Joshua D. Lerner

Josh Lerner has a diverse practice including commercial litigation, professional liability, insurance coverage and appeals.

He represents national insurance companies in the Life, Disability and ERISA arena, as well as coverage matters, appeals and class actions. Josh also provides opinions and handles litigation in matters relating to coverage under commercial general liability, errors and omissions, garage liability and trucker’s liability policies. Working closely with SIU professionals, Josh prosecutes recovery actions arising from insurance fraud. Among the insureds Josh represents, are accountants, lawyers, securities broker-dealers, financial planners, IRA custodians and automobile dealers.

Josh also has a strong commercial litigation practice representing portfolio and private lenders and CMBS special servicers in commercial foreclosure litigation. He leads a firm wide team of lawyers that handles foreclosure and other real estate litigation matters from each of the firm’s five offices.

One of his core strengths is as a writer and editor. Josh received focused training in appellate practice while in law school and served as a law clerk on Florida’s Fifth District Court of Appeal. He has been counsel of record in more than fifty appeals. Josh served on the firm’s executive committee from 2008-2015 and then again from 2020-2022.

Community

•Royal Palm Tennis Club, President

Certifications

•AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell

Awards & Honors

•South Florida Legal Guide Top Lawyer, Professional Liability (Defense), Corporate and Business Litigation 2015-2018
•Florida Trend Magazine Florida Legal Elite 2012

Articles & Presentations

•Co-author, 'U.S. Supreme Court Decides Major Personal Jurisdiction Case: Impact in Florida Remains to Be Seen,' July 2023
•Co-author, 'Automatic Liability: New Risk Under California’s Insurance Lapse Protection Statutes,' Insurance Newsnet.com, December 2022
•Co-Author, 'McHugh, Thomas, and the Long-Term Risk of California Insurance Code Sections 10113.71 and 10113.72,' 'For the Defense' publication by the Defense Research Institute, July & August 2022 edition.
•Co-Author, 'California’s Life Insurance Liability Trap,' Published in DRI's 'For the Defense,' July/August 2022
•Author, 'Defending Against Subjective Disorder Claims,' Published in DRI's 'For the Defense,' August 2019
•Speaker, 'Defending Subjective Disorder Claims,' DRI Life, Health, Disability, ERISA Seminar, April 2018, Chicago, IL
•Author, 'Interpreting Accident under ERISA-Governed AD&D Coverage,' The ERISA Report, Volume 13, Issue 3, December 2018
•Co-Author, 'Interpleader: Court Holds Plan Benefits Must Be Distributed to Beneficiary and Insureds Estate May Not Assert Claims Against Plan Trustee Regarding Distribution of the Death Benefits,' DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar, 'ERISA Report,' Volume 13, Issue 2, August 23, 2018
•Author, 'Court Construes Pre-Existing-Condition Exclusion to Avoid Illusory Disability Coverage,' The Voice of the Defense Bar 'ERISA Report,' Volume 13, Issue 1, May 17, 2018
•Co-Author, 'Chapter 558 Pre-Suit Notice May Trigger an Insurers Duty to Defend and Indemnify,' January 2018
•Potential liability of workers’ compensation carriers and adjusters to claimants for claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress resulting from their conduct during the adjusting of workers’ compensation claims, Speaker
•Topics related to accountant liability to the Management Advisory Services Committee of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Speaker

Josh's News and Insights

07.03.2023
Commercial Litigation

U.S. Supreme Court Decides Major Personal Jurisdiction Case: Impact in Florida Remains to Be Seen

A recent United States Supreme Court decision on the scope...

Photo: Shutterstock/Sharaf Maksumov

02.09.2023
Firm News

RumbergerKirk Attorneys Receive the ‘Secretary’s Award for Excellence’ from the Florida Department of Corrections

The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) awarded RumbergerKirk attorneys Dan...

12.15.2022
Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith

Automatic Liability: New Risk Under California’s Insurance Lapse Protection Statutes

Last year, the Supreme Court of California held that changes...

07.19.2022
Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith

McHugh, Thomas, and the Long-Term Risk of California Insurance Code Sections 10113.71 and 10113.72

In 2012, the California Legisla ture enacted changes to the California...

Photo: Shutterstock/Rawpixel.com

07.18.2022
Media Mentions

California’s Life Insurance Liability Trap, published in DRI’s ‘For the Defense’

The results of the McHugh decision in subsequent case law,...

02.15.2022
Media Mentions

11th Circuit Revives $100M Trade Secrets Claim Against Boeing, in Law360

Law360 reported in an article on February 14, 2022 that...

02.28.2020
Media Mentions

Boeing Hit With $2M Verdict For Breaching Air Force Bid Deals, Law360

In an article published by Law360 on March 2, 2020,...

10.28.2019
Firm News

Josh Lerner Receives Excellence in Professionalism Award at the 7th Annual Professionalism Summit

Miami partner Josh Lerner received the “Excellence in Professionalism” award...

08.19.2019
Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith

Defending Against Subjective Disorder Claims

This article was published in the August 2019 issue of...

04.05.2019
Firm News

Defending Subjective Disorder Claims under Disability Insurance Policies

At the Defense Research Institute’s Life, Health, Disability and ERISA...