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Filing # 165666462 E-Filed 01/28/2023 02:40:01 PM
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR
CHARLOTTE COUNTY, FLORIDA CIVIL ACTION
MASSEY CONSTRUCTION GROUP, INC.
a/alo MARGARET PUCKETT and
MAX PUCKETT,
CASE NO.: 20-000315-CA
Plaintiff, HON. GEOFFREY H. GENTILE
Vv.
AMERICAN INTEGRITY INSURANCE
COMPANY OF FLORIDA,
Defendant.
/
NOTICE OF FILING
DEPOSITION TRANSCRIPT OF ALEX FINCH, ESQ.
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that Plaintiff, MASSEY CONSTRUCTION GROUP, INC.
a/alo MARGARET PUCKETT and MAX PUCKETT, hereby files the deposition transcript of
Alex Finch, Esq. taken on September 7, 2022.
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing has been furnished by
Electronic Mail by and through the Florida Courts’ E-Filing Portal to ALEX FINCH, ESQ. and
MARK FROMANG, ESQ., 4767 New Broad Street, Orlando, Florida 32814 at
alex@fromangfinch.com and mark@fromangfinch.com on this 28" day of January 2023.
MIKE FINK LAW FIRM, P. A.
Attorneys for the Plaintiff
1500 Royal Palm Square Blvd., Unit 101
Fort Myers, Florida 33919
Phone (239) 939-1906
Facsimile (239) 939-1915
Primary E-mail: EService@MikeFinkLaw.net
Secondary E-mail: MFink@MikeFinkLaw.net
By: _/s/ ANDREW N. WALKER
MICHAEL G. FINK, ESQ.
Florida Bar Number: 0825743
ANDREW N. WALKER, ESQ.
Florida Bar Number: 0125594
Page 1 of 1
MIKE FINK LAW FIRM, P. A.
1500 Royal Palm Square Blvd., Unit 101, Ft. Myers, FL 33919 / Phone 239.939.1906 / Fax 239.939.1915 / E-mail MFink@MikeFinkLaw.net
Page 1
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND FOR COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA CIVIL ACTION
MASSEY CONSTRUCTION GROUP, INC.
A/A/O VILLA VIZCAYA HOMEOWNERS
ASSOCIATION INC.,
Plaintiff, CASE NO.: 19-CA-3193
HON. ELIZABETH V. KRIER
Vv
HERITAGE PROPERTY & CASUALTY
INSURANCE COMPANY,
Defendant.
/
REMOTE VIDEO DEPOSITION OF: ALEX FINCH
DATE: September 7, 2022
TIME: 3:03 p.m. to 4:04 p.m.
LOCATION: Via Zoom Videoconference
TAKEN BY: Counsel for the Plaintiff
COURT REPORTER: Christi K. Cole, Florida
Professional Reporter
FORT MYERS COURT REPORTING, INC.
Registered Professional Reporters
2180 West First Street, Suite 120
Fort Myers, FL 33901
PHONE: (239) 334-1411 FAX: (239) 334-1476
Serving All of Southwest Florida
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Page 2
APPEARANCES :
For the Plaintiff: MICHAEL G. FINK, ESQUIRE
Mike Fink Law Firm, P.A.
1500 Royal Palm Square Blvd.
Unit 101
Fort Myers, FL 33919
Office: 239-939-1906
MFink@MikeFinkLaw.net
For the Deponent: MARK A. FROMANG,ESQUIRE
The Fromang Law P.A.
Firm,
4767 New Broad Street
Orlando, FL 32814
Office: 407-999-9739
EService@FromangLaw.com
Also Present: TOD D. COLE (Videographer)
10 ALEXA LEWIS
RICK SCAFIDI
11 MARK MASSEY
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INDEX
WITNESS: PAGE:
ALEX FINCH
EXAMINATION
BY MR. FINK
EXHIBIT DESCRIPTION PAGE:
***x** NO EXHIBITS MARKED *****
CERTIFICATE OF OATH 33
CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER 34
ERRATA SHEET 35
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STIPULATIONS
The following remote video deposition of ALEX
FINCH was taken via Zoom videoconference, pursuant to
notice, for purposes of discovery, and for use as
evidence, and for other uses and purposes as may be
permitted by the applicable and governing rules.
Reading and signing is not waived.
kk
ek k
THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Good afternoon. The time
10 is 3:03 p.m. Today's date is September 7th, 2022.
11 All parties are appearing remotely from their
12 various locations for the remote video deposition
13 of Alex Finch in the case styled: Massey
14 Construction Group, Incorporated, et al., vs.
15 Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance Company,
16 Case No.: 19-CA-3193.
17 I'm Tod Cole, the videographer with Fort
18 Myers Court Reporting. The court reporter for
19 today is Christi Cole, also with Fort Myers Court
20 Reporting.
21 Would the attorneys please state their
22 appearances for the record.
23 MR. FINK: Attorney Mike Fink on behalf of
24 Massey Construction Group, Inc. a/a/o Villa
25 Vizcaya Homeowners Association, Inc.
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MR. FROMANG: I'm Mark Fromang for Mr. Finch,
the deponent today.
