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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

CASE NO.: 1:22-CV-22671-ALTONAGA/TORRES

DELIO BATISTA, 

CARLOS LOPEZ,

MARIANA LOPEZ and

RAFAELA VALIENTE,

Plaintiffs,

vs.

AVANT ASSURANCE INC., 

REINIER CORTES, AND 

ANDREA GONZALEZ 

QUINTERO,

Defendants.

______________________________/

PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION TO ALTER OR AMEND JUDGMENT

TO ADD PREJUDGMENT INTEREST

Plaintiffs, Delio Batista, Carlos Lopez, Mariana Lopez, and Rafaela Valiente, pursuant to 

Fed. R. Civ. P. 59, request the Court to amend the Final Judgment entered on July 15, 2023 [ECF 

No. 106], to add prejudgment interest to their breach of contract damages in accordance with 

Florida law, as follows:

1. The Court entered a Final Judgment as follows in this case on July 15, 2023, 

following the Jury’s Verdict as follows:

a. $54,511.00 in breach of contract damages to Plaintiff Delio Batista against 

Defendant Avant Assurance, Inc.;

b. $38,957.00 in breach of contract damages to Plaintiff Carlos Lopez, against 

Defendant Avant Assurance, Inc.; 

c. $15,576.00 in breach of contract damages to Plaintiff Mariana Lopez, 

against Defendant Avant Assurance, Inc.; and

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d. $68,120.00 in breach of contract damages to Plaintiff Rafaela Valiente,

against Defendant Avant Assurance, Inc.

[ECF No. 106.]

2. The Final Judgment provides for post-judgment interest but does not mention 

prejudgment interest.

3. Plaintiffs demanded prejudgment interest in the ad damnum clause of Count II. [ECF 

No. 1 at 8.]

4. Plaintiffs request the Court to award them prejudgment interest in the following 

amounts:

a. Delio Batista seeks prejudgment interest of $3.057.41;

b. Carlos Lopez seeks prejudgment interest of $2,185.02;

c. Mariana Lopez seeks prejudgment interest of $873.63; and

d. Rafaela Valiente seeks prejudgment interest of $3,820.71.

MEMORANDUM OF LAW

Florida law governs the issue of prejudgment interest, while federal law governs postjudgment interest. TYR Tactical, LLC v. Protective Prod. Enters., LLC, 2018 WL 2672391, at *1 (S.D. 

Fla. June 5, 2018); and SEB S.A. v. Sunbeam Corp., 476 F.3d 1317, 1320 (11th Cir. 2007). Florida 

law is clear that “when a verdict liquidates damages on a plaintiff’s out-of-pocket, pecuniary losses, 

plaintiff is entitled, as a matter of law, to prejudgment interest at the statutory rate from the date 

of that loss.” Argonaut Ins. Co. v. May Plumbing Co., 474 So. 2d 212, 215 (Fla. 1985). Florida law 

“forecloses discretion in the award of prejudgment interest, [and] there is no discretion in the rate 

of that interest. The legislature has established a statutory interest rate which controls prejudgment 

interest.” Id. “Once liability has been determined and the amount of damages set, it is merely a 

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ministerial duty to add the appropriate amount of interest to the principal amount of damages 

awarded.” Kissimmee Util. Auth. v. Better Plastics, Inc., 526 So. 2d 46, 47 (Fla. 1988).

The jury determined that Avant Assurance, Inc. breached the contractual agreements 

reached with the Plaintiffs, entitling each Plaintiff to recover prejudgment interest from the date of 

his/her respective date of loss or breach by the Defendant. Argonaut Ins. Co. v. May Plumbing Co., 474 

So. 2d 212, 215 (Fla. 1985); Amerace Corp. v. Stallings, 823 So. 2d 110, 116 (Fla. 2002) see Sterling 

Villages of Palm Beach Lakes Condo. Ass’n, Inc. v. Lacroze, 255 So. 3d 870, 872 (Fla. 4th DCA 2018); SP 

Healthcare Holdings, LLC v. Surgery Ctr. Holdings, LLC, 208 So. 3d 775, 780 (Fla. 2d DCA 2016).

