On appeal from the trial court's verbatim adoption of Former Husband's proposed judgment, Rebecca Creed secured a victory for our client, Former Wife. The trial court misclassified and misvalued the parties' assets and liabilities in favor of Former Husband, unequally distributed those assets and liabilities again in favor of Former Husband, and then denied Former Wife's requests for alimony and attorney's fees.
While counsel for Former Husband argued that the lopsided distribution was within the trial court's power to do equity, the First District Court of Appeal disagreed. The Court ruled that the trial court should have considered and correctly applied "the steps outlined in the dissolution statute" before deciding to unequally divide assets and liabilities. The case was reversed on every issue and remanded to the trial court.
To read the opinion, click here.
The First District Court of Appeal recently ruled in favor of Creed & Gowdy's client, Shaun Murphy. After his former wife filed a petition in Florida to clarify and enforce a 1999 out-of-state dissolution judgment, Mr. Murphy-a North Carolina resident-moved to dismiss the action for lack of personal jurisdiction. Although the trial court denied Mr. Murphy's motion, the First District reversed. Finding that the record lacked any basis to support jurisdiction over the former husband, the Court agreed with Creed & Gowdy that denial of the motion to dismiss was legal error. The First District instructed the trial court, on remand, to dismiss the former wife's petition. Rebecca Creed briefed the appeal.
Read the opinion here.
The Super Lawyers list for 2022 has been released, and four Creed & Gowdy, P.A. attorneys have been named.
Rebecca Creed and Bryan Gowdy have been Top-Rated Appellate Attorneys in Florida for over 12 years. This year, Rebecca and Bryan were both ranked Top 100 Florida Super Lawyers for 2022, while Rebecca was also named as one of the Top 50 Women Super Lawyers in Florida. And, the two have been ranked in the Top 25 Jacksonville Super Lawyers for 2022. These lists consist of the top-rated attorneys, as evaluated by peer recognition and professional achievement, in their areas of practice.
Thomas A. Burns, of counsel, was selected as a Top-Rated Appellate Attorney in Tampa for 2022 for the fourth year in a row.
D. Gray Thomas, of counsel, was selected as a Top-Rated Criminal Defense Attorney in Jacksonville. Gray has been a Top-Rated Criminal Defense Attorney for the last seven years.
Selection to Super Lawyers is limited to a small number of attorneys. Creed & Gowdy is proud of our attorneys' continuous peer recognition and professional achievements!
On June 24, 2022, Bryan Gowdy & Floyd Fagile presented at the American Association for Justice. The Webinar, titled "Medicaid Liens: How we got to Gallardo v. Marstiller and where do we go next?" was delivered over a video call. They reviewed the history of the Medicaid Act and its relationship to tort recoveries, and past litigation over Medicaid liens. They focused specifically on the litigation history of Gallardo v. Marstiller and how decisional law on Medicaid liens changed as the case worked its way up to the Supreme Court level. More information about the presentation can be found here, along with a purchasable digital version of the Webinar.
The U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision today in Gallardo v. Martstiller, a case in which Creed & Gowdy represented a Medicaid beneficiary, Ms. Gianinna Gallardo. Bryan Gowdy made this statement today in response to press inquiries:
We respect the Court's decision, though we are disappointed and agree with Justice Sotomayor's interpretation of the statutes. The decision, we believe, will harm Medicaid beneficiaries. We hope that Congress will consider amending the statutes.