Preview
Filing # 90963211 E-Filed 06/12/2019 10:53:44 AM
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT FOR THE 15" JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR PALM BEACH
COUNTY, FLORIDA
GENERAL JURISDICTION DIVISION
CASE NO.: 50-2018-CA-015763-XXXX-MB
ELIZABETH BALZARANO, individually
and as Personal Representative of the Estate
of Michele L. Balzarano,
Plaintiff,
vs.
LIFELINE RECOVERY, LLC, et al.,
Defendants.
PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO COMPEL AGAINST LIFE CHANGES
Plaintiff, ELIZABETH BALZARANO, individually and as Personal Representative of
the Estate of Michele L. Balzarano, hereby moves to compel Defendant Life Changes to provide
a valid address for purposes of serving her notice of intent to initial litigation for medical
negligence against Life Changes:
MOTION TO COMPEL
This tragic case involves the death of Michelle Balzarano, a client of Life Changes
addiction treatment center. Since the onset of this matter Life Changes has contested the
allegations, seeking dismissal claiming it owed no duty to Michelle Balzarano, and that any
claims she has against Life Changes must be brought as medical malpractice claims in
accordance with Florida Statue § 766.102. Plaintiff disagrees with Life Changes legal positions
on the matter, and has opposed dismissal correctly setting forth the status of the law on the duty
CUCM. DAIRARCACLUAALINTY Cl CUADAND ANAY FLED NeM91INN1O 1AN-£2-AA ANA
PILL. PAL BLAU VUUINE TT, EL, OHI. DUUN, ULLIAN, YuriZi2uig bu. iveelement owed by Life Changes, and the inapplicability of Florida’s medical malpractice statute
to Life Changes non-medical personnel and for administrative negligence.
Without conceding the applicability of Florida’s Medical Malpractice act to various
aspects of this case, Plaintiff proceeded with serving Life Changes with a notice of intent to
initiate medical malpractice litigation against Life Changes, its medical director Emilio Duboy,
and its ARNP, Janine Beattie.!
On June 3, 2019, Plaintiff mailed her § 766 notice of intent to Life Changes at the address
listed for its registered agent. In addition, Plaintiff mailed a set to Life Changes counsel’s office,
which was confirmed as received. (See email correspondence attached hereto as Exhibit A)
The pre-suit packet sent to Life Changes registered agent was returned as undeliverable. It was
returned because Life Changes has closed, and it has not provided a forwarding address to
receive mail. (See email correspondence attached hereto as composite Exhibit B.). Life Changes
did not update its registered agent or mailing address in Florida’s public record as required.
Thus, in an abundance of caution, the undersigned asked counsel for Life Changes to provide an
updated address so that another set of the presuit packet could be sent to Life Changes directly.
The simpie request has gone unanswered for seven days.
The requirements of mailing the § 766 notice of intent have been met by service on
counsel for Life Changes, as well as by confirmed service on Dr. Emilio Duboy. However, to
obviate any conceivable issues or objections, Plaintiff is willing to send an additional set to Life
Changes directly if they provide a valid address and accept mail. At this juncture Plaintiff is
concerned that Life Changes is attempting to avoid service of the presuit packet while the statue
of limitations runs down, or that it will attempt to unfairly use Florida’s Medical Malpractice act
i These additional claims have no bearing on the viability of the previously asserted causes of action, and are being
brought in addition.
? Plaintiff also mailed copies to Dr. Emilio Duboy and ARNP Janine Beattie at their respective home addresses.
2as a sword to craft a defense based on its refusal to accept mail. It bears noting that the
undersigned has also asked counsel for Life Changes to simply confirm receipt of the presuit
packet on behalf of Life Changes if providing a mailing address is inconvenient or not possible.
To date no response has been made to any of these reasonable requests.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests the court order Life Changes to provide a
valid address for receipt of Plaintiff's medical malpractice presuit packet.
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing was filed with the Clerk of Court via the Florida
Courts E-Filing Portal and a true and correct copy was served via email this 12th day of June,
2019 upon Jonathan M. Midwall, Esquire, and Alyssa Tornberg, Esquire Cole Scott & Kissane,
P.A., 110 Tower, 110 S.E. 6th Street, Suite 2700, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33301.
By: _/s/ Thomas Graham
THOMAS SCOLARO (FBN 178276)
THOMAS D. GRAHAM (FBN 89043)
LEESFIELD SCOLARO, P.A.
2350 South Dixie Highway
Miami, Florida 33133
Telephone: 305-854-4900
Facsimile: 305-854-8266
leesfield@leesfield.com
graham@leesfield.com
garcia@leesfield.com
Counsel for Plaintiff
3 Plaintiff has extended the statute of limitations in the medical malpractice matter in accordance with Florida
Statute 766.104(2), but time is nonetheless of the essence.
