April 30, 2025
ShareKelley Kronenberg Secures $0 Arbitration Award in Hurricane Ian Claim
Kelley Kronenberg Partner Alan Swindoll and Partner/Business Unit Leader Alison Trejo secured a complete victory for American Integrity Insurance Company of Florida in the 20th Judicial Circuit in Lee County, successfully enforcing a $0 arbitration award as final judgment in a Hurricane Ian property claim with exposure exceeding $400,000.00.
The case involved commercial property damaged by Hurricane Ian, where the plaintiff sought additional payment beyond what had been previously issued by the carrier. Following a non-binding arbitration that resulted in a $0 award to the plaintiff, Alan and Alison identified a critical procedural opportunity based on a recent amendment to Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.820(h).
Rather than filing the required “Notice of Rejection of the Arbitration Decision and Request for Trial” as mandated by the amended rule, the plaintiff merely filed a “Motion for Trial De Novo” without explicitly rejecting the arbitration award anywhere in the document. This seemingly minor technical distinction became the cornerstone of the defense strategy.
Alan and Alison promptly filed a motion to unseal the arbitration award and enter final judgment, arguing that the plaintiff’s failure to comply with the specific requirements of Rule 1.820(h) meant the arbitration award should be enforced. The plaintiff countered that it was merely a “scrivener’s error” and that requesting a trial de novo “implied” rejection of the award.
In his ruling, Judge Kyle S. Cohen agreed with our team’s position, finding that the failure to explicitly reject the arbitration award was not merely a defect in titling but a substantive defect. He specifically noted that while he had denied similar motions in cases where plaintiffs had at least attempted to reject the award, this plaintiff had never mentioned disagreement with or rejection of the arbitration decision.
The Court granted the motion and ordered the $0 arbitration award to be unsealed and enforced as final judgment, completely eliminating the client’s exposure in this substantial claim. This outcome also positioned the defense to recover attorney’s fees based on a previously filed proposal for settlement.
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