The person who has been as a lot of a litigation nemesis to Florida property and casualty insurers as anybody is launching a brand new political social gathering and will even run for governor subsequent yr.
Orlando-based trial lawyer John Morgan, head of what he has known as “America’s largest damage regulation agency,” stated on social media posts this week that he’s forming a brand new social gathering “for these of us caught within the center.”
Morgan stated final yr that it might be known as the Capitalist Celebration, in line with Politico, the Tallahassee Democrat and different news outlets.
In addition to offering funding for a number of campaigns, together with Democratic candidates within the state, Morgan additionally has backed legalization of marijuana and elevating the minimal wage in Florida. His regulation agency, Morgan & Morgan, additionally has been seen as one of many high policyholder companies within the state, submitting many fits in opposition to property insurers by means of the years.
In 2023, simply weeks earlier than Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a significant tort-reform invoice limiting legal professional charges and incentives for lawsuits, Morgan & Morgan notified insurance coverage protection companies throughout the state that it might be submitting tens of thousands of claims lawsuits earlier than the regulation took impact. Extreme claims litigation has been blamed for driving up property insurance coverage charges and pushing a number of carriers into insolvency in 2020 by means of 2022.
“There is no such thing as a insurance coverage disaster in Florida. Charges gained’t go down,” Morgan stated in a press release in 2023 to Insurance coverage Journal. “They by no means have and by no means will. All tort reform this yr ought to be titled ‘F*** the Folks.’”
As governor, Morgan could be ready to champion a roll again of the 2022 and 2023 litigation reforms that seem to have curtailed extreme claims lawsuits, and he may veto different property-casualty associated laws.
If Morgan, 68, does run for governor, within the common election in November 2026 he’ll seemingly face one in every of two Republican candidates favored by social gathering leaders. DeSantis is backing his spouse, Casey DeSantis, whereas U.S. President Donald Trump has favored U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, who introduced his candidacy this week.
Photograph: Morgan at a information convention on an damage lawsuit in 2021 (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel through AP)
Subjects
Florida
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