THE VIDEOGRAPHER: I'll let the court
reporter swear in the witness.
THE COURT REPORTER: Can I get you to raise
your right hand, please, Mr. Finch?
THE WITNESS: Yes. Do you need to see my
license again?
THE COURT REPORTER I do not.
10 THE WITNESS: Okay
11 THE COURT REPORTER Do you solemnly swear or
12 affirm the testimony you're about to give will be
13 the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the
14 truth?
15 THE WITNESS: I swear and affirm.
16 THEREUPON,
17 ALEX FINCH,
18 a witness, having been first duly sworn, upon his
19 oath, testified as follows:
20 EXAMINATION
21 BY MR. FINK:
22 Q State your name, please, sir.
23 A Alex Finch.
24 Q Did you, through Fromang & Finch, P.A.,
25 represent Massey Construction Group, Inc., in this
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case, Villa Vizcaya Homeowners Association,
2019-CA-3193?
A Yes. And I'm not sure; I might have also
represented it before Fromang & Finch was formed.
Yes, I represented it as a member of Fromang & Finch,
but I don't recall when this case was transferred from
prior counsel, whether it was before or after
formation of Fromang & Finch.
Q Okay. Do you know when you filed a notice of
10 appearance?
11 A No. But if you'll give me a second, I'll run
12 to the time sheet real quick and that should tell me.
13 Tf you'll bear with me just a second. {Clears
14 throat}. Excuse me.
15 Okay. It was at the beginning of 2020. So
16 it was only -- it was after Fromang & Finch.
17 Q Okay. Can you please e-mail to me the time
18 sheet for the Villa Vizcaya matter? I didn't get
19 that.
20 A Okay. Hold on just a second. If I -- I'm
21 not very computer smart with this stuff. So if I lose
22 you guys, I'll come back. So hold on just a second.
23 Okay. I just sent it to you, Mr. Fromang.
24 Q Thank you.
25 Now let me figure out how to get back here.
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Okay. Go ahead.
Q Give me one second.
A And to answer to your previous question, Mr
Fink, there's a substitution of counsel executed and
filed on January 28th of 2020. At least that's what
the time sheet reflects.
Q All right. Can you describe -- well, I can
look at your time sheets and then fig-- and figure
that out.
10 One of the issues that we discussed via
11 e-mail was any costs associated with this case that
12 were paid by Fromang & Finch, P.A. Can you tell me
13 whether Fromang & Finch, P.A., paid any costs in this
14 particular matter before they -- before withdrawing?
15 A Yes, Fromang & Finch paid costs. Mr. Fromang
16 is more knowledgeable about the amount because he
17 handled the stuff with Mr. Massey of MCGI. I believe
18 the amount is like $23,000.
19 At a hearing in the Carlson matter for Judge
20 McHugh, Mr. Massey testified to having received the
21 money and not being paid back as of that time. I
22 believe the amount is $23,000, but I'll defer to Mr.
23 Fromang because he's the one with the checks and all
24 of that stuff.
25 Q Well, Mr. Massey testified he knew something
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about approximately $20,000 that you had claimed, but
he didn't receive any invoice for it. Do you know
whether you have an invoice or any documents that
would indicate the amount of any costs and the proof
that Fromang & Finch, P.A., actually paid such costs?
A Again, Mr. Fromang handled that. My
understanding is very recently, in response to a
request by you, he sent copies of the paid checks, at
least that's my understanding, emerit, emerit
10 {phonetically}.
11 But Mr. Massey didn't question at all that it
12 was paid in his testimony; he just questioned re-- he
13 just used lack of an invoice for instituting an
14 obligation to repay it. But he --
15 Q Mr. Finch, I'm not asking you about --
16 A He did not --
17 Q Listen, I just asked you -- I'm not asking
18 you about any -- I'm not asking for your memory about
19 some trial test-- or hearing testimony, I'm asking
20 what you know to be the case. I'm just asking you the
21 questions. So, please.
22 A I'm responding to the question. You
23 indicated in your question Mr. Massey said some
24 $20,000 and that he didn't get an invoice, and then
25 you asked for proof of payment. That was all one
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question.
So the answer to that whole one question is,
he did not refute the $23,000. He acknowledged it
being spent and he acknowledged not paying it. And
Mr. Mas-- Mr. Fromang is the one who did the checks
for costs and things like that and discussions with
Mr. Massey in regard to Villa Vizcaya.
So what was sent to Mr. Massey is a better
question for Mr. Fromang. I don't have specific
10 knowledge on that.
11 Q All right. I'm not asking -- I'm not going
12 to argue with you about your recollection of a
13 transcript or what Massey -- Mr. Mark Massey may have
14 testified to in a hearing.
15 I'm trying to find out whether -- do you have
16 any knowledge as to when, if ever, Finch -- I'm sorry,
17 Fromang & Finch, P.A., transmitted to Massey
18 Construction Group any invoicing, bills, or receipts
19 for any costs or -- paid and/or advanced on behalf of
20 Massey Construction Group, Inc., as to this Villa
21 Vizcaya Homeowners -- Homeowners Association case
22 against Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance
23 Company?
24 A As -- I did not send any invoices during the
25 course of representation. I do not know if Mr.
