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repose — which cuts off all claims
— may run even before the statute
of limitations period begins. That
was precisely the outcome in
Department of Transportation v.
Echeverri, 736 So. 2d 791 (Fla. 3d
DCA 1999), in which the court
upheld the dismissal of the
Department of Transportation’s
cross-claims for indemnity brought
after the repose period expired.
The Echeverri holding means
that if a contractor (or sub) does
not receive notice of an owner’s
claim until the day before the statute
of repose expires, the contractor
can find itself in the worst position
possible — having to litigate a
decade-old project against an owner
while at the same time being unable
to purse the indemnity and defense
rights it contractually bargained
for at the time of the project.
If you think this outcome is unfair,
then you’re not alone. Contractors
who have said, “I Want Action,”
have lobbied for recently passed
legislation, effective July 1, 2018,
amending section 95.11(3)(c) to allow
counterclaims, cross-claims, and
third-party claims to be asserted
up to one year after the statute of
repose has otherwise expired. This
statute eliminates the unfortunate
situation contractors presently find
themselves in under the current
statute and Echeverri.
Until July 1, 2018, “Life Goes On”
for contractors in
Florida, but the
new legislation
certainly gives
them “Something
to Believe In.”
Construction Section
Luncheon/CLE
the Construction Section Luncheon held a CLe
luncheon entitled “the Surety’s indemnity agreement:
the good, the Bad, and the ugly” on april 19 at the
Chester H. Ferguson Law Center. Led by speaker ty
thompson with mills paskert divers, the program
provided an overview of the surety’s role in the
construction industry, the surety’s rights under the general agreement of indemnity
(“gai”), and ethical considerations related to the surety’s enforcement.
thank you to the
luncheon’s sponsor:
Author: Erik Raines
– Hill Ward
Henderson, PA
SUMMER 2018
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