THE SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA _________________________ CASE NO. SC10-21 _________________________ BANCO INDUSTRIAL DE VENEZUELA, C.A., MIAMI AGENCY, a foreign corporation; and BIV INVESTMENTS AND MANAGEMENT, INC., a Florida corporation a/k/a BIV INVERSORES Y PROMOTORES, Petitioners, vs. ESPERANZA DE SAAD and JOSEPH BEELER, P.A., Respondents. ________________________________________________________________ ON DISCRETIONARY REVIEW FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF FLORIDA, THIRD DISTRICT CASE NO. 3D08-1713 ________________________________________________________________ _________________________ RESPONDENT, ESPERANZA DE SAAD'S ANSWER BRIEF ON THE MERITS _________________________ PETROS & ELEGANT HICKS, PORTER, EBENFELD & 4090 Laguna Street, 2nd Floor STEIN, P.A. Coral Gables, Florida 33146 799 Brickell Plaza, Suite 900 Telephone: (305) 446-3699 Miami, Florida 33131 Facsimile: (305) 446-2799 Telephone: (305) 374-8171 Trial Counsel for Respondent, Facsimile: (305) 372-8038 Esperanza De Saad Appellate Counsel for Respondent, Esperanza De Saad TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ................................................................................... iii INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1 STATEMENT OF THE CASE AND FACTS .......................................................... 1 A. Section 607.0850, Florida Statutes. ............................................................ 2 B. The Employment Contract .......................................................................... 3 C. The Underlying Criminal Action and This Action ..................................... 5 SUMMARY OF THE ARGUMENT ...................................................................... 12 STANDARDS OF REVIEW ................................................................................... 14 ARGUMENT ........................................................................................................... 15 I. SUMMARY JUDGMENT WAS PROPERLY GRANTED ON THE INDEMNIFICATION COUNT. ..................................................... 15 A. BIV's argument that the standards of conduct under subsection (1) apply to a claim for mandatory indemnification under subsection (3) is waived and fails on the merits. ........................................................ 15 B. The standards of conduct under subsection (7) do not apply to a claim for mandatory indemnification under subsection (3). .................... 18 C. The Trial Court and the Third District correctly held that de Saad was entitled to mandatory indemnification under subsection (3). ........... 24 II. SUMMARY JUDGMENT WAS PROPERLY GRANTED ON THE BREACH OF CONTRACT COUNT. ............................................ 33 A. BIV's Unreasonable Interpretation of the Contract did not Preclude Entry of Summary Judgment. ................................................................... 33 i B. No Material Facts in Dispute Regarding BIV's Affirmative Defenses. ................................................................................................... 38 III. THE THIRD DISTRICT PROPERLY AFFIRMED THE INDEMNIFICATION DAMAGES. ........................................................ 41 IV. THE COURT SHOULD DETERMINE THAT IT LACKS JURISDICTION TO CONSIDER THE 2003 DECISION OR SHOULD AFFIRM THAT DECISION ON THE MERITS. .................. 43 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................ 50 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE ................................................................................ 51 CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE ....................................................................... 52 ii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES PAGE Federal Cases First Am. Corp. v. Al-Nahyan, 17 F. Supp. 2d 10 (D.D.C. 1998) ........................................................................ 32 Heffernan v. Pac. Dunlop GNB Corp., 965 F.2d 369 (7th Cir. 1992) .............................................................................. 29 In re Miller, 290 F.3d 263 (5th Cir. 2002) ........................................................................ 30, 32 Miller v. U.S. Foodservice, Inc., 405 F. Supp. 2d 607 (D. Md. 2005) .................................................................... 17 Tomasini v. Mount Sinai Med. Ctr. of Fla., Inc., 315 F. Supp. 2d 1252 (S.D. Fla. 2004) ............................................................... 39 State Cases Advance Mach. Co. v. Berry, 378 So. 2d 26 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979) ..................................................................... 46 Alternative Development, Inc. v. St. Lucie Club & Apartment Homes Condominium Association, 608 So. 2d 822 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992) ......................................................passim Barakat v. Broward County Hous. Auth., 771 So. 2d 1193 (Fla. 4th DCA 2000) .......................................................... 