Navigation Leon County judge dismisses contractors’ challenge to property insurance reform law
A Leon County judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by contractors who specialize in water, fire, and mold mitigation that argued a new property insurance reform measure trampled on their rights by restricting their ability to recover attorney fees.
Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh handed down the opinion on Aug. 29, concluding that the defendants listed in the contractors’ lawsuit – the secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Melanie Griffin, and the executive director of the Construction Industry Licensing Board, Donald Shaw – were not proper defendants.
In an action challenging the constitutionality of a statute, the defendant must be responsible for enforcing the law in question, have a broad constitutional duty with respect to the law and have a specific interest in the issue being litigated, according to Marsh.