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Page 10
Fromang did. At the end of representation, in making
a demand for the lien, we made claim for the amounts
advanced. And that's reflected on this time sheet,
which was provided -- at least I think it's -- was it
this one?
Yeah, it's on the bottom of the time sheet on
page -- well, it's not paginated. But just costs
outstanding, expert report payments, $23,997.50. That
would constitute the notice to him requesting payment
10 for the expended costs.
11 Q And when -- when do you show that being
12 transmitted?
13 A I don't. I -- I can say when it was
14 prepared, and it was transmitted within a close amount
15 of time to that. But it was prepared on May 12th,
16 meaning turned into a PDF to forward to whomever, on
17 May 12th, 2021, when it was finalized.
18 Q Who was it transmitted to; do you know?
19 A Not off the top of my head, no.
20 Q Do you know who sent it -- who transmitted it
21 and to whom?
22 A If it was transmitted, it was transmitted by
23 me, and it -- it would have been transmitted to
24 counsel for Mr. Massey in their demand for time sheets
25 and stuff like that. Some of the time sheets were
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prepared but they weren't forwarded until the matter,
whatever the lien matter was, was moving forward in
the case.
So I'm not sure when it was transmitted, but
that's -- that's the document that would have been the
transmission. There aren't separate invoices, billing
invoices, that you're referencing, that I'm aware of.
Q Do you know whether or not the invoices that
you're speaking of totaling approximately 23 or
10 20-something thousand dollars were sent to my
11 attention or my e-mail at any time?
12 A Okay. Well, I've testified there aren't
13 invoices that I'm aware of. The time -- this time
14 sheet, I don't know if it was sent to you. It might
15 have been sent to Ms. Ayers who preceded you in
16 representation of Massey Construction Group.
17 Q Okay.
18 A And so -- so the only -- and that's the time
19 sheet. The only invoice -- I mean, there's no such
20 thing as an invoice. It'd just be the canceled
21 checks, which Mr. Fromang, I understand, recently
22 forwarded to you.
23 Q Okay. I'm just trying to find them, and
24 there's -- you have the --
25 A Yeah.
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Q We can go off in a minute. I'll just make
sure I've got them at some point.
Who -- who did -- it says, expert report
payments, $23,997.50. To whom were those payments
made or allegedly made?
A First of all, Mark is the one who wrote the
checks out. But it was for a glazer, if I am saying
that right, an expert that checks the windows and
doors and portals. And there were two payments made
10 to the glazer, it's my understanding.
11 And upon the second payment, we received a
12 written report. And that happened sometime in
13 September of 2020. And the first payment was sometime
14 in July of 2020. I can look in the expert reports in
15 my file and give you the name, if you want, but I
16 don't know --
17 Q Yes, please.
18 A I just don't know it off the top of my head.
19 Q Yes, you can -- please do that. I'm looking
20 at a -- did you provide a copy of the report to my
21 attention at any time?
22 A I -- no, I don't think so, because it was
23 already given to the client. And we did provide final
24 documents after withdrawal on cases. So I don't think
25 that ever happened, so --
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Q What's the date of the report from the
glazer?
A Okay. The name of the expert is G, like
golf; C, like cat; I, India, Consultants, LLC. The
second -- the second invoice from them was dated
September 25th of 2020. And I'm still looking for the
date of the report.
Q Is there a first invoice?
A Yeah, but that wasn't readily available when
10 I looked. This one just happened to be right on the
11 screen I was looking at, so it was easy to get to.
12 Q Okay. So you -- I thought you told me that
13 there was no invoices.
14 A No, that's the invoice from the expert to us
15 to pay them, not an invoice from us to Mr. Massey to
16 pay us.
17 Q Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't have a
18 copy. Can you send me a copy of the invoice from GCI
19 Consultants, LLC? Whatever invoices you guys paid,
20 I'm not going to have a copy of.
21 A You mean now or --
22 THE COURT REPORTER: I'm sorry. Can you say
23 that again?
24 MR. FINK: GCI Consultants, LLC.
25 THE WITNESS: Okay. So the GCI Consultants
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report date is March 23, 2021, issued to me at
Fromang & Finch. There's a -- huh-uh.
On September 27th, there's something -- of
2020 -- there's something called -- it's titled
Front Page Report in our files. I don't know if
that's what other people -- on the September 27th
one, it says the things they did, but didn't
provide a report. The report was provided in
March of 2021.
10 BY MR. FINK:
11 Q Did you send me a copy of the report? For
12 some reason I wrote down, written report,
13 September 2020. Did I get that wrong?
14 A Well, there -- no. Here's a September 27th,
15 2020, face thing in which they gave their curriculum
16 vitae, said that they had done an inspection, but they
17 didn't really give a report and say everything
18 specifically.
19 Then they gave a report in March of 2021, at
20 least that's what's in our records. I'll send all of
21 it to you now. Do you want it now or some other time,
22 like afterwards?
23 Q Oh, please, now would be great.
24 A Okay. They're sent.
25 Q Okay.
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A The one that says front page in the title is
the one that's dated September 27th.
