Fort Lauderdale, Florida – A civil jury in Palm Beach County Circuit Court has returned a verdict in favor of a condominium developer and a builder who they say were subjected to negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract by a group of insurance companies. The Fort Lauderdale-based law firm of Conrad & Scherer LLP represented Strand Apartments LLC, and Casey Ciklin Lubitz Martens & O’Connell of West Palm Beach the Suffolk Construction Company in the lawsuit tried before Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Edward H. Fine. Defendants in the case were Royal Indemnity Company, Brown & Brown Inc., Stewart Smith Southeast, Inc., Royal Specialty Underwriting, Inc. and Resurgens Specialty Underwriting.

The case centered on whether the defendants had provided proper water damage insurance as understood by their clients who were building a condominium project in West Palm Beach. The jury decided that the insurance companies had misrepresented the scope of the coverage, leading the builders to believe the project was in fact covered for water damage, and also that the insurance providers were in breach of contract.

“This is a highly unusual situation for a jury to find a defendant or defendants guilty on every single count in such a complex case,” said Conrad & Scherer Managing Partner William R. Scherer , who tried the case for Strand Apartments with firm Partners Maxine K. Streeter and Reid A. Cocalis. “I believe the verdict demonstrates both how clear the evidence was as presented in court.”

Representing Suffolk Construction were attorneys Bruce G. Alexander and Michael J. Kennedy of the West Palm Beach Law Firm, Casey Ciklin Lubitz Martens & O’Connell.

The jury awarded almost $2 million in damages to Suffolk Construction Company and $1.8 million to Strand Apartments, LLC. The Plaintiffs filed suit after incurring $3 million in water damage to their construction project and subsequently being refused payment by their insurance providers. Jurors agreed with plaintiffs that documents and information supplied to them by their insurers had indicated that their $200,000 policy had them properly covered for potential water damages.