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Reversal of Directed Verdict Warranted Where Record Showed Conflicting Evidence Regarding the Amount of Damages

Caryn Bellus and Barbara Fox obtained a reversal of a directed verdict and were granted a new trial on damages in a first-party insurance case. In Avatar Property and Cas. Ins. Co., v. De Caires, 2021 WL 3176774 (Fla. 3d DCA July 28, 2021), the Third District Court of Appeal agreed with the insurer’s position that the evidence demonstrated that the defense vigorously contested the amount of damages claimed, and while the defense did not present its own expert witness on the amount of damages, that did not mean that the entry of a directed verdict for Plaintiff was correct. Rather, the record showed that significant conflicting testimony was elicited by the defense from Plaintiff’s own witnesses. Consequently, it was error to enter a directed verdict on damages for $80,830.16 where conflicting evidence regarding the amount of damages suffered existed such that the jury could reach different reasonable inferences.

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