Aaron Davis discusses changes in Florida’s Tort Law

The Florida Legislature recently cut in half the time window for bringing most negligence cases, made some too financially risky for firms to take on, made others harder to win, curbed the plaintiff attorney fee payday when they did win and increased the difficulty of going after insurers for bad faith.

While there’s no shortage of personal injury lawyers willing to say the new law “slams the courthouse door” on personal injury victims, partners at boutique personal injury firms say they face the least disruption because they don’t have call centers and large ad budgets to support. Co-Managing Partner Aaron Davis tells Florida Trend’s Michael Vogel that a firm like Davis Goldman, unlike large firms that pursue volume, doesn’t rely on “low-exposure claims” that insurers settle rather than spend to defend. “That, in my view, is what allowed a lot of these billboard lawyers and advertisers to succeed,” Aaron says. “It’s not the big cases, it’s the small ones that they push out at a scalable level.”

Aaron says the new law “places a premium on running a sophisticated practice, carefully evaluating your cases. And understanding how to adjust for the changes in the Legislature when you’re trying cases in front of a jury. So our firm, in my view, has a bright future.”

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