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Orlando Divorce Lawyer James Hart quoted on TheStreet.com
Orlando Divorce Lawyer James Hart was recently quoted in an article posted to TheStreet.com.
Why Divorced Couples should not live together...
Prepare now for the end of No-Fault
Coalition urges lawmakers to address no-fault law
No Fault? It's Legislature's fault
Back to the bad old days on automobile insurance?
Florida's CFO: 'Mass confusion' could reign if PIP lapses
No-Fault Expiration may Raise Health Premiums
Health Costs to Soar if No-Fault Goes
Homeowners Get Little Relief Despite New Insurance Law
Largest Personal Injury Award Ever in Polk County
Family Awarded $45 Mil. For Crash -
Girl, 9, and her friend, 8, were killed when pickup was hit by a large truck in Lakeland in 2006.
Insurance: Take sides, and numbers
Advanced Matrimonial Trial Advocacy Seminar to be held August 16-19 in Naples, Florida
Donna Hart joins the The Law Office of James W. Hart as an associate
Orlando Divorce and Family Law Attorney Donna Hart has joined The Law Office of James W. Hart as an associate

Orlando Divorce Lawyer James Hart quoted on TheStreet.com

Orlando Divorce Lawyer James Hart was recently interviewed for a story that appears today on TheStreet.com. The article is entitled "A Postnuptial Agreement Can Save Your Marriage".

Why Divorced Couples should not live together...

Russia: Woman Sets Ex-Husband on Fire
By REUTERS
August 24, 2007

A Moscow woman set fire to her ex-husband’s penis as he sat naked watching television and drinking vodka, the police said. It was not clear if the man would make a full recovery. The couple divorced three years ago but for financial reasons continued to share their small apartment.

Source: The New York Times

Prepare now for the end of No-Fault

By ALEX SINK, Special to the Times
Published August 19, 2007

For 36 years, Floridians have taken for granted that if they suffer from injuries in a car accident, the first $10,000 in medical and related benefits are automatically covered by the no-fault law, commonly referred to by the medical benefits portion called PIP, or personal injury protection. In six weeks, when the law is set to expire, Florida will enter a new world.

I support the intent of the no-fault law, which is to ensure that Floridians receive medical treatment for injuries they suffer in an auto accident without delay and without the need to file a lawsuit to recover costs relating to these medical benefits. However, the law, and especially the PIP provision, has major flaws. A culture of fraud and abuse has grown around PIP, one that my fraud investigators fight every day. Medical costs are not managed well in the PIP system. Claims for PIP medical benefits should not be used to support unnecessary and costly lawsuits.

But the idea behind the law - the protection of Floridians and their assets - is the centerpiece of my role as chief financial officer. Although I want to make the no-fault law and PIP work, there is no indication that the Legislature will address this issue in next month's special legislative session. Therefore, with the impending sunset of the law, I have been working to increase Floridians' awareness about life after no-fault.

Auto insurance will be different when the law goes away. I have established a Web site as an educational resource at www.myfloridacfo.com/nofault/. On the Web page, you will find answers to questions about how drivers can protect themselves in a fault-based system and more.

Much has been reported about changes in auto insurance rates when no-fault expires. I encourage you to look beyond the cost savings and consider what you and your family need. In particular, you may decide to buy medical payments coverage or increase your existing uninsured motorist or other coverage to better protect you, which will add some cost to your auto insurance premium even if PIP costs are reduced.

I understand that the Legislature has been studying this issue for years, and well-intentioned members in the Senate and House of Representatives have proposed various reforms. The issue is complicated and the parties - hospitals, doctors, attorneys and insurance companies - rarely agree on reforms that Floridians need. The reality is that all interested parties will have to change the way they do business in order to fix PIP.

Whether or not we reform no-fault or PIP, I believe the following components should be included in any system of medical benefits for Floridians:

- Florida should require mandatory medical benefits insurance for owners and operators of motor vehicles regardless of who is at fault in the accident. This would particularly help the 20 percent of Floridians who lack health insurance.

