Elizabeth Anne Kovachevich
How Judge Kovachevich rules, drawn from 16 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
How Judge Kovachevich decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Where an insurance policy term can bear more than one ordinary meaning, the court treats it as ambiguous and construes it against the insurer that drafted it.
“Since a reasonable person could understand the term 'land' to refer to areas located above or below ground—or both—the term is ambiguous. Since all ambiguities must be construed against the insurer, the Court is bound to construe the term 'land' to include the soil, ground, and natural, resources below the earth's surface.”
Cautions
Timing matters: a party that had the information needed to name a defendant earlier should expect the delay to weigh against a late request to add that party.
“The appropriate time to add the additional defendant was after United's Answer of November 7, 2014, not now after the case has already been removed to federal court and the addition of the defendant would destroy diversity.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“ORDERED that Walgreen's Motion to Strike Plaintiffs Motion (Doc. 49) is DENIED, and Walgreen's Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 44) 'is GRANTED.”
“ORDERED that Convergent's Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED AS TO Count II, which is dismissed, and the remainder of the Motion is DENIED. The Defendant has ten (10) days from this date to answer the Complaint.”
“ORDERED that Defendant's Motion to Dismiss (Dkt. 5) for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is granted. Plaintiffs Complaint is dismissed without prejudice, and without leave to amend.”
“ORDERED that the Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART. Any second amended complaint must be filed within 14 days from entry of this order.”
“It is further ORDERED that the Motions to Strike are GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART, and the parties are directed to meet and confer within seven (7) days regarding-the future use of Dr. Funderburk's opinions.”
“It is further ORDERED that the Motion for Judicial Notice is GRANTED IN PART AND DENIED IN PART as set forth herein.”
“ORDERED that State Farm's Motion to Dismiss be GRANTED as to Counts I and II of the Amended Complaint, and those counts are DISMISSED with PREJUDICE. The Motion to Dismiss is DENIED as to Counts III and IV.”
“State Farm's Alternative Motion to Strike is also DENIED. The Defendant shall file an answer to the remaining counts of the Amended Complaint within ten (10) days of this date.”
“For the reasons set forth below, Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 149) is DENIED and Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 145) is GRANTED IN PART, with respect to Defendants' Seventh, Eighth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-First Defenses, and DENIED IN PART as to all other defenses and to Count One.”
“ORDERED that the Summary Judgment Motion is DENIED, and the Motions to Strike are DENIED AS MOOT.”
“ORDERED that Plaintiffs' Motion to for Leave to Amend Complaint and For Remand is DENIED.”
“Accordingly, it is ORDERED that summary judgment for the Plaintiffs, Southern-Owners Insurance Company and Auto-Owners Insurance Company, is GRANTED.”
“As to notice issues, the Court has sustained Plaintiffs Objections to the Report and Recommendation. The Court denies the Motion to Dissolve (Dkt. 255) as to the USAmeribank Writ.”
“ORDERED that Plaintiffs' Complaint is DISMISSED with PREJUDICE. The Clerk of Court is directed to close this case and terminate any pending motions.”
“ORDERED that the Motion for Reconsideration is GRANTED. The Clerk of Court is directed to VACATE the Dismissal Order, and to STAY this case pending resolution of the appeal.”
“ORDERED Plaintiffs Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median case duration in the sampled dockets: 358 days (N = 11).
Median motion-to-ruling time: 17 days (N = 7).
The sampled matters are Tampa Division civil cases filed in 2014 and 2015, spanning employment, insurance, civil rights, and wage claims. They describe only the sampled cases and are not a measure of the judge's overall docket.
Draft for Judge Kovachevich with the record in hand
Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Kovachevich, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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