In a breach of contract setting, the date of loss is the date of the breach - the date the 

contractual amount should have been paid. Ariz. Chem. Co. v. Mohawk Indus., Inc., 197 So. 3d 99, 

103-4 (Fla. 1st DCA 2016) (“In Craigside, LLC v. GDC View, LLC, 74 So.3d 1087, 1092 (Fla. 1st 

DCA 2011), we noted, ‘Generally, interest awarded as damages in a contract action runs from the 

date when the right to recover on the claim became vested or accrued, which is ordinarily the date 

of the breach or the date when payment was due under the contract.’ This observation makes sense 

because, in many breach-of-contract cases, the damages are direct, occurring simultaneously with 

the breach.”), citing Lumbermens Mut. Cas. Co. v. Percefull, 653 So.2d 389, 390 (Fla. 1995) (holding that 

prejudgment interest began to accrue on the date payment was due to the plaintiff, but wrongfully 

withheld, under the terms of the parties' contract); Craigside, 74 So.3d at 1092 (holding that interest 

was to run from the date a condominium developer was contractually obligated to return a sum of 

money but failed to do so).

Case 1:22-cv-22671-CMA Document 110 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/03/2023 Page 3 of 7
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The Detailed Bank Deposits tab of Trial Exhibit 12, Defendants’ Spreadsheet of Payments 

to Plaintiffs, establishes that each of the Plaintiffs last received commissions and bonuses (or any 

payments) from Defendant, Avant Assurance, Inc., as follows:

Delio Batista Paid 22-Aug-22 Delivered 23-Aug-22

Carlos Lopez Paid 25-Jul-22 Delivered 26-Jul-22

Mariana Lopez Paid 25-Jul-22 Delivered 26-Jul-22

Rafaela Valiente Paid 1-Aug-22 Delivered 2-Aug-22

(Detailed Bank Deposits tab of Trial Exhibit 12 appended hereto in .pdf format as Exhibit “A.”)

Based on the undisputed evidence at trial regarding the dates on which each Plaintiff was last paid, 

the Court properly awards the Plaintiffs prejudgment interest from the dates of last payment to 

each, as established by the record. See e.g., Greenberg v. Grossman, 683 So. 2d 156, 158 (Fla. 3d DCA 

1996) (affirming award of “prejudgment interest on the commissions from the last date that 

[Plaintiff] received those commissions.”)

By statute, the Florida legal interest rate is set quarterly by the state’s Chief Financial 

Officer “by averaging the discount rate of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for the preceding 

12 months, then adding 400 basis points to the averaged federal discount rate.” Fla. Stat. § 55.03(1); 

see Fla. Stat. §687.01. In accordance with Fla. Stat. §55.03(3), the “applicable prejudgment interest 

is the rate effective at the time of entitlement and is adjusted annually on January 1 of each year.” 

Endurance Am. Specialty Ins. Co. v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 2020 WL 9597125, at *12 (M.D. Fla. June 4, 

2020), adopted, 2020 WL 9597127 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 6, 2020); see also Lawrence v. ACE Am. Ins. Co., No. 

2019 WL 8273660, at *3 (M.D. Fla. Oct. 24, 2019). 

The rates for current and historical time periods are contained in a tables on the Chief 

Financial Officer’s website at https://www.myfloridacfo.com/division/aa/localgovernments/judgement-interest-rates. This tables shows that, from June 1, 2022 to July 2023, the 

Case 1:22-cv-22671-CMA Document 110 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/03/2023 Page 4 of 7
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statutory prejudgment interest rate on Plaintiffs’ judgment increased from a low of 4.34% to a high 

of 7.69%.