- Medical benefits insurance should include mandatory cost containment provisions. For example, fee schedules, which set reimbursement rates for medical services and are common in Medicare, Medicaid and workers' compensation, have proven successful in containing costs.

- Florida must continue to combat all forms of insurance fraud, and any insurance program must include aggressive antifraud measures. Critics of the no-fault system point to fraud as a reason to allow it to sunset. Experience in other states has shown that fraud happens in any system, and we must remain vigilant against it.

One thing is clear: Before no-fault sunsets Oct. 1, all Floridians should examine their automobile insurance policies to ensure they have adequate coverage to protect themselves and their assets. I encourage Floridians to contact their insurance agents or companies in the next six weeks to discuss what changes will best suit their needs.

I call on the governor and Legislature to expand the call for the upcoming special legislative session to include no-fault and urge the parties to work together with the best interests of Floridians in mind. PIP can work. Compromise is needed. A reformed no-fault law or a suitable replacement will benefit Floridians directly by protecting families.

Who can argue with that?

Alex Sink is Florida's chief financial officer.

Source: tampabay.com

Coalition urges lawmakers to address no-fault law

BY BEATRICE E. GARCIA

As the expiration of Florida's controversial no-fault auto insurance law nears and no acceptable replacement has been put forth, a new coalition of 37 healthcare providers, first-responders, health insurers and some auto insurers is urging lawmakers to take action.

The group, called the Coalition to Protect Florida's Drivers, is petitioning Gov. Charlie Crist, Senate President Ken Pruitt and House Speaker Marco Rubio to address the auto insurance problem during the legislative special session on the budget next month.

Now, Florida drivers are required to buy at least $10,000 in coverage for personal injury protection, which pays medical bills from an auto accident, and $10,000 in property damage protection.

The coalition members as well as some state officials, including Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles believe that drivers won't be required to carry any form of insurance to register a car in Florida once the no-fault law expires Oct. 1.

'Simply allowing the system to die Oct. 1 without any form of mandatory coverage is a prescription for disaster for all Floridians,' said Wayne NeSmith, president of the Florida Hospital Association, which is part of the coalition.

The coalition also includes Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the state's largest health insurer, which expects health insurance rates to increase to cover new claims from auto accidents. The healthcare community fears that the 20 percent of drivers who have no health coverage other than PIP could end up on hospitals' and doctors' doorsteps without means to pay for care.

'With this reversal of consumer protections, Florida would enter an era of having one of the weakest auto insurance plans in the country,' said Michael Johnston, Southeast region president for Gainsco Auto Insurance, a Texas-based company that sells nonstandard coverage. A trade group of agents and insurers in the nonstandard market, which serves younger inexperienced drivers or some with spotty driving records, is also urging legislators to extend the no-fault law.

However, some insurers and attorneys contend drivers will save money if the PIP requirement is eliminated. State Farm, Allstate and AIG have said they will lower rates once the law expires.

Crist said earlier this week he wasn't 'optimistic' the Legislature would take up a PIP bill during the September special session, even though he would like to keep no-fault insurance alive.

The Department of Financial Services on its website, www.fldfs.com, provides consumers with some guidance about reviewing their auto insurance coverage.

Source: Miami Herald

No Fault? It's Legislature's fault

By A TIMES EDITORIAL
Published August 10, 2007

If Florida lawmakers want to give up on no-fault automobile insurance, they at least owe motorists a good-faith effort to come up with something better. But just weeks before the law is set to expire, they plan to do nothing at all and leave Florida in a state that Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink accurately describes as "mass confusion." This is not legislative leadership; this is abdicating responsibility at the public's expense.

