Punitive Damages in Florida and the Intradistrict Conflict Regarding the Pleading Standard

In 2022, the Florida Supreme Court amended Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.130 to allow for review of nonfinal orders granting leave to assert punitive damages. Since then, Florida appellate courts have written opinions that have made the threshold for demonstrating a reasonable evidentiary basis to plead punitive damages in satisfaction of Fla. Stat. §768.72 more challenging and unclear. This webinar will review Federal Ins. v. Perlmutter, 48 Fla. L. Weekly D 2320 (Fla. 4th DCA Dec. 13, 2023) (en banc) and the intra district conflict it created as to the standard for pleading punitive damages in Florida state court.

Key topics to be discussed:

• Evidentiary standards for pleading of punitive damage for each of the six (6) Florida district courts and how they differ
• Intentional misconduct and gross negligence – what the claimant must show in terms of reprehensibility to justify the granting of leave of punitive damages
• Imputing employee misconduct to the corporation – what the claimant must show to successfully plead a punitive damages claim against a corporation

Closed-captioning available