3NN 7 TYTA Yr
EAHIBIL
SENG‘Thomas D. Graham
Alyssa. Tornber< klegal.com
3 idwall; Liana Garci
Ecinte of Balzarane MadMol Braces
Date: Wednesday, June 05, 2019 4:
Attachments: image002.pnq
Alyssa-
Thank you for confirming that your office received our Med Mal Presuit packet for Life Changes, and
for informing me that the company is in the process of winding down. The presuit packet we mailed
directly to Life Changes registered agent was returned because Life Changes had not provided a
forwarding address, and it has not updated its mailing or registered agent address on Sunbiz either.
This is the listed address, and the one we obtained service with in the filed litigation. If necessary,
please let me know the forwarding address asap so we can mail out another set today directly to Life
Changes, if it still has personnel or a mailing address. At this juncture we have complied with the
statute, but | am happy to mail another one if they insist. Please advise.
Sincerely,
Tom
Thomas D. Graham, Esq.
Leesfield Scolaro, P.A.
2350 South Dixie Highway
Miami, FL 33133 USA
Phone: (305) 854-4900
Toll Free: (800) 836-6400
Fax: (305) 854-8266
Tecan cansiey
LEESEIELD
SCOLARO
ea finaanecowNTeTION
Trial Lawyers with offices in Miami, Key West and Central Florida - CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE -- The information
contained in this email i: ivileged and confidential. It is intended only for the recipient. In the event of
inadvertent receipt, please return to the sender with the notation “WRONG RECIPIENT.” Thank you.EXHIBIT
“ey 3%?Thomas D. Graham
From: Thomas D. Graham
Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2019 255 PM
To: Alyssa M. Tornberg
Cc: Jonathan M. Midwall; Liana Garcia
Subject: RE: Claim No. 235484 (Elizabeth L. Balzarano, as Pers. Rep of the Estate of Michele L.
Balzarano v. Lifeline Recovery, LLC) CSK File: 1943.0485-00: Estate of Balzarano_
MedMal Presuit Life Changes
1 understand, and agree that you have been very cooperative. But | need to either get another set sent out, or for your
client to confirm service of the set you are in receipt of (which seems the most efficient and practical course). Please let
us know, and thanks again for your ongoing professionalism.
-Tom
From: Alyssa M. Tornberg [mailto:Alyssa. Tornberg@csklegal.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2019 2:55 PM
To: Thomas D. Graham
Cc: Jonathan M. Midwall; Liana Garcia
Subject: RE: Claim No. 235484 (Elizabeth L. Balzarano, as Pers. Rep of the Estate of Michele L. Balzarano v. Lifeline
Recovery, LLC) CSK File: 1943.0485-00: Estate of Balzarano_ MedMal Presuit Life Changes
Mr. Graham,
1 have been nothing but cooperative throughout the pendency of this litigation and intend to continue as such. If you are
being avoided, then so am |-| have reached out to my clients more than once and have not yet received a response. If |
had the information available | would have provided it to you. As previously indicated, as soon as | am informed of the
forwarding address, | will pass that information along. Please be patient.
Fa Gee Alyssa M. Tornberg
CaaiK
Associate
Tel: 954-703-3770 | Fax: 954-703-3701
Cole, Scott & Kissane | Alyssa.Tornberg@csklegal.com
www.csklegal.com Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A.
110 Tower
ineniges] 110 S.E. 6th Street, Suite 2700
i 2 Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33301
JUMEFRNS,
SSIS
Bs ae f in y
From: Thomas D. Graham
Sent: Tuesday, June 11, 2019 2:51 PM
To: Alyssa M. Tornberg Ce: Jonathan M. Midwall ; Liana Garcia
Subject: RE: Estate of Balzarano_ MedMal Presuit Life Changes
Still nothing- | get the impression we are being avoided. It has been several days to receive a simple address. Please
advice acan
acvise asap.
Thanks,
tom
From: Thomas D. Graham
Sent: Friday, June 07, 2019 11:36 AM
To: Alyssa M. Tornberg
Cc: Jonathan M. Midwall; Liana Garcia
Subject: RE: Estate of Balzarano_ MedMal Presuit Life Changes
As we discussed this morning, the mailing address listed on Sunbiz is no longer valid, and Life Changes did not provide a
forwarding address. As you are acting on their behalf in the filed litigation, and they moved to dismiss based on failure
to presuit, we are authorized to serve on you as their agent. The obvious predicament is that it is impossible for me to
Gifectly Mai then ine PrESUIt Side they Have ClOSeG aia GO HOt Have a physical Ocation. AS you aie in Contact with
them, and authorized to accept service on their behalf in the litigation, it would be most logistically simple for you to just
pass the packet along to them or on to the carrier if necessary, if you will not be defending the med mal aspects.