Hospital emergency rooms are being told to patch up accident victims who will have no insurance and to simply absorb an estimated $350-million a year in lost payments. Insurance companies are required by Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty to notify customers in "a clear and unambiguous manner" about the law, except the state tells insurers to follow their own legal advice on how many coverages will be affected. Health insurers are on the hook for treatments that were previously covered by automobile "personal injury protection," but they have no way to gauge the impact on their rates.

To top it off, the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles is now saying that allowing PIP to expire will also remove the requirement that motorists prove they have property-damage coverage. But, and this is where the tale begins to feel more like a comic tragedy, many of the insurance industry lawyers dispute that interpretation and Commissioner McCarty has ventured no formal opinion.

"We want to do what we can to make sure that consumers will know the choices they face," says Tara Klimek, a spokeswoman for Sink. "But I can tell you we asked Colorado how it went there when they made the change, and it was mass confusion."

While Sink seems to be doing what she can in her role as CFO, the Legislature seems determined to pull the rug out from under no-fault insurance. They have had plenty of chances to either reform the system, which is rife with fraud in South Florida and other areas, or create a new one. But though lawmakers have met 13 times since first establishing an expiration date and passed an extension last year only to see it vetoed by then-Gov. Jeb Bush, they are unwilling to publicly tackle the issue again before the Oct. 1 deadline. They would rather avoid wading into a public fight involving insurers, doctors and lawyers and putting the campaign contributions from those interests at risk than help ordinary motorists.

Lawmakers have one last chance, during a scheduled Sept. 18 special session on the state budget, to extend the life of no-fault or replace it with a medical payment provision that would at least protect hospital emergency rooms that have no choice but to treat accident victims. At a minimum, lawmakers could clarify whether they intended to abolish both the personal injury and property damage coverage requirement.

Nothing seems likely to happen, though, because the debate has become so paralyzing that even some PIP supporters are now eager to wash their hands of it. The Senate has asked for an analysis of the impact of repeal, but the report is not due until after the special session. Gov. Charlie Crist favors extending no-fault insurance but has done little publicly to make that happen.

The governor needs to get more involved and insist that legislators tackle the no-fault insurance issue during the special session. Without no-fault or an equivalent coverage, there will be more uninsured drivers, more lawsuits after accidents and more unpaid hospital bills. That is not in Florida's best interests.

Source: tampabay.com

Back to the bad old days on automobile insurance?

Gov. Charlie Crist and the Legislature should put the question of mandatory personal injury protection (better known as PIP) on the schedule for the September special session to cut the budget.

And do what?

Extend it for a year to give time to decide how to handle the problem of uninsured motorists.

One proposal is to require mandatory bodily liability coverage of at least $25,000, which is closer to the real cost of a serious accident today than the $10,000 PIP provides.

PIP was instituted in 1979 largely to stem a rising tide of uninsured motorists, who were wreaking havoc on Florida's streets. There was an epidemic of accidents in which the victims discovered the person responsible for the wreck had no insurance and no assets to sue for.

Today, with strict controls, it is reported that less than 5 percent of Florida motorists are uninsured. Under PIP, so-called "no-fault" insurance, a minimum of $10,000 in injuries is covered by the injured person's insurance, no matter who is to blame. (The minimum coverage of $10,000 was set in 1979, and has remained unadjusted for inflation since then.)

It has been suggested (cynically) that Crist and the Legislature are willing to let PIP go as a sop to the insurance companies, which are the driving force behind its expiration.

Why do they need to be conciliatory? Well, the thinking goes, the state was so tough on the industry in the January special session (making them cut premiums and all) that during the regular session in March and April legislators figured it was time to ease off, and failed to approve legislation to keep PIP alive.

Since then, of course, the promised decreases have turned into rate increases ... for insurance companies already boasting record profits.

Meanwhile, what are the insurance companies promising if the Legislature lets PIP die?

To lower premiums for auto insurance.

There's an old saying: Fool me once, your fault; fool me twice, my fault.

If PIP goes away hospitals and emergency rooms, already absorbing increasing charity care costs, will be faced with even more patients unable to pay.