Q Okay. It just took a while to get here.
Okay. So you guys -- you-all appeared in the case,
then, January 28th, 2020; is that correct?
A Yes, that's when the substitution of counsel
was executed and filed, according to the time sheet.
{Coughing}. Excuse me.
Q Now, is there a time frame or time limitation
10 for the -- so middle of an insurance claim -- based on
11 Hurricane Irma in regard to Villa Vizcaya?
12 A Okay. The initial claim had to be done
13 within three years of advent of the hurricane. So you
14 had to provide notice to the insurer of your claim for
15 damages under Hurricane Irma by September 11th, or
16 something like that, of 2020.
17 Hurricane Irma was anywhere from a landfall
18 day of 9 to 12. People disputed that. So three years
19 added to that time frame was the deadline.
20 Q Did Fromang & Finch, P.A., make the claim for
21 the window replacements based on the GCI Consultants,
22 LLC, report within three years of Hurricane Irma?
23 A No, we didn't receive a report indicating
24 there were damages within three years of the day of
25 Hurricane Irma. But it doesn't matter because the
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initial claim was made and the glazer report
constitutes patent damages that were subsumed in the
initial claim.
Q Okay. Did you provide that claim to the
insurance company; and if so, when with regard to the
window claim?
A I already answered that. I said, no, we did
not provide that because it was part of damages from
the original claim.
10 Q So up until the point where you and -- well,
11 Fromang & Finch withdrew from representation of Massey
12 Construction Group in the -- in this particular case,
13 the Villa Vizcaya case, you had not -- or Fromang &
14 Finch, P.A., had not submitted a claim with regard to
15 the windows for the Villa Vizcaya association?
16 A I already answered that.
17 Q And what was the answer?
18 A I said, no, we never submitted a claim
19 specific as to the windows because it was subsumed in
20 the original claim as patent damages.
21 Q Now, if you -- did you take -- make any
22 effort to present that claim sooner or within the
23 three years of Hurricane Irma on behalf of Villa
24 Vizcaya?
25 A No, we did not receive knowledge that a claim
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existed until after Hurricane Irma, according to the
front page of that first report, which was
September 27th, which was beyond the three-year date.
Q Well, when did you retain GCI Consultants,
LLC, to --
A I'm not sure. Better question for --
Q -- provide -- to provide and/or conduct an
examination to determine whether or not there was
damage caused by Hurricane Irma to windows related to
10 Hurricane Irma?
11 A I'm not sure. Better question for Mr.
12 Fromang. But I believe it was in July of 2020. I
13 believe that's when the first retainer check was
14 written.
15 Q So I'm looking at a proposal dated July 2nd,
16 2020, from GCI Consultants, LLC, in the amount of
17 $25,495 from Paul E. Beers. When did you receive
18 that -- when did Fromang & Finch receive that?
19 A I don't know. I have that document in front
20 of me, and I don't have a specific recollection of it
21 Q Who retained GCI Consultants, LLC, or
22 requested this proposal that's dated July 2nd, 2020?
23 A It wasn't me. I believe it was Mr. Fromang
24 in conjunction with Mr. Massey, but I -- I don't have
25 specific -- a specific recollection or specific
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knowledge of that.
Q There's also a proposal dated June 23rd,
2020, in the same amount, $25,495, from Mr. Beers on
behalf of GCI Consultants, LLC. Do you have that?
A Not in front of me, no. But if you say one
exists, I don't have any reason to dispute that.
Q What -- is there a difference -- can you take
a look and see whether there's a difference between
these two proposals?
10 A I don't have them where I'm at. I'm taking
11 you at your word that you have them. I don't have
12 that in front of me to look at.
13 Q But do you -- do you have them available
14 there?
15 A No. I'm telling you, I don't have them
16 available. Do you want to put them on the screen?
17 I'll look at them, or whatever --
18 Q Did you --
19 A -- but I don't --
20 Q Did you indicate at all to GCI Consultants
21 that there was any time frame that you needed to meet
22 so that you could present the claim within three years
23 of the -- of the date of the loss to Hurricane Irma on
24 behalf of Villa Vizcaya Homeowners Association?
25 A I personally did not talk to GCI at all. My
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level of participation was discussing the need to get
the glazer at all, because if there were additional
damages, that the homeowners could go against MCGI
potentially if they didn't bring the full claim.
That was my discussions with the client
regarding it. After that point, Mr. Fromang was the
one engaged in the discussions with the client and
with the expert. All I did was receive documents from
the expert at that point.
10 But I don't believe -- as I testified
11 earlier, they were patent damages that were part of
12 the claim. They went to the scope of the claim, not
13 to notice of the claim. So there was no need to try
14 to beat the hurricane date.
15 Q And that's your opinion notwithstanding the
16 fact that you did not present nor provide this
17 information or claim related to the windows at any
18 time before you withdrew, correct?
19 A I'm sorry. I don't understand the question
20 MR. FINK: Madam Court Reporter, can you
21 reread my question?
22 (The requested portion of the record was
23 read back by the court reporter.)
