The Florida Insurance Law Blog
By Jeffrey T. Donner, Esq.
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In RSM 18, LLC v. Executive Centre, LLC (Fla. 4th DCA Jan. 7, 2026), the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed a landlord’s summary judgment victory in a commercial lease dispute, holding that a tenant cannot be deemed in default for failing to restore a security deposit unless the landlord strictly complies with the lease’s notice-and-demand requirements.…
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Andersen Service Corporation v. Old Republic Surety Company (Fla. 4th DCA Jan. 7, 2026) is a clean, important reminder that arbitration is a matter of contract—and that sureties cannot manufacture arbitration rights where none exist. In this case, a subcontractor recorded a construction lien for unpaid work and the lien was transferred to a lien transfer…
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In a January 2026 decision, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal drew a clean, important line in construction-law disputes involving lien transfer bonds and arbitration. The case—ANDERSEN SERVICE CORPORATION v. OLD REPUBLIC SURETY COMPANY—is worth the attention of contractors, subcontractors, developers, and sureties alike. The takeaway is straightforward but consequential: a surety cannot force arbitration…
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In Florida family law, few cases have shaped modern divorce outcomes as profoundly as Canakaris v. Canakaris, 382 So. 2d 1197 (Fla. 1980). Decided by the Florida Supreme Court more than four decades ago, Canakaris remains the seminal authority on alimony, equitable distribution principles (before the statute formally adopted that term), and—most importantly—the scope and…
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On February 26, 2025, the First District Court of Appeal issued a significant decision in Underhill v. State, Commission on Ethics. It is not an “ethics are important” sermon. It is a disciplined appellate opinion about statutory text, burdens of proof, and the limits of an agency’s authority to rewrite an ALJ’s work—especially in a…
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What can you do if you live in a residential neighborhood and your neighbor is running a McDonald’s or a retirement home out of his house? If you live in a single-family home in a residential neighborhood, your zoning ordinance, no doubt, prohibits the “commercial use of single-family homes.” (But see Airbnb.) But what if…
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What is a city’s potential liability for negligently performing building inspections and issuing permits? The Town of Surfside, which at some point had issued a roof repair permit not long before the tragedy—but, apparently, did not flag the building as being in an emergency situation—reportedly contributed $2 million to the $1 billion wrongful death/personal injury…
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Must surgeons inform patients that a procedure is experimental or investigational? The majority of cases hold that FDA status is not a “medical risk” and thus need not be disclosed in obtaining a patient’s informed consent. See Alvarez v. Smith, 714 So. 2d 652 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998). In Alvarez, Appellants Jose and Mirna Alvarez…
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Is it possible to for an insured to be awarded punitive damages in a first-party property insurance case? Yes. What is the difference between amending to assert a claim for punitive damages and amending to assert a claim for “bad faith”? The answer might not be clear. In Cook v. Florida Peninsula Ins. Co., 371…
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In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 144 S. Ct. 2244 (2024), the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Chevron U. S. A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 104 S.Ct. 2778 (1984). Democrats are up in arms. Now that the Court has ended “Chevron deference”—meaning courts are free to resolve cases and controversies without any systematic…
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