Also, the cost of medical care for an accident will fall to your health insurance ... assuming you have it.

Insurance companies, meanwhile, will be offering their customers optional riders to protect them from uninsured motorists. The only question is how long it will be before those premiums surpass what PIP costs now.

Source: pnj.com

Florida's CFO: 'Mass confusion' could reign if PIP lapses

By Marc Caputo

TALLAHASSEE -- The state's chief financial officer said Wednesday that 'mass confusion' and more lawsuits could reign in Florida if legislators let the state's no-fault auto insurance law lapse.

Without a no-fault law, she said, more people might drive uninsured and more people will likely sue after a car crash to find out who's at fault.

'We're going to a tort system. You will be subject to more lawsuits,' said Alex Sink. 'It may be the lawyers' employment security act.'

Sink, whose office oversees insurance, wouldn't say what system she would favor, but she said she's preparing for the Legislature to do nothing about the fact that no-fault Personal Injury Protection is about to lapse Oct. 1.

At the same time her office is focusing attention on PIP, Sink is also crafting a proposal to ask the governor and Cabinet, which she sits on, to manage the state's Catastrophic Fund, which provides back-up insurance to insurance companies.

Right now, the Legislature manages the fund and any rules it passes at the end of spring come right at the beginning of hurricane season. That makes it difficult for the industry to react. If the Cabinet manages the fund, she said, it could make major decisions in January, giving the industry more time.

At the same time she does this, Sink's office is preparing to notify motorists that PIP is going away and wants to urge people to make sure they're insured.

Car insurance companies, such as State Farm, said customers should save more with PIP gone because they will no longer have to pay for a service that's rife with fraud. State Farm's lobbyist, Mark Delegal, has dismissed concerns over an uptick in uninsured motorists, saying another section of state law requires motorists to provide proof they're 'financially responsible' when they drive.

But to whom will they provide proof? The state's Department of Motor Vehicles says the sunset of the PIP law means that it will have no enforcement powers.

As a result, health insurers, such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield, say it will drive up the cost of their insurance because more claims will be made.

Also, hospitals are concerned that they'll get stuck with more unpaid and disputed bills from emergency-room visits.

Under PIP, Floridians are required to maintain $10,000 worth of person injury protection to cover medical expenses from a car crash regardless of fault. Rockledge Republican Sen. Bill Posey said it's a 'grievous error' to let PIP lapse, but he said he can't get the requisite number of 21 senators to sign off on a plan as the Legislature heads into a three-week budget-cutting session Sept. 18.

'I'm not sure if people are really going to save money,' Posey said.

Source: Miami Herald

No-Fault Expiration may Raise Health Premiums

By THOMAS S. BROWN
Business Writer

DAYTONA BEACH -- If Florida's no-fault car insurance system is allowed to expire Oct. 1, employers and workers can expect to be hit with higher health insurance premiums, the state's chief financial officer warned Tuesday.

CFO Alex Sink, overseer of the state's insurance and banking regulators, spoke to about 100 people at an airport breakfast of The Chamber, Daytona Beach/Halifax Area. She reminded them that mandatory personal injury protection (PIP) -- the heart of the no-fault system -- will die automatically unless a special legislative session, which starts Sept. 18, extends it. After the breakfast, Sink told The News-Journal she remains hopeful legislative leaders will work out a last-minute agreement to preserve no-fault.

But if no such agreement is reached, she told her audience, "You've got to protect yourself in a world without PIP."

For business owners, that means bracing for higher health insurance premiums, since car insurance policies no longer will be required to cover the first $10,000 of medical expenses resulting from an accident, Sink said.

"The health insurance companies have said the premiums will be increased," Sink said. Some employers then may decide the fringe benefit has become too costly and do away with health coverage altogether. Others will pass the increases to their employees, she added.

Sink also predicted courts will become clogged with accident suits as insurance companies dispute which driver should be held responsible for a multiple-vehicle collisions.

