintiff, also a lawyer, in Plaintiff’s own Bar proceeding. Plaintiff was found liable by a District Court Judge of the allegations in the underlying matter, which triggered the scheduling of a disciplinary proceeding by The Florida Bar. Plaintiff did not attend this proceeding, and was subsequently disbarred.

Plaintiff sued our client for malpractice, alleging that he missed the proceeding due to insufficient communication by our client as to the scheduling. Emails in evidence showed that our client timely notified the Plaintiff of the scheduled disciplinary proceeding, but the Plaintiff misunderstood the communication. We moved for summary judgment, arguing that whether or not Plaintiff attended his disciplinary proceeding would not have impacted the resulting disbarment, as he had already been found liable for the underlying allegations. The Court agreed with our assessment, and awarded summary judgment in our client’s favor.

Attorneys: Michael E. Reed, Lindsay T. Brigman, Alyssa Reiter

We represented a defense lawyer in a malpractice matter in which he faced a $535 million claim arising from an underlying auto claim with unusual and aggravating facts. The Plaintiff alleged the attorney’s misinterpretation of a settlement offer led to the defendant’s exposure to an excess judgment. Summary judgment was sought and subsequently granted by the trial court, and the case was dismissed. Plaintiff appealed, and on October 27, 2023, the Florida Second District Court of Appeal affirmed the lower court’s summary judgment ruling.

Attorneys: John Floyd, Sr., John Floyd Jr.
Nashville Partners, John Floyd, Sr., and John Floyd, Jr., obtained a defense verdict in a chiropractic malpractice case in Cullman County, Alabama. Plaintiff alleged that our client’s treatment caused him to have an internal carotid artery dissection that ultimately led to a stroke. They presented evidence of alleged brain damage and a substantial loss of earnings claim. In closing arguments, Plaintiff’s counsel asked the jury to award $8 million per year for each year since the injury, for a total of $64 million. The jury returned a defense verdict in 15 minutes.

Attorneys: Mark H. Ruff Jr., Nicholas S. Seamster, Michael R. D’Lugo
Orlando Partner, Michael D'Lugo, and West Palm Beach Partners, Mark Ruff and Nicholas Seamster, recently prevailed in a matter heard by the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal. This was a professional negligence claim brought by a contractor against our client, an engineer, stemming from the construction of two sewage pump stations. The Plaintiff claimed that our client negligently designed and negligently administered the project, causing the contractor to fall behind and to be improperly terminated by the city that had originally commissioned the project. The Plaintiff sought over $12 million in actual and consequential damages. Several counts of the Complaint were disposed of via summary judgment prior to trial, and Mark Ruff and Nicholas Seamster tried the case on the remaining counts in Palm Beach County, Florida, in February 2022. Although the jury awarded approximately $100,000 in damages and split the liability equally between the Plaintiff and our client, we moved for a directed verdict which was granted post-trial. Plaintiff appealed the directed verdict in June 2023, and Michael D’Lugo filed our Answer Brief in October 2023. In early June, the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed without discussion on all issues related to our client.