"The defense turned what should have been a straightforward matter—one that should have been settled very early on—into an exceedingly complicated and expensive one," said Winkeljohn's attorney, Todd L. Wallen of Wallen Kelley, co-trial counsel and appellate counsel.

In January, the plaintiff's legal team secured a final judgment from Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Carlos Lopez of $1 million in fees and costs, which brought the award to date to nearly $5.6 million, plus interest, for a total of about $6 million.

Years of Litigation

The result followed proceedings in the courtroom of Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz on March 3, 2020, which resulted in a more than $4.6 million verdict.

Related story: South Florida Lawyers Land $4.6M Verdict After Comparing Damages to Defense-Expert Fees

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz.

Callari appealed the verdict, and his defense moved to reduce the award, arguing it was excessive and that Callari couldn't afford it. But plaintiffs lawyers later proved otherwise.

The judge, Ruiz, held four hearings on Callari's motions for a new trial and for remittitur to reduce the verdict amount.

But in June 2020, Ruiz entered a final judgment of nearly $4.6 million, including $3,561,097 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages.

Callari appealed to Florida's Third District Court of Appeal.

On Oct. 21, 2021, the appellate panel affirmed the compensatory award, but sent the case back to the trial court for a new trial on the issue of punitive damages.

Discovery of an Inheritance

Todd L. Wallen, shareholder with Wallen Kelley. Courtesy photo

After extensive discovery into Callari's finances—which included an apparent previous inheritance—and his ability to pay a punitive damages award, the retrial of the punitive damages issue was set for September 2022.

"The challenging part of the punitive award also was there's a limitation based on how much the defendant is able to pay," plaintiffs counsel Wallen said. "We had to establish an ability to pay—and that was the difficult part. … He was on heroin and the conduct was egregious, but establishing that this guy who lives in Fort Myers can afford to pay a significant punitive award, that was the challenge."

Lopez, who was the new judge in the division at the time, struck the first jury panel on the first day of the new trial on punitive damages.

The following day, on Sept. 20, 2022, a new juror pool or venire was brought in, and after the parties' voir dire, Callari, with the consent of his insurer, Progressive, agreed to have a judgment entered against him for $1 million in punitive damages.

At the end of October 2022, Lopez entered judgment for $3,561,097 in compensatory damages and $1 million in punitive damages—the same amounts as the judgment in 2020.

At that time Callari waived the right to appeal that judgment.

In December 2022, Callari withdrew his "Second Amended Motion to Confirm the Absence of an Operative Concession to Plaintiff's Entitlement to Recover Attorney's Fees," and agreed to an award of $850,000 in attorney fees and $150,000 in taxable costs.

In January 2023, Lopez entered the final judgment of $1 million in fees and costs, bringing the total to date to $5,561,097, with interest coming to approximately $6 million.

More Litigation

Ver Ploeg & Marino partner Stephen A. Marino Jr.

Now that the parties have resolved the underlying litigation in the tort case, plaintiffs counsel say they plan a lawsuit against Progressive for bad faith, seeking to collect the entire amount of the judgments from Progressive.

"We go on to what we call the extra-contractual litigation, meaning we litigate against the responsible parties who owed a fiduciary duty to Mr. Callari, and we asked the court and a jury to hold them responsible for the damages in excess of the policies limits," said attorney Stephen A. Marino Jr., of Ver Ploeg & Marino, who is the plaintiff's insurance coverage counsel.

Marino said he will now try and prove to a new jury that there was a breach of fiduciary duty by Progressive Insurance and that it should have settled sooner.

Christopher M. Drury, of the Drury Law Firm. Courtesy photo

"And if a jury agrees that they breached their duties to get the claim settled within the policy limits where they could and should have done so, Florida law is going to hold them responsible for any judgment in excess of the policy limits," Marino said.

Marino and his legal team say this time the final numbers could exceed $6 million, as they seek to collect the entire amount of the judgments in excess of the $100,000 Progressive policy limit including about $500,000 in interest.

Lead trial attorney in the case, Chris Drury of Drury Law Firm in Miami, offered this advice to plaintiff-counsel colleagues: "Have the intestinal fortitude to fight for your client, through all of the roadblocks and ultimately, you will do well for yourself, for your client, and you will be proud that you held accountable people that that were intractable and that tried to stand in the way of justice," Drury said.

When asked for comment, all defense attorneys in the lower court case and appeal case did not respond to requests.