"Guess how your police are going to be spending their time," Sink said. "They're going to be in courtrooms testifying, with less time for preventing crime on the street."

Sink acknowledged PIP is riddled with staged-accident claims and excessive medical expenses. Both problems can be curbed by hiring more fraud investigators and putting caps on how much hospitals and doctors can charge for various treatments. If no-fault is allowed to expire, Sink said there should be at least a six-month grace period to prepare for the return to an at-fault system.

Turning to the state's property insurance crisis, Sink voiced dismay that many insurers want to raise homeowner rates this year, even though the state Legislature tried to lower costs by giving insurers more back-up reinsurance at a deep discount.

Either the state's insurance analysts miscalculated or the insurance companies are overcharging, Sink said. She added she's not sure which is the case.

"This is sort of a stay-tuned thing," she said.

Among the pending statewide rate increases for residential coverage are these: Hartford homeowners, 29.5 percent; Hartford AARP homeowners, 46 percent; Hartford AARP fire policies, 100 percent; Metropolitan Casualty, 33.5 percent; IDS, 49 percent; AMEX, 49 percent; Capitol Preferred, 19 percent; and Sentry Mutual, 95 percent.

Source: Daytona Beach News Journal

Health Costs to Soar if No-Fault Goes

By SUE G. BRODY, Special to the Times
Published August 6, 2007

Gov. Charlie Crist is known as the "People's Governor." His commitment to advancing the issues that define daily life for so many Floridians distinguishes the first phase of his term. Now Florida's hospitals and emergency health care providers are watching the clock tick toward the sunset of personal injury protection (PIP) and wondering if that commitment extends to us.

On Oct. 1, Florida's mandatory PIP, also known as no-fault automobile insurance, is due to permanently end. That would usher in an unfavorable beginning for thousands suddenly placed among the ranks of the state's uninsured. For more than three decades, this law has provided integral coverage for auto accident victims.

Many insurance companies would have its customers believe that the elimination of PIP is a benefit to their household budgets - that if PIP is no longer mandatory for Florida's drivers, the result will be money saved for each policyholder. But a closer look reveals a more complex story.

The number of patients treated for injuries related to auto accidents continues to rise, as does the number of uninsured. According to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Florida sees more than 250,000 auto crashes annually. About 140,000 drivers or passengers are injured.

Based on a Florida Hospital Association survey, 40 percent of those injured in car crashes have no other form of health insurance than PIP, often because of the lack of affordable coverage. The remaining 60 percent are covered by private health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. Without no-fault coverage, their health insurance becomes the sole source of reimbursement, which, ultimately, may mean higher premiums and increased costs for businesses providing medical coverage to their employees.

Not only should we weigh the obvious financial challenges a sudden rise in the number of uninsured would present, but subsequent consequences, even for those with insurance, merit consideration. One example: The sunset of our no-fault system will undoubtedly result in more resource-consuming litigation that will negatively affect both providers and consumers.

Drivers may see immediate savings on PIP premiums. But the number of people involved in accidents and the costs associated with their care will continue to rise. The reality of the costs of care associated with accidents is not going away. Adding the thousands of drivers currently covered by PIP to the state's list of uninsured simply shifts the financial burden to hospitals like Bayfront that will continue to provide the treatment accident victims need, regardless of their ability to pay.

As the leader of Bayfront Health System - a private, not-for-profit hospital in St. Petersburg that serves as Pinellas County's only trauma center - I see the crisis of our area's uninsured grow daily and can attest to the significant impact the expiration of PIP would have on health care.

At Bayfront, we treat thousands of people who need us at their most vulnerable times. Bayflite, our emergency helicopter program, brings life-saving care to patients in 15 counties, and more than three-fourths of Bayflite's patients are victims of car crashes. Last year, Bayfront treated more than 3,000 auto accident victims, many of whom had no other form of health insurance than PIP.

