Doctors and their medical malpractice insurance carriers in Florida are now benefiting greatly from the $500,000 cap on pain and suffering damages approved by the state legislature in 2003 and the constitutional limit on lawyers' fees ratified in 2004. The 15 insurers who provided coverage for 80 percent of the market in 2005 only had to pay 40.2 percent of premiums to cover losses, which is very favorable compared to other highly populated states. These 15 companies also made more than $800 million in profits and new companies are now entering the state's lucrative med-mal insurance marketplace. Some physicians are now paying less for their coverage and, in December, Jacksonville-based First Professional Insurance Co., the state's largest med-mal insurer, filed for a rate decrease that will reduce premiums an average of eight percent.

With the boom in the South Florida real estate market, many condominium and housing developments advertised 24-hour security as one of their key amenities. But when a residential complex fails to provide the promised security for its residents, the results can be tragic.

As our work in complex commercial litigation and appellate matters continues to grow, Gamba & Lombana now calls on the expertise and services of Billbrough & Marks, which has developed an of counsel relationship with the firm. The affiliation will provide our clients with access to the counsel and capabilities of two very highly experienced attorneys in commercial litigation, insurance disputes and appellate matters.

Marisol Gomez was recently appointed as a member of the Board of Governors for the Young Lawyers Division of The Florida Bar and will serve as the statewide representative for the Florida Association for Women Lawyers (FAWL) on the board. Gomez was also voted as a member of the Florida Legal Elite's Up and Coming Attorneys list, which recognizes outstanding lawyers who have been practicing for less than 10 years. In addition to this recognition, she was recently sworn in to a second term on the Board of Directors of the Miami-Dade Chapter of FAWL, which also named her the winner of the President's Award for Distinguished Director for 2006-2007 and the chairperson of the Awards Committee for 2007-2008.

Firm Partners Tomas Gamba and Hector Lombana were recently voted as members of Florida Trend Magazine's “Florida Legal Elite” Top Civil Trial Attorneys list for 2007. The fourth annual edition of Florida Legal Elite was published and compiled by Florida Trend magazine, and members of the list were voted by all in-state members of The Florida Bar as fellow attorneys who they hold in the highest regard.

Hector Lombana was recently appointed to two important posts by his fellow graduates of the Rutgers School of Law - Newark and the members of The Florida Bar. Lombana was named as a member of the Rutgers School of Law Alumni Board and the Professionalism Committee of The Florida Bar. He is already a member of the Civil Procedure Rules Committee of The Florida Bar.