A Miami jury on Thursday handed down roughly $60 million in damages to a group of plaintiffs who said they were cut out of a lucrative airport fueling business. The civil trial featured repeated defense no-shows that, according to plaintiffs’ lawyers, highlighted their narrative for jurors and left the panel waiting through key courtroom appearances. The result ranks among the larger recent business-dispute verdicts in Miami-Dade County.
According to Bryson Harris Suciu & DeMay, the case, styled John H. Kunkel, III et al. v. Aero Fuels Miami, LLC et al. in the 11th Judicial Circuit for Miami-Dade County, returned compensatory damages of about $27,004,000 to John Kunkel, $6,000,000 to Natalia Izquierdo, and $27,000,000 to Global First Response (GFR). The plaintiffs alleged breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference, fraudulent misrepresentation, fraud, conversion and breach of contract, the firm’s post states.
Patrick Montoya, a senior partner with Bryson who represented the plaintiffs, told the Daily Business Review, "they ignored him. they went behind his back. and now they're thumbing their nose at him." Montoya and co-counsel Markus Kamberger argued that a business partner used confidential contacts and paperwork to edge the claimants out of the Miami-area fueling market.
How Jurors Heard the Case
Plaintiffs told jurors that Glen Howard Adkins and Christopher Richards formed a competing company, Aero Fuels, using GFR’s confidential information and investor contacts, and that Adkins submitted false licensing paperwork to Miami-Dade Aviation, according to the plaintiffs’ account on Bryson’s site. The firm says jurors accepted those claims and awarded damages intended to make the plaintiffs whole after the business relationship collapsed.
What Comes Next
Losers in civil trials can pursue post-trial motions or appeals. Under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.530, a motion for new trial generally must be served within 15 days, as outlined by Syfert, and appeals proceed under Rule 9.110 of the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure, according to the Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure.
Plaintiffs’ counsel said the verdict vindicates their clients’ work. The judgment now sets the stage for a new legal chapter in fueling and ground-service deals at MIA as the parties weigh their next steps.