Driven by our mission of providing quality health care for all, we are the largest provider of charity care in Pinellas County. Last year alone, we provided more than $15-million of uncompensated care. It is our honor to meet this noble mission. However, Bayfront cannot complete this ambitious endeavor alone. We count on the partnership of our expert physicians, elected officials and other organizations with whom we share common objectives to help us seamlessly meet the health needs of our community.

We look forward to our elected officials in Tallahassee doing what is right for health care in this state. To allow PIP's end without discussion is a disservice to all of us. A law mandating auto insurance is necessary to ensure hospitals like Bayfront remain viable centers of excellence for everyone in our communities. That legislation starts with Gov. Crist adding PIP to the agenda of the September special session of the Legislature. Please contact the governor and our local legislators today to let them know, like your medical community, you are looking to them to do the right thing for Florida's people.

Sue G. Brody is president and chief executive officer of Bayfront Health System, parent organization of Bayfront Medical Center, a 502-bed, private not-for-profit hospital in St. Petersburg.

Source: Tampa Bay.com/St. Pete Times

Homeowners Get Little Relief Despite New Insurance Law

BY DAVID ROYSE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TALLAHASSEE -- About six months ago, Gov. Charlie Crist signed legislation he said would lower property insurance premiums, looked into the television cameras and proclaimed, "help is on the way." He told Floridians they would get finally relief from insurance bills that have skyrocketed due to hurricanes.

It has not quite turned out that way. Here are some of the proposed new rates from insurers so far: average increases of 30 percent from Florida Farm Bureau, 94.8 percent from Sentry Insurance and 53.9 percent from USAA, which insures military families.

State officials had promised rates would drop about 25 percent on average because the new law allows insurers to get cheaper state-backed reinsurance -- backup coverage against having to pay out lots of claims. The law required insurers to pass on those savings to customers.

So far, the average final rate filing under the new law has been for an increase of just over 30 percent, insurance officials said.

State Farm, the second-largest home insurer in the state, proposed to drop rates by about 7 percent on average. But state regulators told the company to try again. Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said the company's decrease should be closer to 11 percent.

No increase has been approved yet and McCarty suggested many may not be. His office already rejected the Farm Bureau increase.

"We fully expect the companies to provide the rate relief anticipated by the Legislature," McCarty said.

Those savings were also anticipated by homeowners, many of whom say they have yet to see any help. A recent survey found about half those polled expected bigger savings.

Most certainly did not expect to get higher bills.

"I thought they'd at least hold steady," said Earl Lunsford, who was disheartened when he received his renewal notice for a policy he has had with Nationwide since he built his house 43 years ago. The rates did not hold steady: he said his annual premium is increasing from $2,600 to $3,700.

"I'm well away from the water, too -- from the Gulf I'm about 25 miles like the crow flies," said Lunsford, who lives in the Panhandle town of Milton.

"It kind of makes you want to move," said Lunsford, who is retired after a 35-year career with Monsanto Chemical. "I could go to Alabama, and I'm seriously considering it."

McCarty, Crist and other officials say some insurance companies are not doing what they were required to by the law. Some, like state Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, are particularly miffed that the state took on extra risk to try to make the rates come down. Taxpayers are now on the hook for that.

"We put this state out for extra exposure with the thought that we were going to be able to give our citizens a 28 percent rate decrease, and it hasn't happened," Sink said. "I think the people of Florida are owed an in-depth explanation."

Insurers say they must have cash on hand to pay out claims from big storms. And they argue they never guaranteed the savings state officials promised and tried to tone down expectations.

"Most insurers made no specific promises," said Sam Miller, a spokesman for the Florida Insurance Council, which represents several insurers. "In fact, insurers repeatedly sounded a note of caution about the real-world impact of the law on policyholder premiums, so as not to raise unrealistic expectations."

