Firm Secures Jury Verdicts Against Insurance Carriers

A significant part of our firm’s work focuses on representing property owners in claims against their insurance carriers. We regularly counsel and represent property owners, including condominium associations, in claims involving weather/wind and nonweather water damage, fire/smoke damage, and damage to common elements such as pools, parking garages, elevators, roofs, etc.

Only rarely do such cases go to trial, but in recent months our firm’s insurance attorneys secured jury verdicts in favor of claimants involving very typical nonweather water losses. Shareholders Susan C. Odess, Stuart Sobel and Nicholas Siegfried, together with associate Zachary T. Smith, recently pursued cases against State Farm and Universal over their refusal to adequately cover damages stemming from broken water pipes and leaks.

The three Miami-Dade Circuit Court jury verdicts we secured in these suits are excellent examples of the types of cases that our firm’s insurance attorneys successfully handle on behalf of our clients.  We will now pursue the recovery of our attorneys’ fees and costs against these carriers.  Of equal import, we will be filing separate actions on behalf of the policyholders for all of the prevailing cases to assert a claim for bad faith.  While these claims involved homeowners, we often secure similar results for condominium associations and HOAs for comparable water-loss claims.

Recently we have discovered that more and more insurance carriers are denying claims for dubious reasons, forcing claimants to go to trial. Our firm’s South Florida insurance attorneys help clients hold these companies accountable. While other attorneys may hesitate to go to trial and encourage their clients to accept pennies on the dollar, our trial team is poised and ready to try these types of cases, and we are confident that juries will award fair and just amounts.

Community associations and other property owners with active or possible claims are encouraged to contact us to schedule a complimentary telephone evaluation and consultation with one of our highly experienced insurance attorneys.

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