The Eleventh Circuit this month weighed in on the appealability and scope of Florida’s litigation privileges in the context of a defamation lawsuit. In Grippa v. Rubin, No. 23-11717, 2025 WL 997347 (11th Cir. Apr. 3, 2025), the court allowed—under the collateral-order doctrine—immediate appeal of an interlocutory order denying application of the absolute litigation privilege…
Summary Judgment for Insurer Improper in Bad Faith Case Where Insurer Failed to Initiate Settlement Negotiations After Deadly Shooting
A reasonable jury could have found that a property insurer knew or should have known it was clearly liable to pay its insured the $50,000 policy limit in a case involving a bar fight gone wrong, culminating in a deadly shooting. Kinsale Insurance Company v. Pride of St. Lucie Lodge 1189, Inc., No. 22-12675, 2025…
Changes to Eleventh Circuit Filing Rules
On April 1, 2025, two important changes to the Eleventh Circuit’s filing rules will take effect. First, all sealed documents must be sealed through ECF. See 11th Cir. R. 25-3(h). Instructions for doing so are available on the Eleventh Circuit’s website. Second, the court will no longer accept submission of paper copies of briefs and…
Remand Order Not Appealable Despite Ride-Along Denial of Motion to Compel Arbitration
28 U.S.C. § 1447(d) bars appellate review of remand orders. 9 U.S.C. § 205 permits removal of actions relating to international arbitration agreements, and 9 U.S.C. § 16 permits appellate review of orders denying motions to compel arbitration. So what happens when a case is removed under section 205 and the district court in a…
Insurance Company Providing 401(k) Retirement Plans Not an ERISA Fiduciary with Respect to Foreign Tax Credits from Mutual Fund Shares
In Romano v. John Hancock Life Insurance, 120 F.4th 729 (Oct. 30, 2024), the Eleventh Circuit held that an insurance company providing investment and record keeping services is not an ERISA fiduciary as it relates to the application and retention of foreign tax credits. John Hancock provided investment and recordkeeping services to 401(k) retirement plans,…
Third-Party Beneficiary Required to Arbitrate
After a catastrophic turbine failure at an Algerian power plant, insurers acting as subrogees of the plant’s owner, Shariket Kahraba Hadjret En Nouss (the “Owner”) filed an action in Georgia’s state-wide business court against various General Electric entities that had provided services for the plant under contracts between the GE entities and the plant’s operator,…
Non-Party Removal Was a Waivable Defect, but State-Law Service-of-Process Rule Applied
James H. Wilson III sued Hearos, LLC in Georgia state court, alleging he suffered permanent hearing loss at a shooting range because of Hearos’s faulty earplugs. Wilson v. Hearos, LLC, No. 23-12550 (11th Cir. Feb. 18, 2025). A non-party, Protective Industrial Products, Inc. (PIP), removed that suit to federal court, where it was dismissed as…
Added Fees for Online or Phone Payment Violate FDCPA
Charging optional fees for making expedited mortgage payments online or by phone violates the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), according to the Eleventh Circuit. Glover v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, 127 F. 4th 1278 (11th Cir. Feb. 4, 2025). The FDCPA prohibits collection of any fee that is not expressly authorized by the agreement…
Federal Communications Commission’s 2023 Rule Interpreting “Prior Express Consent” Under the TCPA Violates the Administrative Procedure Act
The Eleventh Circuit vacated the Federal Communication Commission’s (“FCC”) 2023 rule interpreting the meaning of “prior express consent” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) because the rule impermissibly conflicted with the ordinary statutory meaning of “prior express consent.” Insurance Marketing Coalition Limited v. FCC, 127 F.4th 303 (11th Cir. 2025). Insurance Marketing Coalition Limited…
Rule 9(b) Particularity Requirements in False Claims Act Cases May Be Satisfied by External Audit Findings
Section 3729(a)(1)(B) of the False Claims Act requires a plaintiff to allege with particularity the actual submission of a claim to the U.S. government. The Eleventh Circuit has now held that this requirement can be satisfied by alleging that the defendant’s external audit showed that at least some false claims were submitted, even where the…