Peter M. Weinstein

The case involved a dispute over a lease exclusivity provision in a shopping center, where Coaches Corner, a sports bar, had a covenant preventing the landlord from leasing space to other establishments that devote more than 10% of their space to viewing sporting events. Park Avenue BBQ, primarily a barbecue restaurant, installed televisions showing sports events after opening nearby, prompting Coaches Corner to seek declaratory and injunctive relief against Park Avenue and the landlord entities. The trial court granted an injunction barring the showing of televised sporting events to patrons in more than 10% of the space, and on appeal, the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed this decision. The court reasoned that the restrictive covenant was enforceable against Park Avenue as a successor with actual notice, that laches did not apply due to timely action by Coaches Corner, and that injunctive relief was appropriate to prevent violation of the clear legal right without an adequate remedy at law.

business & regulatoryproperty

This case involves a paternity action in which the mother appealed the trial court's order awarding retroactive child support only from the date the complaint was filed rather than from the child's birth. The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed in part and remanded for recalculation of the retroactive support amount. The court held that section 61.30(17), Florida Statutes (1997), controls and requires retroactive child support to be calculated from the date the parents did not reside together with the child, using the guidelines applied to the parents' actual incomes during that period, because the parents had never lived together with the child. The opinion notes that this statute ensures children born out of wedlock receive the same support rights as those born in wedlock and that the trial court abused its discretion by limiting the award to the filing date.

family law