24 MR. FROMANG: Objection as to form.
25 THE WITNESS: I still don't understand the
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Preview
Filing # 165666462 E-Filed 01/28/2023 02:40:01 PM IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR CHARLOTTE COUNTY, FLORIDA CIVIL ACTION MASSEY CONSTRUCTION GROUP, INC. a/alo MARGARET PUCKETT and MAX PUCKETT, CASE NO.: 20-000315-CA Plaintiff, HON. GEOFFREY H. GENTILE Vv. AMERICAN INTEGRITY INSURANCE COMPANY OF FLORIDA, Defendant. / NOTICE OF FILING DEPOSITION TRANSCRIPT OF ALEX FINCH, ESQ. PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that Plaintiff, MASSEY CONSTRUCTION GROUP, INC. a/alo MARGARET PUCKETT and MAX PUCKETT, hereby files the deposition transcript of Alex Finch, Esq. taken on September 7, 2022. CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I HEREBY CERTIFY that a true and correct copy of the foregoing has been furnished by Electronic Mail by and through the Florida Courts’ E-Filing Portal to ALEX FINCH, ESQ. and MARK FROMANG, ESQ., 4767 New Broad Street, Orlando, Florida 32814 at alex@fromangfinch.com and mark@fromangfinch.com on this 28" day of January 2023. MIKE FINK LAW FIRM, P. A. Attorneys for the Plaintiff 1500 Royal Palm Square Blvd., Unit 101 Fort Myers, Florida 33919 Phone (239) 939-1906 Facsimile (239) 939-1915 Primary E-mail: EService@MikeFinkLaw.net Secondary E-mail: MFink@MikeFinkLaw.net By: _/s/ ANDREW N. WALKER MICHAEL G. FINK, ESQ. Florida Bar Number: 0825743 ANDREW N. WALKER, ESQ. Florida Bar Number: 0125594 Page 1 of 1 MIKE FINK LAW FIRM, P. A. 1500 Royal Palm Square Blvd., Unit 101, Ft. Myers, FL 33919 / Phone 239.939.1906 / Fax 239.939.1915 / E-mail MFink@MikeFinkLaw.net Page 1 IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE TWENTIETH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR COLLIER COUNTY, FLORIDA CIVIL ACTION MASSEY CONSTRUCTION GROUP, INC. A/A/O VILLA VIZCAYA HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION INC., Plaintiff, CASE NO.: 19-CA-3193 HON. ELIZABETH V. KRIER Vv HERITAGE PROPERTY & CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant. / REMOTE VIDEO DEPOSITION OF: ALEX FINCH DATE: September 7, 2022 TIME: 3:03 p.m. to 4:04 p.m. LOCATION: Via Zoom Videoconference TAKEN BY: Counsel for the Plaintiff COURT REPORTER: Christi K. Cole, Florida Professional Reporter FORT MYERS COURT REPORTING, INC. Registered Professional Reporters 2180 West First Street, Suite 120 Fort Myers, FL 33901 PHONE: (239) 334-1411 FAX: (239) 334-1476 Serving All of Southwest Florida FMCR Page 2 APPEARANCES : For the Plaintiff: MICHAEL G. FINK, ESQUIRE Mike Fink Law Firm, P.A. 1500 Royal Palm Square Blvd. Unit 101 Fort Myers, FL 33919 Office: 239-939-1906 MFink@MikeFinkLaw.net For the Deponent: MARK A. FROMANG,ESQUIRE The Fromang Law P.A. Firm, 4767 New Broad Street Orlando, FL 32814 Office: 407-999-9739 EService@FromangLaw.com Also Present: TOD D. COLE (Videographer) 10 ALEXA LEWIS RICK SCAFIDI 11 MARK MASSEY 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 FMCR Page 3 INDEX WITNESS: PAGE: ALEX FINCH EXAMINATION BY MR. FINK EXHIBIT DESCRIPTION PAGE: ***x** NO EXHIBITS MARKED ***** CERTIFICATE OF OATH 33 CERTIFICATE OF REPORTER 34 ERRATA SHEET 35 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 FMCR Page 4 STIPULATIONS The following remote video deposition of ALEX FINCH was taken via Zoom videoconference, pursuant to notice, for purposes of discovery, and for use as evidence, and for other uses and purposes as may be permitted by the applicable and governing rules. Reading and signing is not waived. kk ek k THE VIDEOGRAPHER: Good afternoon. The time 10 is 3:03 p.m. Today's date is September 7th, 2022. 11 All parties are appearing remotely from their 12 various locations for the remote video deposition 13 of Alex Finch in the case styled: Massey 14 Construction Group, Incorporated, et al., vs. 15 Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance Company, 16 Case No.: 19-CA-3193. 17 I'm Tod Cole, the videographer with Fort 18 Myers Court Reporting. The court reporter for 19 today is Christi Cole, also with Fort Myers Court 20 Reporting. 21 Would the attorneys please state their 22 appearances for the record. 23 MR. FINK: Attorney Mike Fink on behalf of 24 Massey Construction Group, Inc. a/a/o Villa 25 Vizcaya Homeowners Association, Inc. FMCR Page 5 MR. FROMANG: I'm Mark Fromang for Mr. Finch, the deponent today. THE VIDEOGRAPHER: I'll let the court reporter swear in the witness. THE COURT REPORTER: Can I get you to raise your right hand, please, Mr. Finch? THE WITNESS: Yes. Do you need to see my license again? THE COURT REPORTER I do not. 10 THE WITNESS: Okay 11 THE COURT REPORTER Do you solemnly swear or 12 affirm the testimony you're about to give will be 13 the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 14 truth? 15 THE WITNESS: I swear and affirm. 16 THEREUPON, 17 ALEX FINCH, 18 a witness, having been first duly sworn, upon his 19 oath, testified as follows: 20 EXAMINATION 21 BY MR. FINK: 22 Q State your name, please, sir. 23 A Alex Finch. 