If you are a subcontractor or supplier working on a private construction project, you always want to pull up the Notice of Commencement from the public records to see if there is a payment bond in place.  If there is not, you know you have to preserve your...

Can an uncommon design or mode of construction that creates an “optical illusion” on property create an issue of fact for a premise liability claim?  According to the Third District Court of Appeal in Echevarria v. Lennar Homes, LLC, 45 Fla. L. Weekly D1567a (Fla. 3d DCA 2020),...

Associations have authority to pursue as a class, on behalf of all of their respective members, lawsuits “concerning members of common interest to the members.”  Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.221.   This includes, but is not limited to, the common property or the areas in which the association is...

Unlike a deductible, a self-insured retention (referred to an “SIR”) is, as the name suggests, a self-insured obligation of the insured before its insurer picks up coverage.  The SIR needs to be exhausted by the insured (as the primary self-insurance component) before the carrier’s...

In an insurance coverage dispute, it is common for the insured or the insurer to file a lawsuit that includes a claim for declaratory relief -- asking the court to render a ruling as to the coverage issue.  This claim is proper if an insurer denied coverage or...