REAL ESTATE CORNER
REAL ESTATE CORNER
Florida Real Property and Business Litigation Report
MANUEL FARACH
Olivier v. City of Brandon, Case No. 24-993( 2026). A plaintiff previously convicted under a municipal ordinance may bring a 42 U. S. C. § 1983 action seeking purely prospective declaratory and injunctive relief challenging the ordinance’ s constitutionality without running afoul of Heck v. Humphrey because such relief does not necessarily imply the invalidity of the prior conviction.
Cox Communications, Inc. v. Sony Music
Entertainment, Case No. 24-171( 2026). An internet service provider is not contributorily liable for its subscribers ' copyright infringement merely because it had knowledge that its service was being used by some subscribers to infringe as contributory copyright liability requires proof that the provider either affirmatively induced the infringement or provided a service tailored for infringement.
Beazer v. Richmond County Constructors,
LLC, Case No. 24-11734( 11th Cir. 2026). Equitable tolling of Title VII’ s ninety-day filing period applies when a pro se plaintiff diligently attempts to secure counsel, and being unable to do so, then timely mails his pro se complaint by guaranteed overnight delivery but misses the statutory filing deadline due to a confluence of prior counsel’ s delay and hurricane-related disruption delivery delays.
In re Amendments to Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.710, No. SC2025- 1415( Fla. 2026). Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.710( b) is amended to remove the categorial bar excluding petitions filed under Florida Rule 9.100( c)( 2) from appellate mediation.
In re Amendments to Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, Case No. SC2025- 1458( Fla. 2026). Amendments to Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure 9.020, 9.045, 9.200, and 9.420 conform the appellate rules to recent changes in the Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration, including removal of outdated e-filing docket references, updated paper-filing requirements, and revised provisions governing filing and service.
In re Amendments to Rules Regulating the Florida Bar – Professionalism Expectations, Case No. SC2025-1347( Fla. 2026). Amendments to The Florida Bar’ s Professionalism Expectations revise several expectations on billing, client communication, discovery practice, deposition conduct, criticism of participants in the justice system, and supervision of support personnel to provide clearer and more precise behavioral standards for lawyers.
City of Tampa v. Liberty Hospitality Management, LLC, Case No. 2D2024-2082( Fla. 2d DCA 2026). Florida ' s constitutional separation of powers clause found in Article II, Section 3, does not apply to municipalities, and a city council ' s site-specific rezoning decision constitutes a quasi-judicial action derived from the municipality ' s broad home rule powers under Article VIII, Section 2( b) which is reviewable by certiorari in the circuit court.
Pons Torres v. AP Air Conditioning Corp., Case No. 3D24-1802( Fla. 3d DCA 2026). A trial court may not enter final summary judgment in favor of a nonmovant without notice and a proper motion under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.510( c)( 6).
Wolfson v. Pardes, Case No. 3D25-2509( Fla. 3d DCA 2026). A civil contempt order imposing incarceration as a coercive sanction must include an affirmative finding that the contemnor possesses the present ability to comply with the purge conditions and must afford a reasonable time to purge, and the absence of such findings requires that the order and corresponding writ of bodily attachment be quashed.
Bankers Life & Casualty Co. v. Borew, Case No. 4D2024-1296( Fla. 4th DCA 2026). A contingency fee multiplier may not be applied to a lodestar fee award absent record evidence that the relevant market required such enhancement to obtain competent counsel, and a court-awarded hourly rate may not exceed the rate expressly agreed upon in the parties ' retainer agreement where that agreement contains no alternative fee recovery clause.
Sudbury v. Konsker, Case No. 4D2025-1181 and Unified Women ' s Healthcare, LP v.
Konsker, Case No. 4D2025-1182( Fla. 4th DCA 2026)( consolidated). A signatory to an asset purchase agreement that expressly incorporates a management services agreement is bound by the arbitration clause contained therein; and different arbitration clauses in related agreements are not rendered fatally ambiguous merely because they designate different administering bodies if no material irreconcilable conflict between the respective arbitration rules has been identified.
Puleo v. Cohen, No. 3D24-0586( Fla. 3d DCA 2026). Florida law requires only reliance( not justifiable reliance) for misrepresentation claims thus summary judgment against a seller is improper when there is record evidence sufficient to create jury issues on reliance, materiality, and damages that the seller relied on misrepresentations about the true buyer’ s identity and intended use of residential property.
CBRE, Inc. v. DidierGroup, LLC, No. 6D2023- 3011( Fla. 6th DCA 2026). So as to prevent duplicate recovery, a non-settling defendant is entitled to a setoff under Florida Statutes sections 46.015( 2) and 768.041( 2) when the settling co-defendant previously paid the plaintiff for the same“ identical” damages sought against the non-settling defendant.
Gacek v. Avalon Dunes Condominium Owners Association, Inc., Case No. 1D2024- 1029( Fla. 1st DCA 2026). An action for malicious prosecution requires that the entire underlying proceeding, not merely one claim within it, terminate in favor of the plaintiff so a party who prevails on one claim but loses others in the same suit does not satisfy the favorable-termination element.
( Continued on next page)
PBCBA BAR BULLETIN 22