24 Q Did you, through Fromang & Finch, P.A., 25 represent Massey Construction Group, Inc., in this FMCR Page 6 case, Villa Vizcaya Homeowners Association, 2019-CA-3193? A Yes. And I'm not sure; I might have also represented it before Fromang & Finch was formed. Yes, I represented it as a member of Fromang & Finch, but I don't recall when this case was transferred from prior counsel, whether it was before or after formation of Fromang & Finch. Q Okay. Do you know when you filed a notice of 10 appearance? 11 A No. But if you'll give me a second, I'll run 12 to the time sheet real quick and that should tell me. 13 Tf you'll bear with me just a second. {Clears 14 throat}. Excuse me. 15 Okay. It was at the beginning of 2020. So 16 it was only -- it was after Fromang & Finch. 17 Q Okay. Can you please e-mail to me the time 18 sheet for the Villa Vizcaya matter? I didn't get 19 that. 20 A Okay. Hold on just a second. If I -- I'm 21 not very computer smart with this stuff. So if I lose 22 you guys, I'll come back. So hold on just a second. 23 Okay. I just sent it to you, Mr. Fromang. 24 Q Thank you. 25 Now let me figure out how to get back here. FMCR Page 7 Okay. Go ahead. Q Give me one second. A And to answer to your previous question, Mr Fink, there's a substitution of counsel executed and filed on January 28th of 2020. At least that's what the time sheet reflects. Q All right. Can you describe -- well, I can look at your time sheets and then fig-- and figure that out. 10 One of the issues that we discussed via 11 e-mail was any costs associated with this case that 12 were paid by Fromang & Finch, P.A. Can you tell me 13 whether Fromang & Finch, P.A., paid any costs in this 14 particular matter before they -- before withdrawing? 15 A Yes, Fromang & Finch paid costs. Mr. Fromang 16 is more knowledgeable about the amount because he 17 handled the stuff with Mr. Massey of MCGI. I believe 18 the amount is like $23,000. 19 At a hearing in the Carlson matter for Judge 20 McHugh, Mr. Massey testified to having received the 21 money and not being paid back as of that time. I 22 believe the amount is $23,000, but I'll defer to Mr. 23 Fromang because he's the one with the checks and all 24 of that stuff. 25 Q Well, Mr. Massey testified he knew something FMCR Page 8 about approximately $20,000 that you had claimed, but he didn't receive any invoice for it. Do you know whether you have an invoice or any documents that would indicate the amount of any costs and the proof that Fromang & Finch, P.A., actually paid such costs? A Again, Mr. Fromang handled that. My understanding is very recently, in response to a request by you, he sent copies of the paid checks, at least that's my understanding, emerit, emerit 10 {phonetically}. 11 But Mr. Massey didn't question at all that it 12 was paid in his testimony; he just questioned re-- he 13 just used lack of an invoice for instituting an 14 obligation to repay it. But he -- 15 Q Mr. Finch, I'm not asking you about -- 16 A He did not -- 17 Q Listen, I just asked you -- I'm not asking 18 you about any -- I'm not asking for your memory about 19 some trial test-- or hearing testimony, I'm asking 20 what you know to be the case. I'm just asking you the 21 questions. So, please. 22 A I'm responding to the question. You 23 indicated in your question Mr. Massey said some 24 $20,000 and that he didn't get an invoice, and then 25 you asked for proof of payment. That was all one FMCR Page 9 question. So the answer to that whole one question is, he did not refute the $23,000. He acknowledged it being spent and he acknowledged not paying it. And Mr. Mas-- Mr. Fromang is the one who did the checks for costs and things like that and discussions with Mr. Massey in regard to Villa Vizcaya. So what was sent to Mr. Massey is a better question for Mr. Fromang. I don't have specific 10 knowledge on that. 11 Q All right. I'm not asking -- I'm not going 12 to argue with you about your recollection of a 13 transcript or what Massey -- Mr. Mark Massey may have 14 testified to in a hearing. 15 I'm trying to find out whether -- do you have 16 any knowledge as to when, if ever, Finch -- I'm sorry, 17 Fromang & Finch, P.A., transmitted to Massey 18 Construction Group any invoicing, bills, or receipts 19 for any costs or -- paid and/or advanced on behalf of 20 Massey Construction Group, Inc., as to this Villa 21 Vizcaya Homeowners -- Homeowners Association case 22 against Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance 23 Company? 24 A As -- I did not send any invoices during the 25 course of representation. I do not know if Mr. FMCR Page 10 Fromang did. At the end of representation, in making a demand for the lien, we made claim for the amounts advanced. And that's reflected on this time sheet, which was provided -- at least I think it's -- was it this one? Yeah, it's on the bottom of the time sheet on page -- well, it's not paginated. But just costs outstanding, expert report payments, $23,997.50. That would constitute the notice to him requesting payment 10 for the expended costs. 11 Q And when -- when do you show that being 12 transmitted? 13 A I don't. I -- I can say when it was 14 prepared, and it was transmitted within a close amount 15 of time to that. But it was prepared on May 12th, 16 meaning turned into a PDF to forward to whomever, on 17 May 12th, 2021, when it was finalized. 