Using the Chief Financial Officer’s tables, the total amount of prejudgment interest that 

should be added to the judgment is calculated as follows for each Plaintiff:

Delio Batista

($54,511.00 due since Aug. 23, 2022)

Carlos Lopez

($38,957.00 Due Since July 26, 2022)

Mariana Lopez

($15,576.00 Due Since July 26, 2022)

Judgment Interest Rate Daily Interest Days Total Interest

July 1, 2022 Rate $54,511.00 4.34% $6.48 92 $596.31

October 1, 2022 Rate $54,511.00 4.75% $7.09 92 $652.64

January 1, 2023 Rate $54,511.00 5.52% $8.24 90 $741.95

April 1, 2023 Rate $54,511.00 6.58% $9.83 91 $894.25

July 1, 2023 Rate $54,511.00 7.69% $11.48 15 $172.27

$3,057.41

Judgment Interest Rate Daily Interest Days Total Interest

July 1, 2022 Rate $38,957.00 4.34% $4.63 92 $426.16

October 1, 2022 Rate $38,957.00 4.75% $5.07 92 $466.42

January 1, 2023 Rate $38,957.00 5.52% $5.89 90 $530.24

April 1, 2023 Rate $38,957.00 6.58% $7.02 91 $639.09

July 1, 2023 Rate $38,957.00 7.69% $8.21 15 $123.11

$2,185.02

Judgment Interest Rate Daily Interest Days Total Interest

July 1, 2022 Rate $15,576.00 4.34% $1.85 92 $170.39

October 1, 2022 Rate $15,576.00 4.75% $2.03 92 $186.49

January 1, 2023 Rate $15,576.00 5.52% $2.36 90 $212.00

April 1, 2023 Rate $15,576.00 6.58% $2.81 91 $255.52

July 1, 2023 Rate $15,576.00 7.69% $3.28 15 $49.22

$873.63

Case 1:22-cv-22671-CMA Document 110 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/03/2023 Page 5 of 7
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Rafaela Valiente

($68,120.00 Due Since August 2, 2022)

CONCLUSION

In light of the foregoing, the Plaintiffs respectfully request that the Final Judgment entered 

in this case on July 15, 2023 [ECF No. 106] be amended to add the prejudgment interest to which 

the Plaintiffs are entitled by law. The Final Judgment should be amended to include the 

prejudgment interest to reflect the following awards as of July 15, 2023:

Judgment Interest Rate Daily Interest Days Total Interest

July 1, 2022 Rate $68,120.00 4.34% $8.10 92 $745.18

October 1, 2022 Rate $68,120.00 4.75% $8.86 92 $815.57

January 1, 2023 Rate $68,120.00 5.52% $10.30 90 $927.18

April 1, 2023 Rate $68,120.00 6.58% $12.28 91 $1,117.50

July 1, 2023 Rate $68,120.00 7.69% $14.35 15 $215.28

$3,820.71

Principal Interest Total

Delio Batista $54,511.00 $3,057.41 $57,568.41

Carlos Lopez $38,957.00 $2,185.02 $41,142.02

Mariana Lopez $15,576.00 $873.63 $16,449.63

Rafaela Valiente $68,120.00 $3,820.71 $71,940.71

Case 1:22-cv-22671-CMA Document 110 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/03/2023 Page 6 of 7
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RULE 7.1 CERTIFICATION

Counsel for the movants conferred with all parties or non-parties who may be affected by 

the relief sought in the motion in a good faith effort to resolve the issues raised in the motion, but 

counsel for Defendants did not agree to the relief requested herein.

Dated this 3rd day of August 2023.

s/Brian H. Pollock, Esq.

Brian H. Pollock, Esq. (174742)

brian@fairlawattorney.com

FAIRLAW FIRM

135 San Lorenzo Avenue

Suite 770

Coral Gables, FL 33146

Tel: 305.230.4884

Counsel for Plaintiffs

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