State Farm was one of the companies that from the beginning publicly questioned the state's assertion that there would be cuts of more than 20 percent for many homeowners. Company officials said during legislative debate in January that State Farm would likely file for a decrease of about 7 percent. It recently asked for a 7.1 percent drop.

"We promised and we delivered, so there's no game going on here," said Mark Delegal, a lobbyist for the company.

Ultimately, insurers say they must charge what they think they would need for claims if Florida has another run like 2004 and 2005, when they paid out nearly $40 billion for hurricane damage.

"When the wind blows and the damage is caused, (companies) are obligated to pay the loss," Delegal said. "Our contract says if the damage is caused by a hurricane, we pay it. What we do as an industry, and as a company, is make sure we're financially able to make good on our contractual obligations."

McCarty accused some companies of using savings from buying cheaper state-backed reinsurance to either pad their shareholders' bottom line or buy additional private reinsurance. That may be illegal, he said, because the law specifically requires companies to use savings for premium decreases.

"It was a courageous, bold move by the Legislature to put $12 billion of additional capital into the marketplace," McCarty said. "Now we've got to make sure that that goes to the policyholders and not to the stockholders."

Lawmakers have also expressed disappointment, but some have noted that giant premium increases -- where rates have more than doubled in a single year -- have not happened like they did before the new law.

The legislation "was a good first step, simply because every other step was in the wrong direction," said House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach. "We clearly haven't done enough."

Crist has acknowledged that he is disappointed with the law he trumpeted as one that definitely would make rates drop. But he blamed the companies and vowed to keep fighting to bring rates down.

"I'm going to continue to do everything I can to push this industry into a direction of treating consumers fairly in the state of Florida," Crist said. "And right now -- there are exceptions -- but right now, they're not treating our citizens fairly. They're too greedy."

Source: Herald Tribune.com

Largest Personal Injury Award Ever in Polk County

The family of a 9-year-old girl killed in a February 2006 crash in Lakeland was awarded nearly $45 million last Wednesday in a wrongful death and personal injury case.

Of the $44.9 million verdict, nearly $40 million was awarded for personal injury, thought to be the largest such award ever in Polk County.

Last year Morgan Bryant, 9, and Brittany Hooten, 8, died after the pickup they were riding in was struck by a large truck.

Carla Bryant, Morgan's mother, was driving the pickup and was seriously injured in the accident.

Included in the award was a $5.7 million verdict for Morgan Bryant's wrongful death, according to court documents.

Carla Bryant, who was two months pregnant at the time of the accident, was awarded nearly $40 million because she suffered permanent injuries and mental anguish.

The fetus didn't survive and Bryant suffered brain damage, Winter Haven lawyer Lance Holden, one of the lawyers representing the Bryant family, said Wednesday.

Click below for the full story.

Source: The Ledger.com

Insurance: Take sides, and numbers

By Randy Schultz

Palm Beach Post Editorial Page Editor
Sunday, July 29, 2007

As usual, the property insurance battle in Florida is over numbers - one set of numbers that's real, and one set of numbers from the insurance industry.

Over the past two weeks, unelected and normally low-key Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has called out the private insurers. In an Op-Ed that The Post published, Mr. McCarty said companies are going back on a promise from the January special session. The Legislature put the public more at risk for storm claims, saving the companies money. In return, the companies were supposed to cut premiums, not keep the savings for themselves.

But those savings haven't been what politicians and regulators predicted - an average of about 24 percent statewide. In some cases, there haven't been savings at all; there have been only decreased increases. Most of the benefits from the Legislature's actions have gone to policyholders of Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-run operation.

No matter who covers you, though, your premium is the real number. Whatever Tallahassee promised, your bill is reality. In the next several weeks, more companies will announce their rates. Between now and then, Mr. McCarty and the industry will argue over why the real numbers are what they are. Treat with skepticism the numbers the industry uses to make its case.

Game is called Find the Profits

According to the insurers, the storms of 2004 and 2005 wiped out all the industry's profits in Florida since Hurricane Andrew in 1992. But did they?

