FLORIDA RECORD

Florida Justice Reform Institute President William Large said tort reforms signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis could be replicated by governors in other states. | Florida Justice Reform Institute

By Michael Carroll – May 6, 2025

Florida Republican representatives have made several attempts this year to roll back past tort reforms that Gov. Ron DeSantis credited for helping to stabilize the property insurance market and lower auto insurance premiums.

Recent state Senate actions, however, have blocked these legislative moves. On April 25, representatives placed provisions of a bill (HB 947) that sought to reinstate two-way attorney fees for certain insurance lawsuits into another bill containing provisions to protect the owners of former phosphate mining sites from legal liability for radiation issues (SB 832).

The modified SB 832 passed the House of Representatives on an 80–to-20 vote last month, but the Senate refused to sign off on the legislative mash-up. On Friday, the House indefinitely postponed the bill, withdrawing it from consideration.

DeSantis previously promised to veto any legislation that sought to roll back the tort reforms passed during the 2022 and 2023 legislative sessions. His allies, including the Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky, said the legal reforms contained in SB 832 and HB 947, including changes that could inflate the calculation of medical damages, would reverse progress that has been made to put the brakes on excessive legal filings.

“HB 947 threatens to dismantle the hard-won progress achieved through Florida’s historic tort reform efforts in 2022 and 2023,” Yaworsky said in an analysis of the bill. “These reforms were pivotal in stabilizing our insurance sector after years of unsustainable litigation-driven losses.”

The state Legislature had been scheduled to adjourn on May 2 but will continue meeting this week in order to finalize a state budget.

“The Florida House seemed hell-bent on undoing Gov. DeSantis’ legal reforms,” William Large, president of the Florida Justice Reform Institute told the Florida Record in an email. “I suspect the reason has to do with the fact that many governors around the country were looking at the DeSantis reforms as a template for their state to use.”

Trial attorneys wanted the Florida House to send a message to other state governors that if they tried to replicate the DeSantis reforms, they would face political repercussions, according to Large.

“However, Gov. DeSantis and the Florida Senate stood strong and would not bend to the political whims of the Florida House,” he said. “The 2023 DeSantis tort reforms remain in place; moreover, they will continue to serve as an example for other states.”

The reforms that the governor signed in 2022 and 2023 included elimination of one-way attorney fees from insurance claims litigation, a clarification of what it means for an insurer to act in “bad faith” and shortening the amount of time insurers have to respond to policyholder claims.

In a recent television interview, the governor acknowledged that he has had his share of differences with House members this year on the subject of legal reforms.

“If you didn’t know anything else about that House, and you just saw what they were pushing, you would think that they were all sponsored by Morgan & Morgan,” DeSantis said.

Commissioner Yaworsky has argued that statistics are showing that the DeSantis-signed legal reforms of past years are working. Reinsurance rates declined last year, 12 new insurers have begun to write policies in the Florida market, year-over-year lawsuit filings have decreased by 23% and 19 property insurers have signed off on rate reductions, he said.

https://flarecord.com/stories/671176030-florida-house-members-thwarted-from-rolling-back-desantis-supported-legal-reforms

FLORIDA RECORD

Attorney Ashley Kalifeh expects dramatic reductions in auto glass litigation in Florida in 2024. | Capital City Consulting

By Michael Carroll – Dec 1, 2023

Nearly 54,000 auto glass lawsuits were filed in Florida during the first three quarters of 2023 despite the passage of recent legal reform measures, far outpacing the level of such litigation in any recent year, new data shows.

But that spike in the lawsuits is not surprising given how two legal reform measures passed earlier this year were worded, according to Tallahassee attorney Ashley Kalifeh, who has monitored auto glass lawsuit statistics for the Florida Justice Reform Institute. So far this year, 53,816 lawsuits were filed – most of them by a small number of attorneys – according to Kalifeh, and that compares to just under 35,000 in 2022.

In the second quarter of this year, 10 Florida lawyers generated more than 21,000 lawsuits, or about 86% of all auto glass lawsuits filed during the April-through-June time period.

Senate Bill 1002, which took effect July 1, bars auto repair shops from providing inducements, such as gift cards, to customers for making an insurance claim for auto glass replacements or repairs. It also prevents auto policyholders from entering into an assignment-of-benefits (AOB) agreement to obtain an auto glass repair or replacement.

Over the past decade, attorneys have regularly filed AOB claims against insurers if the insurers fail to pay inflated costs for the auto glass work, critics of the practice have argued. Reform proponents have also said that such litigated AOB claims have pushed up the costs of auto insurance in Florida.

