Creed & Gowdy, P.A., represented the parents of a child injured in a carnival ride called the "Psycho Swing" in a certiorari proceeding challenging the parents' right to seek punitive damages for their daughter's injuries. Daniel Mahfood first implemented a plan to have the trial court remedy potential procedural defects in the order granting leave to seek punitive damages. Then, in the certiorari proceeding, Mr. Mahfood argued that the appellate court lacked jurisdiction to consider the defendant's remaining challenges and that the defendant's arguments were substantively meritless as well. The appellate court agreed and issued a sweeping denial. The appellate court held that the Defendant's arguments were jurisdictionally barred and that the parents had sufficiently alleged punitive conduct even as to a corporate entity, freeing the parents to pursue punitive damages against all of the defendants in the lawsuit.
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Center for Responsible Lending is a non-profit policy, advocacy, and research organization dedicated to exposing and eliminating abusive practices in the market for consumer financial services. Public Justice is a national public interest legal organization, specializing in precedent-setting, socially significant civil litigation, with a focus on fighting to preserve access to justice for victims of corporate and governmental misconduct.
In a recent case, Barbara Fawcett vs. Citizens bank, N.A., Fawcett is seeking a panel rehearing or en banc hearing in the First Circuit Court of Appeals. They argue the decision was a misapplication of Auer v. Robbins, 519 U.S. 452 (1997). This misapplication presents a question of exceptional importance concerning how and when federal courts should or must defer to administrative agency statements. Bryan Gowdy filed a brief of amici curiae in support of Fawcett's motion for rehearing and rehearing en banc arguing the court should immerse itself into the "regulatory text and history," to interpret the words in 12 U.S.C. ยง 85 and grant rehearing or rehearing en banc and vacate the panel's opinion.
Creed & Gowdy, P.A. represented the respondent in a 2nd DCA certiorari review of an order overruling objections to deposition questions and compelling additional depositions in an automobile negligence action. This case was concerned with the plain language of the "accident report privilege" set forth in section 316.066(4), Florida Statutes, and whether it shielded information from pretrial discovery. The petition was denied stating that the current version of section 316.066(4) did not create a true privilege precluding the disclosure of statements of individuals involved in an accident for the purpose of completing a crash report. Instead, it is a law of admissibility that precludes the use of these statements at trial.
Creed & Gowdy, P.A. represented a City of Jacksonville firefighter/paramedic who filed a petition for workers' compensation benefits for authorization to treat with a cardiologist for his atrial fibrillation. The Judge of Compensation Claims (JCC) granted the petition, but the City of Jacksonville appealed and argued the JCC had misapplied Florida's statutory presumption that a firefighter's heart disease is attributable to his employment as a firefighter. The First District Court of Appeal sided with the firefighter and affirmed the JCC.
Daniel Mahfood of Creed & Gowdy, P.A. provided representation to the wife in a contested marriage-dissolution proceeding. Daniel defeated each of the husband's asserted errors through procedural arguments relating to the husband's failure to provide a transcript and preserve arguments through a timely motion for rehearing. The wife also received an order entitling her to fees for the appeal.