TALHASSEE – As the 2025 legislative meeting enters its final weeks, the Florida home and the Senate are split over a series of potentially high-stakes issues, including personal injuries and insurance lawsuits.
The House supports changes that could lead to people collecting damages over personal burdens and false death cases and forcing insurance companies to pay attorneys’ fees. However, the Senate has taken little action on the issue.
Dynamic is on display this week.
The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed a bill (HB 301) that would lead to cities, counties and other government agencies pay more in lawsuits if negligence injures people. The Senate has not addressed this issue. This includes modifications to the sovereignty law.
On Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee approved two controversial proposals dealing with attorneys’ fees for insurance disputes and measures (HB 947) that can provide evidence for personal damage and medical damages in unlawful death cases. The Senate has not taken up the proposal, but this will largely revoke the law approved over the past three years.
As an example of the issue, lawmakers in 2022 passed a law protecting parents from paying clients’ lawyer fees. Before that law, Florida often had what was called the “one-way” lawyers’ fee system for property insurance. Essentially, it means that if the policyholder successfully sues the insurer for a claim that was incorrectly denied, the insurer is liable to pay the policyholder’s attorney’s fees. The 2022 change eliminated one-way fees, making each side liable for their own fees.
The House bill will move on to what is sometimes described as a “loser pays” fee system. If the policyholder sues the insurance company, the judge will award attorneys’ fees to which side who wins the case.
Advocates of the 2022 law said elimination of one-way lawyers’ fees is important in trying to turn the state’s troubled property insurance scheme around. Former Insurance Secretary Kevin McCarty, who is now a consultant, told the House committee that changing the law could lead to things like higher reinsurance costs, which could be handed over to consumers through a higher premium.
However, opponents of the 2022 law have long said it will be difficult for policyholders to represent them with lawyers. R-Dania Beach Rep. Hillary Cassell said the 2022 law allowed insurers to terminate more claims without insurers paying policyholders.
“We’re looking forward to seeing you in a litigation against insurance companies,” said Kassel, a lawyer representing consumers.
Legal damages and attorney fees are incurred during all legislative meetings, and the fight over mining insurance and business groups for plaintiffs’ lawyers. Throughout this year’s session, it has been widely believed that House leaders are more employed than Senate leaders for the plaintiff’s lawyer position.
This year’s session is expected to close on May 2nd, and it remains unclear whether the House and Senate will reach an agreement on legal issues as leaders in both rooms are about to pass priorities.
One issue that has been supported by the House and Senate is a proposal that could lead to more medical competitive lawsuits. The House passed the bill (HB 6017) in late March, and the Senate bill (SB 734) cleared the committee, but has not been featured throughout the Senate.
The proposal includes false dying lawsuits and what is known as “non-economic” damages, such as pain and suffering.
The proposal would repeal some of the 1990 laws that prevent people from seeking non-economic damages in certain circumstances. Persons over the age of 25 cannot seek such damage in an overcompetitive medical case that involves the death of their parents. Additionally, parents cannot seek such damage in cases of medical malpractice, including the death of children over the age of 25.
Proponents of the proposed abolition argued that the law prevented families from holding doctors and hospitals accountable. However, opponents argue that repealing the law could lead to an increase in medical over-insurance fees and lead to doctors leaving the state.
The Sovereign Immunology Bill, which passed the House on Wednesday, will change the law passed in 2010.
Under that law, the agency’s liability in such cases is limited to a $200,000 or $300,000 limit for payments to one person if multiple people are involved in the case, but can exceed the limit if lawmakers pass on a special type of measure known as a “claim” bill.
Under the bill, the caps will increase to $500,000 and $1 million, respectively. The bill also allows agencies to resolve more cases and more cases without going through a long, uncertain claims process.
