A limited guardian of the property of one who was involved in an auto accident recently “lost” an appeal at West Palm Beach’s 4th District Court of Appeals. This is an interesting case on trial strategy and preserving issues for appeal. Florida Rules of Court are a trial lawyer’s guidepost. This is a good case for court appointed guardians involved in civil lawsuits and going beyond the Florida Probate Rules or the Florida Guardianship Laws of Chapter 744.
Whether You Win or Lose at Trial: Will There Be an Appeal?
- If you are involved in a Palm Beach probate lawsuit or a business lawsuit, one goal is to try to anticipate an appeal
- If you win, will the other side to your Palm Beach inheritance lawsuit file an appeal: and what will be the basis of the appeal?
- If you lose, did you preserve the issues for appeal?
- Were the issues at trial well “briefed”?
Guardianship Lawsuit
- A very recent West Palm Beach appeals case, just released July 2nd, 2014, shows the importance of preserving issues for appeal at the trial level
- A Palm Beach guardian sued for injuries and an auto accident
- The guardian was a Palm Beach attorney who was the limited guaridan of the property of a man involved in an auto accident
- The guardian appealed the trial court’s rulings and the jury verdict
- The 4th District Court of Appeal stated that the admission of evidence, which was at the heart of the appeal, was not “preserved” at the trial level.
- The evidence had to do with the testimony of an expert and in the motion for a new trial
Appeals at the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach
- For those Palm Beach guardians, or Florida guardian lawyers, who have an interest in reading this very recent 4th DCA appellate opinion, it is available online for free at the 4th DCA’s website www.4dca.org. http://4dca.org/opinions/July%202014/07-02-14/4D12-3334.op.conc-dis.pdf
- For trial attorneys in Palm Beach, the Westlaw cite is: 2014 WL 2957473