 “The tort bill, House Bill 837, had language in it that basically said it doesn’t become effective on policies until they’re renewed or reissued,” Kalifeh told the Florida Record. “So even though the bill was effective March 24, that means that all policies issued after that date have to be renewed or reissued in order for the law to be applied to them.” 

So because auto policies are issued for six months, the reform measures passed by the state Legislature this year in effect contain a grace period in which lawyers can continue to file these types of lawsuits.

“What we saw was not surprising in that they knew the game was coming to an end, and so they absolutely stepped on the gas pedal while they had the chance,” Kalifeh said. “We gave them a six-month heads-up that the game was about to be up.”

HB 837 barred the use of contingency-fee multipliers to determine appropriate attorney fees in civil lawsuits; repealed the state’s one-way attorney fee statutes, which have been used in cases against insurance companies; and reduced the statute of limitations in many negligence cases from four years to two.

Kalifeh said she expects a dramatic reduction of auto gas lawsuits in 2024, when the reforms passed this year will be in full force.

“2024 is going to be a good year for both property and auto glass,” she said, assuming the attorneys who have specialized in this type of litigation don’t find a work-around.

In turn, insurers should start to see the litigation trend lines going down in the coming year, which may allow the companies to build confidence about improved financial conditions and forecast future reductions in lawsuits, according to Kalifeh.

The AOB auto glass lawsuits tend to not be apparent to policyholders who sign over their policy rights to a third party, she said. If you examine 30 to 50 random auto-glass litigated claims, none of the policyholders who sought the repairs will be aware that their actions resulted in lawsuits against their insurers, according to Kalifeh.

https://flarecord.com/stories/652726198-florida-attorneys-filed-nearly-54-000-auto-glass-lawsuits-in-first-9-months-of-2023-despite-reforms 

FLORIDA RECORD

Carlson | LinkedIn

By Juliette Fairley
Jun 7, 2023
 

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1002 into law last week with the goal of ending assignment-of-benefit (AOB)-related litigation involving cracked windshields.

Also known as the Windshield Repair Bill, SB 1002 aims to prevent glass repair shops and attorneys from exploiting a law meant to encourage motorists to repair or replace damaged windshields.

“This is an important win for the health of the marketplace and Florida consumers,” said Michael Carlson, president and CEO of the Personal Insurance Federation of Florida and a “Fix the Cracks” partner. “Eyes have been opened to the cottage industry of predatory claims and litigation. The signing of SB 1002 means Florida can reset and even become an example to other states tackling this type of exploitation.” 

The abusive windshield litigation reportedly led to exorbitant legal fees.

As previously reported in the Florida Record, ending AOB litigation is expected to reduce the number of lawsuits filed, lower loss costs, and minimize the comp coverage component of auto insurance policies.

“Ultimately, it should impact auto insurance rates but of course, you’re gonna have to go through one cycle to see the reduction in outlays regarding this before the actuary affects policyholders,” said Tom Gaitens, Florida executive director of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA).

In Florida in 2011, there were 591 windshield lawsuits filed compared to 37,000 in 2022, according to data from Fix the Cracks, an initiative that aims to protect consumers from predatory auto glass claims and litigation.

“This is an egalitarian issue,” Gaitens told the Florida Record. “It affects every consumer in Florida who drives obviously and who has auto insurance. The average claim in the United States was under $300 per windshield claim, and in Florida, it was about $160 more per person on average.”

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Linda Stewart (D-Orlando) and Rep. Griff Griffitts (R-Panama City Beach).

The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, the Florida Justice Reform Institute (FJRI), the International Association of Special Investigation Units (IASIU), and the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) all supported the Windshield Repair Bill. 

“In 2011, there were almost 600 claims filed related to these windshields and it grew to 28,000 by 2021,” Gaitens added. “Last year, claims jumped to 37,000. It’s the same issue we had with roofing where it became a cottage industry for these frivolous lawsuits. In Florida specifically, 90% of the lawsuits that were filed related to windshield claims and they were filed by 20 attorneys.” 

https://flarecord.com/stories/643592147-desantis-signs-the-windshield-repair-bill-into-law 

FLORIDA RECORD

Large | FJRI

By Juliette Fairley – May 15, 2023

Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign an amendment to the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act that aims to end lawsuits against business owners who legitimately market to their existing clients. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign an amendment to the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act that aims to end lawsuits against business owners who legitimately market to their existing clients.

“The FTSA, as currently enacted, is being used by a cottage industry of plaintiffs firms and professional plaintiffs who seek to end run businesses’ legitimate signup procedures, and capitalize on enormous class action exposure,” said Alexis Buese, co-chair of the Gunster Class Action Defense Group. 