That said, if Life Changes wants to give me a mailing address | will be happy to mail it somewhere else. | would hope
that they don’t want to start a game of refusing to give us an address after they challenged the duty element, or making
service difficult given the facts of their closing and this case. | think it will be quite transparent to Judge Nutt if they now
seek to use technicalities of the medical malpractice statute as a sword. Furthermore. Wwe served Dr. Dubov and the
ARNP at their own addresses. Please let me know once you hear back from your client on its position. | hope we can
focus our efforts on the substance of the litigation instead of this.
Sincerely,
Tom
From: Alyssa M. Tornberg [mailto:Alyssa. Tornberg@csklegal.com]
Sent: Friday, June 07, 2019 10:27 AM
To: Thomas D. Graham
Cc: Jonathan M. Midwall; Liana Garcia
Subject: RE: Estate of Balzarano_ MedMal Presuit Life Changes
I’m not sure what the need for the motion is if your position is that you have effectuated service under the statute. | will
nrovide unu with tha addrace ac ennn ac | haar hut aivan that thay ara no lanaar in hucinacc it ic difficult ta raarh tham
proviee YCu Wien tie guurcss as SOOM Go tear Out GIVCH Ulat LICY Gre HG TOngel Ht GugHTCos IL Ig GHATCUIL LO rCauit Uncle
Foe Alyssa M. Tornber;
CSIK tee f
hale OPA 709 297A | Rew ALAIN 274
TEL. JO4-7UI-977U | FAR. FI4-7VI-I/UL
Cole, Scott & Kissane | Alyssa.Tornberg@csklegal.com
www.csklegal.com Cole, Scott & Kissane, P.A.
2110 Tower
110 S.E. 6th Street, Suite 2700
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33301
& in O
From: Thomas D. Graham
Sent: Thursday, June 6, 2019 5:25 PM
To: Alyssa M. Tornberg
an ANA ne
com>
Okay, | am going to file a motion to compel a good address. Please let us know if you hear back.
Thanks,
Tom
From: Alyssa M. Tornberg [mailto:Alyssa. Tornberg@csklegal.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2019 5:22 PM
To: Thomas D. Graham
Cc: Jonathan M. Midwall; Liana Garcia
Subject: Re: Estate of Balzarano_ MedMal Presuit Life Changes
T have not heard back from my client.
Sent from my iPhone
roel Alyssa M. Tornber;
Tel: 954-703-3770 | Fax: 954-703-3701
Cole, Seatt & Kisgane | Alyssa.Tornberg@csklegal.com
www.cskiegal.com Coie, Scott & Kissane, P.A.
110 Tower
110 S.E. 6th Street, Suite 2700
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33301
fin © wv
On Jun 6, 2019, at 5:20 PM, Thomas D. Graham wrote:
Alyssa, can you please respond to my email below.
3Thanks,
Tom
From: Thomas D. Graham
Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2019 4:30 PM
To: Alyssa. Tornberg@csklegal.com
Cc: Jonathan M. Midwall; Liana Garcia
Subject: Estate of Balzarano_ MedMal Presuit Life Changes
Alyssa-
Thank you for confirming that your office received our Med Mal Presuit packet for Life Changes, and for
informing me that the company is in the process of winding down. The presuit packet we mailed
directly to Life Changes registered agent was returned because Life Changes had not provided a
forwarding address, and it has not updated its mailing or registered agent address on Sunbiz either. This
is the listed address, and the one we obtained service with in the filed litigation. If necessary, please let
me know the forwarding address asap so we can mail out another set today directly to Life Changes, if it
Stil has PETSONNE OF a Maing adUrEss. Ai Wis juACtUTEe We Have COTpNed With the statute, GUL am
happy to mail another one if they insist. Please advise.
Sincerely,
Tom
Thomas D. Graham, Esq.
Leesfield Scolaro, P.A.
2350 South Dixie Highway
Miami, FL 33133 USA
Phone: (305) 854-4900
Toll Free: (800) 836-6400
Fax: (305) 854-8266
CLICK BELOW TO OPEN AND READ OUR LATEST PETITION
Trial Lawyers with offices in Miami, Key West and Central Florida - CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE -- The information
contained in this email is privileged and confidential. It is intended only for the recipient. In the event of
inadvertent receipt, please return to the sender with the notation “WRONG RECIPIENT.” Thank you.
Confidentiality Notice: This communication is covered by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 2510-
2521. It is legally privileged (including attachments) and is intended only for the use of the individual(s) or entity(ies) to which
it is addressed. It may contain information that is confidential, proprietary, privileged, and/or exempt from disclosure under
applicable law. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon this
information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited. If you have received this
communication in error, please notify us so that we may take the appropriate action and avoid troubling you further. If you
are not the intended recipient(s), please destroy this message, and any attachments, and notify the sender by return e-mail.
Thank you for your cooperation.