WSHC+B successfully represented Publix Super Markets, Inc. before the Florida Supreme Court in a slip-and-fall case in which the trial court found the plaintiff committed fraud on the court by misrepresenting the extent of her injuries. The Fourth District Court of Appeal agreed that a fraud had been committed, but fashioned its own remedy allowing the plaintiff to pursue some of her claims. The Supreme Court’s decision concluded that the Fourth District had applied the incorrect standard and clarified Florida’s fraud-on-the-court doctrine, providing clearer guidance to trial and appellate courts evaluating fraud-on-the-court sanctions, and reinstated the dismissal of the plaintiff’s complaint.
WSHC+B Partner and Chair of the firm’s Appellate Practice Group, Edward G. Guedes, represented Publix before the Florida Supreme Court and presented an oral argument. The decision marks the Court’s first examination of Florida’s fraud-on-the-court doctrine in more than 80 years and established a new test for review of those decisions, providing long-awaited clarity regarding the standard governing sanctions based on fraud on the court.
Discussing the decision with the Daily Business Review, Ed said, “We came away from this case not just winning, but really with an improvement in the law in Florida because now there’s clarity.”
Ed is Board Certified in Appellate Practice by the Florida Bar and is chair of the firm’s Appellate Practice Group. He is a Fellow of the prestigious American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and has litigated more than 150 appeals before the Florida Supreme Court, Florida’s district courts of appeal, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals in a wide variety of matters, including medical malpractice, premises liability, probate, First Amendment and constitutional litigation, family law, state and federal administrative rule-making and regulation, home rule authority and preemption, election law, civil rights, land use and zoning, intellectual property, and labor and employment issues.
Media coverage includes:
Daily Business Review – Florida High Court Clarifies Standard for ‘Fraud on Court’ Dismissals
Law360 – Fla. Justices Back Toss Of Sham Publix Slip-And-Fall Suit
Bloomberg Law – ‘Lying Plaintiff’ Dismissals Get New Florida High Court Test
