UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

MIAMI DIVISION

KELLY LYLES,

Plaintiff,

v.

AMERICAN ZURICH INSURANCE 

COMPANY, 

Defendant.

__________________________________/

Case No: ______________________________

NOTICE OF REMOVAL

Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332, 1441 and 1446, defendant, American Zurich Insurance

Company (“American Zurich”), through undersigned counsel, hereby removes the abovecaptioned matter to this Court from the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, 

Miami-Dade County (the “State Court Action”), stating as follows: 

1. The State Court Action was commenced by plaintiff, Kelly Lyles (“Lyles”), with 

the filing of her Complaint for Breach of Contract (“Complaint”) on August 8, 2022 in the Circuit 

Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, Miami-Dade County (Case No. 2022-014768-

CA-01).

2. American Zurich was served with a summons and a copy of the Complaint by the 

Chief Financial Officer of the State of Florida via electronic delivery on September 1, 2022.

3. American Zurich is the sole defendant in the State Court Action. Pursuant to 28 

U.S.C. §1446(a), a copy of all process, pleadings, and orders served upon American Zurich in the 

State Court Action is attached hereto as Exhibit “A.”

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4. The Complaint alleges that American Zurich failed to pay Lyles for all insurance 

proceeds allegedly due under a “certain homeowners insurance policy” bearing policy number 

BR15216973 (the “Policy”) in connection with a claim for loss and/or damage that allegedly 

occurred on or about November 10, 2020 at Lyles’ property located at 10395 NE 12th Avenue, 

Miami Shores, FL 33138 (the “Property”) as a result of Tropical Storm Eta. The Complaint 

consists of one count for breach of contract.

JURISDICTION

I. Diversity of Citizenship

5. Lyles and American Zurich are citizens of different states for purposes of 

establishing this Court’s subject matter jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332.

6. Lyles is a citizen of Florida and maintains her domicile at the Property. Attached 

as Exhibit “B” is a true and correct copy of a publicly available record from the Miami-Dade

County Property Appraiser (www.miamidade.gov). This record shows that Lyles has claimed a 

homestead exemption for the Property, thus confirming that the Property is her place of domicile. 

See Colwell v. Royal Intern. Trading Corp., 266 B.R. 714, 719 (Bankr. S.D. Fla. 1998) (“In Florida, 

a homestead is established when there is ‘actual intent to live permanently in a place, coupled with 

actual use and occupancy.’”), quoting In re Brown, 165 B.R. 512, 514 (Bankr. M.D. Fla. 1994), 

citing Hillsborough Inv. Co. v. Wilcox, 13 So. 2d 488 (Fla. 1943).

7. American Zurich is an Illinois corporation with its principal place of business in 

Illinois. Attached as Exhibit “C” is a true and correct copy of a publicly available record from the 

website of the Illinois Department of Insurance (www2.illinois.gov/sites/insurance). Also 

attached as Exhibit “D” is a true and correct copy of a publicly available record from the website 

of the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (www.floir.com). These records confirm that 

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American Zurich is incorporated in Illinois and maintains its principal place of business at 1299 

Zurich Way, Schaumburg, IL 60196.

8. Based on the above, since Lyles is a citizen of the State of Florida and American 

Zurich is a citizen of the State of Illinois for purposes of establishing diversity jurisdiction under 

28 U.S.C. § 1332, complete diversity of citizenship exists.

II. Amount in Controversy

9. The amount in controversy in this action, exclusive of interest and costs, exceeds 

the jurisdictional amount of $75,000, as set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 1332.

10. The Complaint does not seek a sum certain. It merely alleges that “[t]his is an 

action for damages that is more than $30,000.00 exclusive of interest, costs and attorney’s fees.” 

See Complaint, ¶1.

11. However, as referenced above, Lyles submitted a claim under the Policy to 

American Zurich for loss and/or damage to the Property that allegedly occurred on or about 

November 10, 2020 as a result of Tropical Storm Eta. In support of her claim, Lyles provided 

American Zurich with a detailed estimate dated January 19, 2022 (the “Estimate”), allegedly 

identifying various areas of the Property that sustained damage and the amounts being sought from 

American Zurich for repairs. The Estimate totals $139,227.59 (before application of the Policy’s 

applicable $5,000 deductible). Attached as Exhibit “E” is a true and correct copy of the Estimate.

