Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...apacity as the Insurance Commissioner of the State of Florida, appeals the district court’s entry of summary judgment against him on the Plaintiffs’ challenge to the constitutionality of Florida’s Holocaust Victims Insurance Act, Fla. Stat. § 626.9543 (the “Act”). Plaintiffs -- several insurers operating in Florida with corporate affiliations to German insurers who may have issued policies to Holocaust victims prior to 1945 - - brought this suit alleging that the Act violates the Due Process Clause and other provisions of the U.S....

...actual insurance claims of Holocaust victims and their heirs and beneficiaries be expeditiously identified and properly paid and that Holocaust victims and their families receive appropriate assistance in the filing and payment of their rightful claims.” Fla. Stat. § 626.9543(2)....

...the beneficiaries of any such policies for which no claim of benefits has been made. (e) An explanation of any denial or pending payment of a claim to a Holocaust victim, his or her beneficiary, heir, or descendant. Id. § 626.9543(7)....

...also regarding the policies of companies with which it has or had any “legal relationship.” The statute defines “legal relationship” as “any parent, subsidiary, or affiliated company with an insurer doing business in this state.” Id. § 626.9543(3).2 Violation of the reporting requirement, or any other requirement imposed by the Act, subjects an insurer to “an administrative penalty of $1,000 per day for each day such violation continues.” Id. § 626.9543(9). 2 This definition is concededly not limited to the Florida insurer’s corporate “alter egos.” Cf....

...interpreted by the Commissioner in an administrative rule, requires Florida insurers to pay all valid Holocaust-era policy claims asserted against them as well as all valid claims asserted against any of their parents, subsidiaries, or corporate affiliates. Fla. Stat. § 626.9543(5); Fla. Admin. Code 4-137.010(6). The Act requires payment of all claims established under “a reasonable, not unduly restrictive, standard of proof.” Fla. Stat. § 626.9543(5)(b). The Act also declares inapplicable to Holocaust-era policy claims any foreign statute of limitations, and creates a new ten-year statute of limitations for the presentation of these claims. Id. § 626.9543(6). In addition, the Act creates a private cause of action for individuals harmed by a violation of the Act, and authorizes the recovery of treble damages, costs, and attorney’s fees. Id. § 626.9543(10)....

...22 heirs and beneficiaries be expeditiously identified and properly paid and that Holocaust victims and their families receive appropriate assistance in the filing and payment of their rightful claims.” Fla. Stat. § 626.9543(2)....

...“potential and actual insurance claims of Holocaust victims and their heirs and beneficiaries be expeditiously identified and properly paid and that Holocaust victims and their families receive appropriate assistance in the filing and payment of their rightful claims.” Fla. Stat. § 626.9543(2). We have often emphasized in other contexts that the focal point for determining a legislature’s purpose in enacting a particular statute must be the plain language of the statute itself....

...t subject. We are unwilling to ignore the Florida Legislature’s clear statutory statement of 25 purpose in favor of the Commissioner’s litigating position (which the Legislature did not endorse in § 626.9543), and the Commissioner offers us no case law or persuasive authority upon which we might do so. We do not mean to say that the Commissioner is necessarily without authority to investigate and obtain records regarding the practices of affiliates of Florida insurers....

...Because constitutional principles apply to matters of great moment as well as small, and because good motives do not expand a state's jurisdictional reach, I hold that the State of Florida does not have such jurisdiction. I The Florida "Holocaust Victims Insurance Act," § 626.9543, Fla....

...(1999), has as its legislatively declared purpose that "potential and actual insurance claims of Holocaust victims and their heirs and beneficiaries be expeditiously identified and properly paid and that Holocaust victims and their families receive appropriate assistance in the filing and payment of their rightful claims." § 626.9543(2), Fla....

...regard to whether the insurer or any affiliate has any connection with the State of Florida. For example, the Act requires insurers doing business in Florida to pay claims established under "a reasonable, not unduly restrictive, standard of proof," § 626.9543(5)(b), Fla. Stat. (1999), and to provide extensive information to the Florida Department of Insurance regarding policies issued to Holocaust victims by the insurers themselves or by any "parent, subsidiary, or affiliated company." § 626.9543(3)(d) & (7), Fla....

...any parent, subsidiary or corporate affiliate. Rule 4-137.010(6), Fla. Admin. Code. More broadly, the Act abrogates the German statute of limitations, creates a new ten-year statute of limitations going forward, and abrogates any defense of laches. § 626.9543(6), Fla....

...Finally, the Act gives insureds the right to treble damages, costs and attorney's fees, including, apparently, as a remedy for any non-payment of claims by any insurer doing business in Florida or by any parent, subsidiary or corporate affiliate of any such insurer. § 626.9543(10), Fla....

...For convenience, I refer in this opinion to German insurers and German Holocaust victims; the same analysis applies to insurers and victims from other countries. [2] The Act makes treble damages, costs and attorney's fees available remedies for any violation of the Act. § 626.9543(10), Fla. Stat. (1999). By its terms, the Act itself requires payment of claims only by insurers doing business in Florida, § 626.9543(5), Fla....