MORGAN G. SALBER
v.
DIANA MARIE FRYE

Fla. 5th DCA | 2019-05-10
No. 18-2917
Davis, J., Orfinger, J., Grosshans, J., Sasso, J.
273 So. 3d 192 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fifth District (2019) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Holding

A trial court does not depart from the essential requirements of law by ordering discovery of financial arrangements between an attorney, insurance company, and retained expert witnesses.


Headnotes

[1] Discovery of financial arrangements between a party's attorney, insurance company, and retained expert witnesses is permissible to enable opposing counsel to impeach expe…

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Key Quotes

“to assist counsel in impeaching examining physicians and other experts by demonstrating that the expert has economic ties to the insurance company or defense law firm”

The court cited this language from Vazquez v. Martinez to justify the permissibility of discovering financial arrangements between experts and interested parties.

Facts & Procedural History

Petitioner Salber sought to quash a discovery order compelling him to provide documents concerning financial arrangements between his attorney, insura…

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Opinion of the Court
Sasso

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA

FIFTH DISTRICT

NOT FINAL UNTIL TIME EXPIRES TO

FILE MOTION FOR REHEARING AND

DISPOSITION THEREOF IF FILED

MORGAN G. SALBER,

Petitioner,

v. Case No. 5D18-2917

DIANA MARIE FRYE,

Respondent.

________________________________/

Opinion filed May 10, 2019

Petition for Certiorari Review of Order from the Circuit Court for Lake County, Heidi Davis, Judge.

C. David Durkee and Dale T. Gobel, of

Gobel Flakes, LLC, Orlando, for Petitioner.

Jeffrey M. Byrd, of Jeffrey M. Byrd, P.A., Orlando, for Respondent.

PER CURIAM.

In this certiorari proceeding, Petitioner, Morgan G. Salber, asks this Court to quash the trial court's discovery order compelling him to provide documents concerning the financial arrangements between his attorney, his insurance company, and his retained expert witness. Because there has been no departure from the essential requirements of law, we deny Petitioner's request.

PRECLUDE A DEFENSE LAW FIRM OR INSURANCE

COMPANY THAT IS NOT A PARTY TO THE LITIGATION

FROM

HAVING

TO

DISCLOSE

ITS

FINANCIAL

RELATIONSHIP WITH EXPERTS THAT IT RETAINS OR

COMPENSATES

FOR

PURPOSES

OF

LITIGATION

INCLUDING THOSE THAT PERFORM COMPREHENSIVE

MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS UNDER FLORIDA RULE OF

CIVIL PROCEDURE 1.360.

PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI DENIED; QUESTION CERTIFIED.

ORFINGER, GROSSHANS and SASSO, JJ., concur.

Footnotes
2 We recently addressed this identical issue. See Younkin v. Blackwelder, 44 Fla. L. Weekly D549, D549-50 (Fla. 5th DCA Feb. 22, 2019) (“In Vazquez v. Martinez, 175 So. 3d 372, 373−74 (Fla. 5th DCA 2015), we acknowledged that the discovery of the type of financial information requested in this case is permissible ‘to assist counsel in impeaching examining physicians and other experts by demonstrating that the expert has economic ties to the insurance company or defense law firm.’”). As in Younkin, because Petitioner raised a compelling argument that the law in this area is not being applied in an evenhanded manner to all litigants, we certify the following question to the Florida Supreme Court as one of great public importance: WHETHER THE ANALYSIS AND DECISION IN WORLEY v. CENTRAL FLORIDA YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASS'N, 228 SO. 3D 18 (FLA. 2017), SHOULD ALSO APPLY TO

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