A Broward County jury on Friday dropped an $8 million hammer in a commercial dispute, awarding both compensatory and punitive damages after a five-day trial. The unanimous decision, entered in the 17th Judicial Circuit under case number CACE-14-007971, followed jurors finding for the plaintiff on every claim presented. The total includes punitive damages, a result that remains relatively rare in South Florida civil cases.
Firm: Jury Returned Verdict After Five-Day Trial
In a press release distributed on EIN Presswire and republished by the National Law Review, South Florida Law, PLLC said lead trial counsel Frank DelloRusso and second chair Geoffrey Liter represented the plaintiff and that the jury awarded $8,000,000 in total. According to the release, jurors found misconduct and breaches of contractual obligations at the center of the contested commercial dispute.
Punitive Damages Are Hard To Win Under Florida Law
Punitive damages come with a high legal bar: courts look for clear and convincing evidence that a defendant engaged in intentional misconduct or gross negligence before allowing punishment-level awards. Legal analysis of Florida’s punitive-damages rules notes that plaintiffs must first make a reasonable showing to pursue punitive claims and that the standards for proof are stringent, as explained by Syfert.
Courts Can Trim Awards; Post-Trial Motions Likely
Florida law also gives judges the authority to review verdict amounts and, if needed, order a remittitur or a new trial on damages when an award appears excessive or unsupported by the evidence. That statutory framework for remittitur and additur is spelled out by the Florida Senate, so the figure jurors returned here could be reduced or revisited through post-trial motions or on appeal.
Local Context: Multimillion-Dollar Business Verdicts In South Florida
Multimillion-dollar awards in complex commercial cases are not unheard of in the region. For instance, a Miami-Dade jury returned an $8.3 million verdict in a business trial recounted by the law firm Stearns Weaver Miller. Those outcomes show juries will sometimes hand down large sums in commercial disputes, although judges and appellate courts often reshape the final collections and the amounts that survive later review.
"We are incredibly proud of this result," Frank DelloRusso said in a firm statement reported by the lawyers’ release. The firm also highlighted the case number, CACE-14-007971, and said its client was vindicated by the jury's findings.
