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In Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Rio Poco Homeowners’ Association, Inc. (Fla. 4th DCA 2026), the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the dismissal of a case that had been predicated on the failure to properly serve a pres-suit mediation demand. Wells Fargo acquired a residential property through...

Partition actions look simple on paper. Two people own property together, they can’t
agree on what to do with it, a court orders a sale, and the proceeds get split. Easy
enough — until someone starts asking about offsets. That’s where things get interesting,
and a recent Florida appellate opinion offers a useful reminder of...

In Rachkov v. Medvednik (Fla. 2d DCA Apr. 8, 2026), the Second District Court of Appeal addressed an important discovery sanctions issue: what happens when a party challenges an order striking pleadings but failed to preserve the argument below and failed to provide a transcript on appeal. The answer was straightforward....

In litigation, timing isn’t just important—it’s everything. A recent decision from Florida’s Sixth District Court of Appeal serves as a stark reminder that arguments can be lost entirely if procedural deadlines are missed. In Dorsey v. Hearns (6th DCA 2026), the appellate court didn’t reach the merits of...

In Graham v. Orlando Lodge No. 1079 (Fla. 6th DCA Apr. 24, 2026), the Sixth District affirmed summary judgment in favor of a property owner in a negligent security case involving third-party criminal conduct. What happened:
The plaintiff brought a wrongful death claim after a fatal criminal act occurred...

Mineo v. Do (4th DCA 2026)
Two Broward County homeowners believed that their neighbor’s RV was parked in a way that violated the community’s governing documents and brought down property values, and so decided to sue under Florida’s HOA statute. The trial court ruled against them, and the Fourth District Court of...

If you handle trust disputes — or really any case with out-of-state parties — personal jurisdiction is one of those threshold issues easy to gloss over on the way to the merits. A recent decision from Florida's Fourth DCA, Dunham Trust Company v. Surrey (Fla. 4th DCA Apr. 29, 2026), is...

In Lam v. Modern Tampa Bay Homes, Inc. (Fla. 2d DCA 2026), the Second District Court of Appeal addressed a question that comes up frequently: when a party wins on liability but recovers only a fraction of the damages it sought, is it still the "prevailing party" for purposes of attorney's...

In Smith v. Smith (Fla. 3d DCA Mar. 11, 2026), the Third District Court of Appeal addressed a recurring service-of-process issue: when a facially valid return of service exists, what evidence does a defendant actually need to quash it? Orville Smith sued Alexandra Smith for defamation, harassment, and...

In Jhelum Enterprises, LLC v. Desmarais, decided March 25, 2026, Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal confronted a scenario that no Florida court had previously addressed. A judgment creditor — armed with a $54,000-plus judgment stemming from a fraudulent transfer finding — tried to reach roughly $62,000 sitting in a homeowner's...