Taylor Day Law

Understanding what qualifies and disqualifies a driver of a commercial motor vehicle is a critical tool for defending against negligent hiring claims directed towards a motor carrier. The same understanding can and should also be utilized by motor carrier employers when making hiring decisions. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) establishes rigorous qualification standards […]

Understanding how stacking and non-stacking insurance policies operate is critical for defending Florida’s uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage claims. Stacking allows an insured to combine coverage limits from multiple vehicles or policies, thereby increasing the total available payout for uninsured/underinsured motorist claims. This coverage provides policyholders with broader coverage but also creates complexities in litigation, particularly when […]

During litigation, a party generally engages in discovery.  In fact, Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.280 provides, “[p]arties may obtain discovery by one or more of the following methods: depositions upon oral examination or written questions; written interrogatories; production of documents or things or permission to enter upon land or other property for inspection and […]

In Florida, most practitioners have experienced a local rule or administrative order requiring the parties to “meet and confer” on any non-dispositive motion prior to scheduling a hearing. The local “meet and confer” requirement was a gatekeeper to the court, and perhaps more importantly, an obstacle to moving a case forward. In an effort “[t]o […]

Most Florida attorneys are aware of Florida Statute § 57.105 and the initial procedure through which one party may seek to have a non-meritorious claim, defense, or action withdrawn or dismissed by the opposing party. The statute provides: (1) Upon the court’s initiative or motion of any party, the court shall award a reasonable attorney’s […]

The Third District Court of Florida recently reversed a trial court’s nonfinal order allowing a Plaintiff to amend her complaint to assert claims for punitive damages after determining the Plaintiff failed to proffer sufficient evidence to support a reasonable basis for recovery of such damages. McLane Foodservice Inc. et al, v. Wool, 49 Fla. L. […]