Fla. Homeowners Can Be Liable if Trees, Bushes Cause Traffic Accidents
Homeowners who let bushes, shrubs and trees extend into the public right of way may be held liable if the foliage contributes to accidents by blocking motorists’ view, the Florida Supreme Court ruled...
View ArticleHomeowners Can Be Liable if Trees, Bushes Cause Traffic Accidents
Homeowners who let bushes, shrubs and trees extend into the public right of way may be held liable if the foliage contributes to accidents by blocking motorists’ view, the Florida Supreme Court ruled...
View ArticleBoard Won’t Exclude 2 Investment Firms from Florida Bidding
Two major investment firms will advise Florida on financing its hurricane catastrophe insurance fund although Gov. Charlie Crist tried to exclude them. Crist wanted to keep Lehman Brothers and J.P....
View ArticleFlorida, Berkshire Hathaway Strike $224 Million Deal on Insurance Fund
Florida will pay $224 million to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. for a guarantee that the state can borrow up to $4 billion if necessary to help cover future losses by its emergency hurricane insurance fund....
View ArticleFlorida Cigarette Case Could Affect Other Products
A tobacco lawyer has asked the Florida Supreme Court to reverse a $545,000 product liability verdict because the ailing smoker who won the judgment wasn’t required to prove the company could have made...
View ArticleFlorida Supreme Court Won’t Review ‘Inherently Dangerous’ Product Case
The Florida Supreme Court has let stand a Broward County smoker’s $545,000 award in a tobacco case that also may affect liability claims for a broad range of other “inherently dangerous” products....
View ArticleFlorida Citizens’ Board Member With Ties to Sansom Resigns
A key figure in allegations that former House Speaker Ray Sansom misused his previous office as the chamber’s budget chairman has resigned from the board that oversees a state-created insurance...
View ArticleState Farm Appeals Conditions Placed on Florida Withdrawal
State Farm Florida on Friday appealed stipulations that Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has put on its plan to withdraw from the state’s property insurance market. Florida’s second largest insurer...
View ArticleInsurers’ Taxes Could Back Florida Private School Voucher Program
A private school voucher program for children from low-income families in Florida would be strengthened by a bill the House passed last week, but critics say it would be another financial blow for...
View ArticleFlorida State Senator Urges Insurance Chief McCarty to Resign
A state senator wants Florida’s insurance commissioner to resign, calling him “duplicitous and untrustworty” last week in a letter to Gov. Charlie Crist. Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, wrote Insurance...
View ArticleFlorida Gets Strict About Buckling Up
Florida drivers shouldn’t expect state troopers to let them off with just a warning if they are caught driving with their seat belt unbuckled now that a a new law has gone into effect. The Florida...
View ArticleFlorida Hurricane, Pension Funds Boosted By Financial Markets Upswing
Florida’s public employee pension and hurricane catastrophe funds are benefiting from an upswing in the financial markets, state investment managers said earlier this week. The State Board of...
View ArticlePotential Hurricane Insurance Losses Added to Florida’s Long-Range Deficit...
A House-Senate budget panel has added the state’s risk of incurring billions of dollars in possible hurricane insurance losses to Florida’s long-range financial outlook. The new changes could dwarf...
View ArticleFlorida Senator: Obama Not Doing Enough for State
U.S. Sen. George LeMieux criticized President Barack Obama’s handling of the Gulf oil spill Saturday, saying he hasn’t done enough to help Florida and the other affected states or their residents....
View ArticleFlorida CFO Sink Intercedes for Local Businessman with BP
Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink was in the middle of a dramatic confrontation at a BP oil spill claims office Tuesday after going to bat for a distraught owner of a bait and tackle shop....
View ArticleFlorida Republicans Eye Special Session to Revisit Crist Vetoes
Incoming Republican legislative leaders said they are considering calling a special session in the coming weeks to override some of Gov. Charlie Crist’s vetoes. Crist’s veto of a property insurance...
View ArticleFlorida House Leader Wants Separate Civil, Criminal Supreme Courts
Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon this week proposed creating a second Florida Supreme Court so that one set of justices could specialize on criminal appeals and the other on civil cases. The Winter...
View ArticleFlorida Undertakes Hurricane Readiness Exercises
Florida began its sometimes annual hurricane exercise Monday after skipping the practice storm last year because officials were busy with a real emergency — the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The hurricane...
View ArticleJudge Dismisses Dallas National Suit Vs. Florida Insurance Chief
A federal judge last week threw out a lawsuit against Florida’s insurance commissioner even though the official had opposed dismissing the case. Commissioner Kevin McCarty argued that keeping the...
View ArticleFlorida Lawmakers Advance Brain Injury, Wrongly Imprisoned Claims Bills
A man who spent 27 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit and the brain-damaged and paralyzed victim of a crash with a speeding sheriff’s deputy who was late for work would receive millions in...
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