{"id":901878,"date":"2023-11-15T15:45:44","date_gmt":"2023-11-15T22:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=901878"},"modified":"2023-11-15T15:45:52","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T22:45:52","slug":"res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/","title":{"rendered":"Res Judicata not Apply to Bar Overlapping Damages in Separate Suits Against Contractor and Subcontractor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>David Adelstein | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.floridaconstructionlegalupdates.com\/res-judicata-not-apply-to-bar-overlapping-damages-in-separate-suits-against-contractor-and-subcontractor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Florida Construction Legal Updates<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Can the doctrine of<strong>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/unjust-enrichment-the-subcontractors-claim-against-the-owner-when-the-general-contractor-is-unavailable-for-judgment\/\">res judicata<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0bar an owner\u2019s claim against the general contractor after the owner also sued and obtained a satisfied judgment against the subcontractor when there are\u00a0<strong>identical, overlapping damages pursued in separate lawsuits<\/strong>. \u00a0A recent case says, not really.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In&nbsp;<em>Pickell v. Lennar Homes<\/em>, LLC, 48 Fla.L.Weekly D2037a (Fla. 6<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;DCA 2023), a homeowner sued a homebuilder and the homebuilder\u2019s mechanical subcontractor in separate lawsuits.&nbsp; The claims and damages asserted in the separate lawsuits were substantially identical. The homeowner obtained a judgment against the mechanical subcontractor which was satisfied (<em>i.e<\/em>., paid).&nbsp; The homebuilder tried to use this as a get-out-jail-free card and claimed the homeowner was barred from suing it under the doctrine of res judicata based on overlapping claims and damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<strong>To successfully assert a defense of res judicata, a party must prove four \u201cidentities\u201d: \u201c(1) identity of the thing sued for; (2) identity of the cause of action; (3) identity of persons and parties to the action; and (4) identity of the quality of the persons for or against whom the claim is made<\/strong>.\u201d&nbsp;<em>Pickell, supra<\/em>&nbsp;(citation omitted).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The issue in this case was the third identity \u2013 the identity of the parties which applies to the \u201c<strong>same parties or their privies<\/strong>.\u201d&nbsp;<em>Pickell, supra<\/em>&nbsp;(citation omitted).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here, though, the mechanical subcontractor was NOT the privy of the homebuilder.&nbsp; First, the homebuilder\u2019s interest in the separate lawsuit was not bound by the final judgment of the mechanical subcontractor. This could occur if the homebuilder had indemnification responsibilities to the mechanical subcontractor. However, that was not the case.&nbsp; While the mechanical subcontractor owed the homebuilder an indemnification obligation, that indemnification was not reciprocal meaning the homebuilder did not owe the indemnification obligation to the mechanical subcontractor. &nbsp;(\u201c<strong>But the obligation of indemnification must run from the party asserting the res judicata defense to the party who was sued in the separate action.&nbsp; Here, the indemnification responsibility does not run from [the home builder] to the [mechanical contractor]; rather, the subcontract requires [the mechanical subcontractor] to indemnify the homebuilder.<\/strong>\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, you may sit back and say this seems unfair if the claims and damages are substantially identical because it allows the homeowner to double dip in damages. However, it does not. It may be inefficient in that it would have made more sense for the lawsuits to be in the same lawsuit versus separate lawsuits. I would agree with this.\u00a0<strong>But there is no double dipping because \u201csatisfaction of \u2018overlapping items of compensation\u2019 in different judgments is a \u2018post-judgment collections issue<\/strong>.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<em>Pickell, supra<\/em>, at n.1.\u00a0 In other words, \u201c<strong>any recovery from [the mechanical subcontractor] would be set-off post-judgment from a potential future judgment against [the homebuilder]<\/strong>.\u201d\u00a0<em>Id<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes &#8211; please call Advise &amp; Consult, Inc. at 888.684.8305, or email <a href=\"mailto:experts@adviseandconsult.net\">experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>David Adelstein | Florida Construction Legal Updates Can the doctrine of\u00a0res judicata\u00a0bar an owner\u2019s claim against the general contractor after the owner also sued and obtained a satisfied judgment against the subcontractor when there are\u00a0identical, overlapping damages pursued in separate lawsuits. \u00a0A recent case says, not really. In&nbsp;Pickell v. Lennar Homes, LLC, 48 Fla.L.Weekly D2037a&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Res Judicata not Apply to Bar Overlapping Damages in Separate Suits Against Contractor and Subcontractor<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11015],"tags":[9895,188,10278],"class_list":["post-901878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-claims","tag-advise-consult","tag-construction-claims","tag-res-judicata","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Res Judicata not Apply to Bar Overlapping Damages in Separate Suits Against Contractor and Subcontractor - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Can the doctrine of\u00a0res judicata\u00a0bar an owner\u2019s claim against contractor after owner also sued and obtained a satisfied judgment against sub\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Res Judicata not Apply to Bar Overlapping Damages in Separate Suits Against Contractor and Subcontractor - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Can the doctrine of\u00a0res judicata\u00a0bar an owner\u2019s claim against contractor after owner also sued and obtained a satisfied judgment against sub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-15T22:45:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-15T22:45:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"Res Judicata not Apply to Bar Overlapping Damages in Separate Suits Against Contractor and Subcontractor\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-15T22:45:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T22:45:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/\"},\"wordCount\":518,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Advise &amp; Consult\",\"Construction Claims\",\"Res Judicata\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Construction Claims\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/\",\"name\":\"Res Judicata not Apply to Bar Overlapping Damages in Separate Suits Against Contractor and Subcontractor - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-15T22:45:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T22:45:52+00:00\",\"description\":\"Can the doctrine of\u00a0res judicata\u00a0bar an owner\u2019s claim against contractor after owner also sued and obtained a satisfied judgment against sub\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Res Judicata not Apply to Bar Overlapping Damages in Separate Suits Against Contractor and Subcontractor - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Can the doctrine of\u00a0res judicata\u00a0bar an owner\u2019s claim against contractor after owner also sued and obtained a satisfied judgment against sub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Res Judicata not Apply to Bar Overlapping Damages in Separate Suits Against Contractor and Subcontractor - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","og_description":"Can the doctrine of\u00a0res judicata\u00a0bar an owner\u2019s claim against contractor after owner also sued and obtained a satisfied judgment against sub","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/","og_site_name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2023-11-15T22:45:44+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-15T22:45:52+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"Res Judicata not Apply to Bar Overlapping Damages in Separate Suits Against Contractor and Subcontractor","datePublished":"2023-11-15T22:45:44+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-15T22:45:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/"},"wordCount":518,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Advise &amp; Consult","Construction Claims","Res Judicata"],"articleSection":["Construction Claims"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/","name":"Res Judicata not Apply to Bar Overlapping Damages in Separate Suits Against Contractor and Subcontractor - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-11-15T22:45:44+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-15T22:45:52+00:00","description":"Can the doctrine of\u00a0res judicata\u00a0bar an owner\u2019s claim against contractor after owner also sued and obtained a satisfied judgment against sub","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/res-judicata-not-apply-overlapping-damages\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-3MCq","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901878"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":901880,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901878\/revisions\/901880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}