34, 39 Blatt v. Panelfab Int'l Corp., 314 So. 2d 196 (Fla. 3d DCA 1975) ................................................................... 32 Boatwright Const., LLC v. Tarr, 958 So. 2d 1071 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007) ................................................................ 14 Boca Burger, Inc. v. Forum, 912 So. 2d 561 (Fla. 2005) ..................................................................... 16, 43, 44 iii BSP/Port Orange, LLC v. Water Mill Props., Inc., 969 So. 2d 1077 (Fla. 5th DCA 2007) ................................................................ 40 Buzzi v. Quality Serv. Station, Inc., 921 So. 2d 14 (Fla. 3d DCA 2006) ..................................................................... 25 Cason v. Fla. Dep't of Mgmt. Servs., 944 So. 2d 306 (Fla. 2006) ................................................................................. 24 Chatlos Foundation, Inc. v. D'Arata, 882 So. 2d 1021 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004), rev. denied, 894 So. 2d 969 (Fla. 2005) .................................................. 47, 48 Chudy v. Bequette, 2007 WL 2122439 (Wash. Ct. App. July 25, 2007) ........................................... 27 Colonial Guild Ltd. v. Pruitt, 2004 WL 627921 (Ohio Ct. Ap. March 31, 2004) ....................................... 20, 23 Coolen v. State, 696 So. 2d 738 (Fla. 1997) ..................................................................... 11, 15, 39 De Saad v. Banco Industrial de Venezuela, C.A., 843 So. 2d 953 (Fla. 3d DCA 2003) ................................................. 11, 43, 45, 46 Del Monte Fresh Porduce, N.A., Inc. v. Kinnavy, No. 07 C 5902, 2010 WL 1172565 (N.D. Ill. March 22, 2010) ......................... 17 Duest v. Dugger, 555 So. 2d 849 (Fla. 1990) ................................................................................. 11 Fabel v. Masterson, 951 So. 2d 934 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007) .................................................................. 38 Fasano v. Hicks, 667 So. 2d 1033 (Fla. 2d DCA 1996) ................................................................. 40 Fecteau v. S.E. Bank, N.A., 585 So. 2d 1005 (Fla. 4th DCA 1991) .......................................................... 33, 34 iv Fink v. Holt, 609 So. 2d 1333 (Fla. 4th DCA 1992) ................................................................ 11 Florida Dep't of Fin. Servs. v. Assoc. Indus. Ins. Co., 868 So. 2d 600 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004) .................................................................. 25 Gabor & Co. v. Gabor, 569 So. 2d 817 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990) ................................................................... 32 Green v. Westcap Corp. of Delaware, 492 A.2d 260 (Del. 1985) ................................................................................... 17 H.R. Plate v. Sun-Diamond Growers of California, 225 Cal. App. 3d 1115 (Cal. Ct. App. 1990) ...................................................... 33 Hollander v. Rosen, 555 So. 2d 384 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989) ................................................................... 46 Homestore, Inc. v. Tafeen, 888 A.2d 204 (Del. 2005) ................................................................................... 31 Hospital Correspondence Corp. v. McRae, 682 So. 2d 1177 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996) ................................................................ 40 Investors Ins. Group v. Kling, 712 So. 2d 1258 (Fla. 1st DCA 1998) ................................................................ 21 J. Sourini Painting, Inc. v. Johnson Paints, Inc., 809 So. 2d 95 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002) ..................................................................... 15 Jones v. Sterile Prods. Corp., 572 So. 2d 519 (Fla. 5th DCA 1990) .................................................................. 38 Juvenile Diabetes Research Found. v. Rievman, 370 So. 2d 33 (Fla. 3d DCA 1979) ..................................................................... 40 KEL Homes, LLC v. Burris, 933 So. 2d 699 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006) ................................................................... 34 Langford v. Paravant, Inc., 912 So. 2d 359 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005) ............................................................ 33, 34 v Leseke v. Nutaro, 567 So. 2d 949 (Fla. 4th DCA 1990) .................................................................. 34 Major League Baseball v. Morsani, 790 So. 2d 1071 (Fla. 2001) ............................................................................... 14 Marshall Const., Ltd. v. Coastal Sheet Metal & Roofing, Inc., 569 So. 2d 845 (Fla. 1st DCA 1990) .................................................................. 38 Mazzoni Farms, Inc. v. E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co.,