18 Q Who was it transmitted to; do you know? 19 A Not off the top of my head, no. 20 Q Do you know who sent it -- who transmitted it 21 and to whom? 22 A If it was transmitted, it was transmitted by 23 me, and it -- it would have been transmitted to 24 counsel for Mr. Massey in their demand for time sheets 25 and stuff like that. Some of the time sheets were FMCR Page 11 prepared but they weren't forwarded until the matter, whatever the lien matter was, was moving forward in the case. So I'm not sure when it was transmitted, but that's -- that's the document that would have been the transmission. There aren't separate invoices, billing invoices, that you're referencing, that I'm aware of. Q Do you know whether or not the invoices that you're speaking of totaling approximately 23 or 10 20-something thousand dollars were sent to my 11 attention or my e-mail at any time? 12 A Okay. Well, I've testified there aren't 13 invoices that I'm aware of. The time -- this time 14 sheet, I don't know if it was sent to you. It might 15 have been sent to Ms. Ayers who preceded you in 16 representation of Massey Construction Group. 17 Q Okay. 18 A And so -- so the only -- and that's the time 19 sheet. The only invoice -- I mean, there's no such 20 thing as an invoice. It'd just be the canceled 21 checks, which Mr. Fromang, I understand, recently 22 forwarded to you. 23 Q Okay. I'm just trying to find them, and 24 there's -- you have the -- 25 A Yeah. FMCR Page 12 Q We can go off in a minute. I'll just make sure I've got them at some point. Who -- who did -- it says, expert report payments, $23,997.50. To whom were those payments made or allegedly made? A First of all, Mark is the one who wrote the checks out. But it was for a glazer, if I am saying that right, an expert that checks the windows and doors and portals. And there were two payments made 10 to the glazer, it's my understanding. 11 And upon the second payment, we received a 12 written report. And that happened sometime in 13 September of 2020. And the first payment was sometime 14 in July of 2020. I can look in the expert reports in 15 my file and give you the name, if you want, but I 16 don't know -- 17 Q Yes, please. 18 A I just don't know it off the top of my head. 19 Q Yes, you can -- please do that. I'm looking 20 at a -- did you provide a copy of the report to my 21 attention at any time? 22 A I -- no, I don't think so, because it was 23 already given to the client. And we did provide final 24 documents after withdrawal on cases. So I don't think 25 that ever happened, so -- FMCR Page 13 Q What's the date of the report from the glazer? A Okay. The name of the expert is G, like golf; C, like cat; I, India, Consultants, LLC. The second -- the second invoice from them was dated September 25th of 2020. And I'm still looking for the date of the report. Q Is there a first invoice? A Yeah, but that wasn't readily available when 10 I looked. This one just happened to be right on the 11 screen I was looking at, so it was easy to get to. 12 Q Okay. So you -- I thought you told me that 13 there was no invoices. 14 A No, that's the invoice from the expert to us 15 to pay them, not an invoice from us to Mr. Massey to 16 pay us. 17 Q Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't have a 18 copy. Can you send me a copy of the invoice from GCI 19 Consultants, LLC? Whatever invoices you guys paid, 20 I'm not going to have a copy of. 21 A You mean now or -- 22 THE COURT REPORTER: I'm sorry. Can you say 23 that again? 24 MR. FINK: GCI Consultants, LLC. 25 THE WITNESS: Okay. So the GCI Consultants FMCR Page 14 report date is March 23, 2021, issued to me at Fromang & Finch. There's a -- huh-uh. On September 27th, there's something -- of 2020 -- there's something called -- it's titled Front Page Report in our files. I don't know if that's what other people -- on the September 27th one, it says the things they did, but didn't provide a report. The report was provided in March of 2021. 10 BY MR. FINK: 11 Q Did you send me a copy of the report? For 12 some reason I wrote down, written report, 13 September 2020. Did I get that wrong? 14 A Well, there -- no. Here's a September 27th, 15 2020, face thing in which they gave their curriculum 16 vitae, said that they had done an inspection, but they 17 didn't really give a report and say everything 18 specifically. 19 Then they gave a report in March of 2021, at 20 least that's what's in our records. I'll send all of 21 it to you now. Do you want it now or some other time, 22 like afterwards? 23 Q Oh, please, now would be great. 24 A Okay. They're sent. 25 Q Okay. FMCR Page 15 A The one that says front page in the title is the one that's dated September 27th. Q Okay. It just took a while to get here. Okay. So you guys -- you-all appeared in the case, then, January 28th, 2020; is that correct? A Yes, that's when the substitution of counsel was executed and filed, according to the time sheet. {Coughing}. Excuse me. Q Now, is there a time frame or time limitation 10 for the -- so middle of an insurance claim -- based on 11 Hurricane Irma in regard to Villa Vizcaya? 