As part of post-Andrew insurance reform, the Legislature allowed companies to form Florida-only versions of themselves. For example, you don't have coverage from Allstate; you have coverage from Allstate Floridian. These mini-nationals are known as "pups."

This favor allows the companies to set rates for just Florida, and prepare to pay claims just for Florida. The state - meaning the public - helps companies pay claims over a certain level. The state does that favor to attract and retain private property insurers. Even then, some "pups" had to ask the big corporate dog for money after 2004 and 2005.

And why not? Even with eight storms in Florida, and Katrina hitting the Gulf Coast, the big dogs kept making money. Industry spokesmen say companies paid out $36 billion in claims after 2004 and 2005. But how much of the profit between Andrew and 2004 went out of Florida? We've heard industry people say that you can't look at the numbers that way. But does anyone believe that profit from a "pup" doesn't go to the national bottom line?

William Stander, assistant vice president of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, wrote last week that an Andrew-type storm would cost $35 billion in claims and "erase much of the industry's 'national' profit." Presumably, the national bottom line affects rates in Florida. In fact, no one covered by private property insurance in Florida knows for sure what numbers the industry uses to calculate the real number on a policy.

The hardest-to-please industry

These days, Insurance Commissioner McCarty and the industry are arguing over reinsurance numbers. As Mr. McCarty sees it, the same companies that said several months ago that they could lower rates if the state gave them cheaper reinsurance now say they can't, for various reasons.

State Farm, for example, says it bought even cheaper reinsurance from the national company. Florida Farm Bureau Insurance, whose rate increase Mr. McCarty just denied, said it needed to buy more reinsurance than the state had required - enough to cover losses from a one-in-190-year storm, above what the state requires. The company's numbers didn't add up to a decrease in premiums.

In fact, Florida probably never could do enough to satisfy the insurance industry. The state has allowed private companies to dump hundreds of thousands of higher-risk policies into a pool backed by the public, offered private companies help paying their claims and let private companies, through the "pups," limit losses and maximize profit. And those are just the big favors.

But as Mr. Stander of the property insurers group wrote in his letter, the industry won't be happy until Florida "reins in" Citizens, which is usually the only place for people to get coverage after their private company dumps them. In other words, the state should let the private market that failed set rates that many can't afford - rates that hurt home sales - based on industry numbers.

Get real.

Source: Palm Beach Post

Advanced Matrimonial Trial Advocacy Seminar to be held August 16-19 in Naples, Florida

For Lawyers - There will be an opportunity to dramatically improve your trial skills under the guidance of Board Certified workshop leaders at the Advanced Matrimonial Trial Advocacy Seminar being presented August 16-19, 2007 at the Ritz Carlton in Naples, Florida.

Do you know how to analyze your case? What should you include in your opening statement? Do you know how to thoroughly direct and cross examine parties on financial issues? Do you feel comfortable examining financial experts? What is the most effective way to get certain evidence in (or keep other evidence out)? What is the most convincing closing argument? This hands on seminar will teach you that and more.

Don’t miss out on learning from some of the best family law practitioners and judges in the state. Due to the high level of interest in the program, the registration deadline has been extended to August 5, 2007. Space is limited to 80 registrants.

To register, go to www.familylawfla.org/pdfs/trial_advocacy-07.pdf this page is also linked from the Family Law Section’s website at www.familylawfla.org.

Donna Hart joins the The Law Office of James W. Hart as an associate

Orlando Divorce and Family Lawyer Donna Hart has joined The Law Office of James W. Hart as an associate attorney. Donna is a 2003 graduate of The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and brings with her four years of civil litigation experience. Donna will practice primarily in the areas of Divorce and Family Law.

Ask Us a Question

Law Offices of James W. Hart
809 Irma Avenue, Suite 3
Orlando, FL 32803

Phone: 407-839-4340
Fax: 407-386-7474

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