Before limits kick in, new Florida law spawns tidal wave of insurance lawsuits
The law went into effect with DeSantis' signature on Friday. But the lawsuit logjam will take months for clerks and later judges to sort out, officials say.
Critics said that there's no shortage of irony in that the push by the state's biggest business associations to limit lawsuits first spawned a tidal wave of litigation.
The crush was prompted by attorneys seeking to have cases heard under less-restrictive laws that were in place before Friday. The host of legal changes would apply only to lawsuits filed after that day,
"There are many cases that would've been turned down or would've been settled pre-suit. But given the deadline, you have to file a suit to protect your client," said
Who's to blame?
"They brought this upon themselves," Michaels said of insurance companies, seen as a key driver of the legislation. "They were just in such a rush to take people's rights away so completely and as soon as possible."
But the
"I think it proves to us that the system is kind of broken and we need to reform it," said Sen.
The legislation was signed by DeSantis within hours of receiving the bill.
What the overhaul means
It revamps attorney fees, the time frame for filing negligence lawsuits, "bad faith" cases against insurers, premises liability and comparison of fault, an issue which brought a parade of motorcyclists to the
In mostly party line votes in the Republican-controlled Legislature, the measure (HB 837) was approved 23-15 in the
"Instead of improving the lives of the average person, it will absolve bad actors of their duties and responsibilities," Sen.
After the legislation passed,
Court crush
But for now, the courts are straining.
The largest share of the lawsuits landed in the last week.
"Our concern, of course, is our resources to be able to handle these cases," Timman said. "That's a big volume for us. We'll be working closely with the judiciary, as well, because I'm sure they have a lot of the same concerns. It's a lot of cases, certainly in a really compact time period."
The ability of staff to process the volume of cases is compounded by the need to issue notices, and summonses, and later schedule pre-trial motions and handle evidence and jury selection as the lawsuits move toward trial, Timman said.
Michaels, the lawyer with the
But he said supporters insisted on having the law take effect as soon as the governor's signing, even though many
"Once this bill became effective, rights that people had will be gone," Michaels said. "So it put lawyers in a position where you had to file before the governor signs it. The legal system now completely changes."
More time needed, defenders say
The association fears companies could default in claims made against them by not timely responding to a suit.
"This drastic increase in lawsuits will create a statewide issue that will impact the rights of defendants," the association wrote Muniz. "This will cause defense firms and attorneys undue burden and stress. There are not enough hours in the day to answer all of these complaints."
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