12 A Okay. The initial claim had to be done 13 within three years of advent of the hurricane. So you 14 had to provide notice to the insurer of your claim for 15 damages under Hurricane Irma by September 11th, or 16 something like that, of 2020. 17 Hurricane Irma was anywhere from a landfall 18 day of 9 to 12. People disputed that. So three years 19 added to that time frame was the deadline. 20 Q Did Fromang & Finch, P.A., make the claim for 21 the window replacements based on the GCI Consultants, 22 LLC, report within three years of Hurricane Irma? 23 A No, we didn't receive a report indicating 24 there were damages within three years of the day of 25 Hurricane Irma. But it doesn't matter because the FMCR Page 16 initial claim was made and the glazer report constitutes patent damages that were subsumed in the initial claim. Q Okay. Did you provide that claim to the insurance company; and if so, when with regard to the window claim? A I already answered that. I said, no, we did not provide that because it was part of damages from the original claim. 10 Q So up until the point where you and -- well, 11 Fromang & Finch withdrew from representation of Massey 12 Construction Group in the -- in this particular case, 13 the Villa Vizcaya case, you had not -- or Fromang & 14 Finch, P.A., had not submitted a claim with regard to 15 the windows for the Villa Vizcaya association? 16 A I already answered that. 17 Q And what was the answer? 18 A I said, no, we never submitted a claim 19 specific as to the windows because it was subsumed in 20 the original claim as patent damages. 21 Q Now, if you -- did you take -- make any 22 effort to present that claim sooner or within the 23 three years of Hurricane Irma on behalf of Villa 24 Vizcaya? 25 A No, we did not receive knowledge that a claim FMCR Page 17 existed until after Hurricane Irma, according to the front page of that first report, which was September 27th, which was beyond the three-year date. Q Well, when did you retain GCI Consultants, LLC, to -- A I'm not sure. Better question for -- Q -- provide -- to provide and/or conduct an examination to determine whether or not there was damage caused by Hurricane Irma to windows related to 10 Hurricane Irma? 11 A I'm not sure. Better question for Mr. 12 Fromang. But I believe it was in July of 2020. I 13 believe that's when the first retainer check was 14 written. 15 Q So I'm looking at a proposal dated July 2nd, 16 2020, from GCI Consultants, LLC, in the amount of 17 $25,495 from Paul E. Beers. When did you receive 18 that -- when did Fromang & Finch receive that? 19 A I don't know. I have that document in front 20 of me, and I don't have a specific recollection of it 21 Q Who retained GCI Consultants, LLC, or 22 requested this proposal that's dated July 2nd, 2020? 23 A It wasn't me. I believe it was Mr. Fromang 24 in conjunction with Mr. Massey, but I -- I don't have 25 specific -- a specific recollection or specific FMCR Page 18 knowledge of that. Q There's also a proposal dated June 23rd, 2020, in the same amount, $25,495, from Mr. Beers on behalf of GCI Consultants, LLC. Do you have that? A Not in front of me, no. But if you say one exists, I don't have any reason to dispute that. Q What -- is there a difference -- can you take a look and see whether there's a difference between these two proposals? 10 A I don't have them where I'm at. I'm taking 11 you at your word that you have them. I don't have 12 that in front of me to look at. 13 Q But do you -- do you have them available 14 there? 15 A No. I'm telling you, I don't have them 16 available. Do you want to put them on the screen? 17 I'll look at them, or whatever -- 18 Q Did you -- 19 A -- but I don't -- 20 Q Did you indicate at all to GCI Consultants 21 that there was any time frame that you needed to meet 22 so that you could present the claim within three years 23 of the -- of the date of the loss to Hurricane Irma on 24 behalf of Villa Vizcaya Homeowners Association? 25 A I personally did not talk to GCI at all. My FMCR Page 19 level of participation was discussing the need to get the glazer at all, because if there were additional damages, that the homeowners could go against MCGI potentially if they didn't bring the full claim. That was my discussions with the client regarding it. After that point, Mr. Fromang was the one engaged in the discussions with the client and with the expert. All I did was receive documents from the expert at that point. 10 But I don't believe -- as I testified 11 earlier, they were patent damages that were part of 12 the claim. They went to the scope of the claim, not 13 to notice of the claim. So there was no need to try 14 to beat the hurricane date. 15 Q And that's your opinion notwithstanding the 16 fact that you did not present nor provide this 17 information or claim related to the windows at any 18 time before you withdrew, correct? 19 A I'm sorry. I don't understand the question 20 MR. FINK: Madam Court Reporter, can you 21 reread my question? 22 (The requested portion of the record was 23 read back by the court reporter.) 24 MR. FROMANG: Objection as to form. 25 THE WITNESS: I still don't understand the FMCR Page