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Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida Confirms Surety's Objection to Discharge Because of Breach of Trust Fund Provision in Indemnity Agreement
Posted in Legal Alerts by on Wed Jul 17, 2019
The Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida recently issued an important decision about a surety’s ability to object to an indemnitor’s discharge of its debt to the surety based upon an alleged breach of the indemnity agreement’s trust fund provision.
read more Share This PostFlorida Legislature Requires Sworn Statement of Non-Payment as Condition Precedent to a Payment Bond Claim
Posted in Legal Alerts by on Wed Jul 17, 2019
In the 2019 legislative session, the Florida Legislature amended sections 255.05 (governing public projects) and 713.23 (governing private projects) requiring a notice of non-payment to be under oath. The changes are contained in House Bill 1247 and pertain to subcontractors and materials suppliers not in privity with the prime contractor.
read more Share This PostFlorida Supreme Court Tosses Frye Out – Daubert is Now the Rule in Qualifying Expert Testimony
Posted in Legal Alerts by on Wed Jul 17, 2019
Recently, the Florida Supreme Court adopted the Daubert standard in the procedural evidence rules to qualify expert witness testimony at trial. See In re Amendments to the Fla. Evidence Code, No. SC19-107 (Fla. May 23, 2019). Before this decision, the Florida procedural evidence rules followed the Frye standard for admissibility of expert witness testimony at trial. The Court’s recent decision is a reversal of its longstanding support for Frye, and it heightens the evidentiary standard by which expert testimony may be admitted in Florida.
read more Share This PostFlorida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal Rules Pre-Suit Notice under Chapter 558, Florida Statutes, is an “Action” for Purposes of the Statute of Repose
Posted in Legal Alerts by on Fri Sep 14, 2018
On September 12, 2018, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal rendered its opinion in Gindel v. Centex Homes, et al., which will impact construction defect litigation, and particularly the application of the ten-year statute of repose to construction defect cases. In Gindel, homeowners sought to recover damages from their homebuilder for alleged construction defects in their homes. The homeowners closed on and took possession of their homes in March 2004. In February 2014, they served on the builder pre-suit notices of defects pursuant to Chapter 558, Florida Statutes. Several months later, in May 2014, the homeowners filed suit against the builder. read more Share This Post