Florida litigators will remember where they were when they heard the news.
Today, the Florida Supreme Court receded from 20 years of hard fought case law and literally millions of hours of wasted effort dealing with the concept of the Economic Loss Rule. The Economic Loss What?!?
The Economic Loss Rule. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to explain this “judicially created doctrine that sets forth the circumstances under which a tort action is prohibited if the only damages suffered are economic losses.” I have had to explain it to young attorneys, but I have also had to explain it to Judges, who often struggled with the limits of its application.
When I first graduated from law school, the Casa Clara case was the big Florida Supreme Court case that set forth how the ELR applied to contract cases. Over the years, the Florida Supreme Court would revisit this doctrine over and over and over again. The Court made it apply in certain cases and not apply in others.
Today, the Florida Supreme Court in a very divided opinion, with strongly worded dissents, ruled that the ELR only applies in product liability cases. Really. After all that.
So, now, as the dissent points out, every contract claim, may be accompanied with a tort claim. Well, one thing is for sure, how this plays out is going to be very interesting.
We expect major fall out from this decision. If you wish to discuss your case with us, please do not hesitate to call:
In Miami: 305-567-5576
In Broward: 954-929-1899
In Palm Beach: 561-361-6566
ERIC N. ASSOULINE, ESQ.
ASSOULINE & BERLOWE, P.A.Intellectual Property, Labor & Employment Law, Bankruptcy, Commercial Litigation, and Corporate Law
Miami · Ft. Lauderdale · Boca Raton
