Florida Insurance Council - Covering Florida Since 1962
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel In an unexpected turn of events and out of the blue, on May 23, 2018, the new Florida Supreme Court issued an 5-2 opinion receding from a 2018 decision that retained the “Frye” standard of determining expert witness reliability even after the Florida legislature enacted the “Daubert” standard in…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The House tort reform bill that has been significantly pared down to cover only accuracy in damages for past unpaid medical expenses passed its last committee on April 9, 2019 with one amendment. The Senate accuracy in damages bill has not yet been heard in committee. Thus, it…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The House tort reform bill was significantly pared down during its second committee hearing on March 28, 2019. The pared down version passed with a 13-7 vote. HB 17 originally dealt with products liability, calculation of medical damages, and a cap on noneconomic damages (e.g., damages for pain and…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel The House tort reform bill was significantly amended during its first committee hearing on March 6, 2019. The amended bill passed the bill by a vote of 10-5 along party lines. However, even some of the Republican committee members who voted for the bill expressed concerns about it, especially…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel In a 4-3 decision issued on October 15, 2018, the Florida Supreme Court held legislation enacted in 2013 changing the standard for determining expert witness reliability from the “Frye” standard to the “Daubert” standard was unconstitutional because it violated the constitutional separation of powers. The more liberal Justices formed…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel A Senate bill making significant changes to the mediation process that is harmful to the insurance industry was postponed on January 10, 2018 in its first committee stop, the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill sponsor, Sen. Steube, who also chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, postponed the bill without explanation.…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Sen. Farmer filed a very unfriendly workers’ comp bill on September 5, 2017. SB 258 prohibits attorney fees paid in workers’ comp cases from being included in the insurer’s rate base and used to justify a rate or rate change. This is a major issue for the trial bar…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel Sen. Farmer filed a very unfriendly bill relating to insurance rate setting on September 5, 2017. SB 258 prohibits attorney fees paid under the one-way attorney fee statute (s. 627.428) in insurance cases from being included in the insurer’s rate base and used to justify a rate or rate…
By: Katrina Callaway, FIC General Counsel On April 3, 2017, the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee unanimously approved a delete everything amendment (#164156) that prohibits attorney fees paid under the one-way attorney fee statute and paid in workers’ compensation from being included in rates. SB 1684 has no House companion. It was opposed by the…
By: Sam Miller, FIC Consultant SB 334 Prejudgment Interest — by Steube This is now the bill:266818 – Amendment (Delete All) PDF398962 – Substitute Amendment (Delete All) (266818) PDF471646 – Amendment to Substitute Amendment (398962) PDF The second committee substitute and revised staff analysis should be available soon, probably early next week. FIC will distribute…