As reported by the National Law Review, the FTSA currently bans all automated telemarketing sales phone calls and text messages unless consumers provide consent in writing.

 “Unfortunately, the plaintiff’s bar took advantage of that, and they began to bring lawsuits where people had agreed to receive a text message about product A from a company, and the company sent a text message about product B,” said William W. Large, president of the Florida Justice Reform Institute, a lobbying organization in Tallahassee.

Currently, consumers can recover $500 per violative automated telemarketing call or text they receive that they did not authorize as well as reasonable attorney fees and $1,500 in treble damages for willful or knowing violations. 

“They’d get the statutory fine for themselves, but in discovery, they’d find out who also received the text message and it’s unlikely that only one text message went out,” Large told the Florida Record. “It’s likely that 10,000 messages went out and so they put everybody in class action then multiply the fine times all the class participants. So, it became very expensive.”

 Although opponents have warned that, if enacted, the legislation could cause the telemarketing industry to overwhelm Floridians with unrequested calls, Large argues that there are safe harbor protections.

“If you hit stop with a text message and they still come in, those telemarketers will be addressed by the safe harbor provisions in the bill,” Large added.

The FTSA amendment, If signed into law by DeSantis, will narrow private causes of action, limit applicable violations to unsolicited calls, and allow a safe harbor of 15 days for businesses to stop contacting consumers.

 “True spam, which is what we should be stopping, is where an illegitimate business is contacting somebody who has no business relationship with that consumer,” Buese told the Florida Senate Committee on Rules on April 24. “None of the true spammers are being sued because when you get a text message from a spammer, it doesn’t include their contact information. When you get a text message from a business you signed up to get a text message from, it includes their contact information. The amendment strikes the right balance. It punishes the true unsolicited text messages and calls while stopping the abuse of litigation tactics against Florida’s businesses.” 

https://flarecord.com/stories/642156072-lawmakers-approve-reform-of-the-florida-telephone-solicitation-act 

FLORIDA RECORD

State Sen. Linda Stewart said that some attorneys and glass vendors have churned out unneeded litigation. | Facebook

By Michael Carroll – Mar 6, 2023

Supporters of an auto-glass lawsuit bill introduced last week say the reform would shatter current incentives that allow repair shops and attorneys to file excessive claims litigation, driving up the cost of auto insurance.

State Sen. Linda Stewart (D-Orlando) filed her auto-glass bill on Feb. 21, while in the House of Representatives, Rep. Phillip “Griff” Griffitts (R-Panama Beach) introduced a version of the reform aimed at ending unnecessary litigation over windshield repairs.

Both bills would ban vendors from accepting an assignment of insurance benefits for auto glass claims, while Stewart’s SB 1002 would bar repair shops from offering potential auto glass customers anything of value, such as a gift card or cash, in exchange for making an insurance claim for the replacement of auto glass. SB 1002 would also mandate that consumers be fully informed about information relating to calibrating or recalibrating advanced electronic safety systems – a process that is required on windshield repairs of many late-model cars.

Windshield or auto glass lawsuits have ballooned in Florida in recent years, going from 591 litigated claims in 2011 to more than 37,000 lawsuits last year, according to reform supporters.

“We have all seen the signs offering us cash or gift cards to have our windshields replaced,” Stewart said in a prepared statement. “These incentives sound great, but the reality is some of these services are using you to sue your insurance for more money than the replacement actually costs. This behavior ultimately contributes to the ever-increasing auto insurance rates as insurers raise rates to compensate for their losses from this practice.”

William Large, president of the Florida Tort Reform Institute, said the auto-glass bills dovetail with a broader effort this year to pass a far-reaching tort reform plan, House Bill 837.

“”Gov. (Ron) DeSantis called for legislation to create a more predictable, stable legal environment, and HB 837, HB 541 and SB 1002 will do just that,” Large said in a statement emailed to the Florida Record. “The Florida Justice Reform Institute commends Gov. DeSantis, Senate President (Kathleen) Passidomo and House Speaker (Paul) Renner, and the bill sponsors … for their leadership on the most consequential civil litigation reforms in a generation.”

The actions of 20 Florida attorneys make up 95% of the state’s auto-glass lawsuits, according to data from the Florida Department of Financial Services. A small group of repair shops is also involved in the claims litigation, reform supporters say.

https://flarecord.com/stories/639970882-auto-glass-bill-aims-to-put-the-brakes-on-excessive-car-insurance-litigation