12. Additionally, Lyles is seeking attorneys’ fees from American Zurich in this action 

(See Complaint at ¶ 13 and at the “Wherefore” clause), which must also be considered in 

determining the amount in controversy. See Morrison v. Allstate Indem. Co., 228 F.3d 1255, 1265 

(11th Cir. 2000) (“When a statute authorizes the recovery of attorney’s fees, a reasonable amount 

of those fees is included in the amount in controversy.”); Fla. Stat. § 627.428 (authorizing the 

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recovery of attorneys’ fees against an insurer upon the rendition of a judgment or decree in favor 

of any named or omnibus insured under a policy or contract executed by the insurer). 

13. Based upon American Zurich’s investigation of the subject claim, it determined that 

the claim is not covered under the Policy and, therefore, no insurance proceeds were issued to 

Lyles. See position letter dated April 28, 2022 attached as Exhibit “B” to the Complaint.

14. In light of the above, since Lyles alleges that she is owed $139,227.59 under the 

Policy (before application of the Policy’s applicable $5,000 deductible) with respect to the claim 

and is also entitled to recover her attorneys’ fees in this action, and because American Zurich has 

determined that no insurance proceeds are owed under the Policy for the claim, the amount in 

controversy exceeds the $75,000 jurisdictional threshold of this Court. 

TIMELINESS OF REMOVAL

15. This Notice of Removal is timely pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b)(3) and Murphy 

Bros., Inc. v. Michetti Pipe Stringing, Inc., 526 U.S. 344 (1999), because it is being filed within 

thirty (30) days after a copy of the initial pleading setting forth the claim for relief upon which this 

action is based was served upon American Zurich, i.e., September 1, 2022.

16. Additionally, this Notice of Removal is being filed within one (1) year from the 

commencement of the State Court Action on August 8, 2022 and therefore meets the timeliness 

requirement set forth in 28 U.S.C. § 1446(c)(1).

17. In sum, because diversity of citizenship exists as between American Zurich on the 

one hand, and Lyles on the other, and the amount in controversy exceeds $75,000, this Court has 

subject matter jurisdiction over this proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332.

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18. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida encompasses 

the place where the State Court Action is pending. Accordingly, this Court is the proper federal 

venue for this action.

19. No previous application has been made for the relief requested herein.

20. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1446(d), a copy of this Notice of Removal is being served 

upon counsel for the Plaintiff and a copy is being filed with the Clerk of the Circuit Court of the 

Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, Miami-Dade County.

WHEREFORE, American Zurich Insurance Company respectfully removes this action 

from the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida, Miami-Dade County.

Dated: September 30, 2022

Respectfully submitted,

ZELLE LLP

By: s/ Jason M. Chodos

Jason M. Chodos, Esq. (FL Bar No. 025823)

jchodos@zellelaw.com 

Christian A. Triay, Esq. (FL Bar No. 1018235)

ctriay@zellelaw.com

SunTrust International Center

One Southeast Third Avenue, Suite 1600

Miami, Florida 33131

Tel.: (786) 693-2351

Fax: (612) 336-9100

Attorneys for Defendant,

American Zurich Insurance Company

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY that on September 30, 2022, I served the foregoing Notice of 

Removal upon counsel for Plaintiff, Carlos L. Santi, Esq., Property & Casualty Law Group, 23078 

Douglas Road, Suite 302, Miami, FL 33145, by e-mail via the Florida ePortal system to which he 

is registered.

s/ Jason M. Chodos

Jason M. Chodos, Esq. (FL Bar No. 025823)

jchodos@zellelaw.com 

ZELLE LLP

SunTrust International Center

One Southeast Third Avenue, Suite 1600

Miami, Florida 33131

Tel.: (786) 693-2351

Fax: (612) 336-9100

Counsel for Defendant, 

American Zurich Insurance Company

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