Greenberg Traurig Attorneys Obtain Complete Defense Judgment On Behalf of Attorney’s Title Insurance Fund

Fort Lauderdale & Fort Myers, FL (PRWEB) July 15, 2014

A team of Fort Lauderdale attorneys with international law firm Greenberg Traurig secured an affirmance by the Second District Court of Appeal of a complete defense judgment on behalf of Attorneys' Title Insurance Fund (The Fund) Case No.: 2D13-2641 - L.T. No.: 07-CA-014166.

The Fund is a longtime firm client who had been sued by Land Management of South Florida, Inc., whose principal Jay C. Evans, entered into three transactions in 2002 to collectively purchase and assemble more than 140 acres of land for development in Pine Island, the largest island off Florida'sGulf Coast in Lee County, Florida. Land Management initially filed three claims against The Fund for negligence, breach of contract and constructive fraud. Land Management sought damages against The Fund for more than $35 million, alleging that The Fund had improperly failed to update a title commitment to disclose that one of the sellers had entered into bankruptcy proceedings.

On March 8, 2013, Judge Keith Kyle of the Lee County Circuit Court, entered final summary judgment in favor of The Fund on all pending counts. The trial court adopted The Fund's arguments that there was no duty to disclose the later-filed bankruptcy proceeding and nothing The Fund did precluded Land Management from purchasing the properties. Land Management appealed to the Second District Court of Appeal. On June 27, the appellate court issued a unanimous opinion affirming the lower court's entry of summary judgment.

The Greenberg Traurig team representing The Fund was led by William R. Clayton , Alaine S.Greenberg and Brian H. Koch, Shareholders with the Litigation Practice Group at the firm's Fort Lauderdale office.

Clayton, the lead attorney for the client, and Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig's national Real Estate Litigation Practice Group, stated: "We believe that justice was done by the trial and appellate courts. There was no basis for the Plaintiff's claims and it was undisputed that the plaintiff was simply never ready, willing and able to close for reasons wholly unrelated to our client."

Koch successfully argued the summary judgment hearing and appellate argument with the Second District Court of Appeal. "This was a great opportunity to take a case from inception through the appellate process. We always believed that when the courts examined the actual facts of this case, they would agree there was no basis for the claims against The Fund," Koch said.

About Attorneys' Title Insurance Fund, Inc.
Attorneys' Title Insurance Fund, Inc. (The Fund) supports and promotes the success of attorneys' real estate practices by providing expert underwriting counsel, the best legal education, valuable title information and innovative products and services in keeping with The Fund's mission to preserve and facilitate the real estate practices of its members in their protection of the public. "Always Driven" is a commitment The Fund has to create innovative products and services that allow attorneys to conduct transactions easily and efficiently. For more information, visit http://www.thefund.com.

About Greenberg Traurig, LLP
Greenberg Traurig, LLP is an international, multi-practice law firm with approximately 1750 attorneys serving clients from 36 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The firm is among the "Power Elite" in the 2014 BTI Client Relationship Scorecard report, which assesses the nature and strength of law firms' client relationships. For additional information, please visit http://www.gtlaw.com.

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