FL · jury_instructions
Fla. Std. Jury Instr. (Civ.) 406.7
LEGAL CAUSE
a. Legal cause generally:
The malicious [institution] [continuation] of a proceeding is a cause of [loss] [injury] [or] [damage] if it directly and in natural and continuous sequence produces or contributes substantially to producing such [loss] [injury] [or] [damage], so that it can reasonably be said that, but for the malicious [institution] [continuation] of a proceeding, the [loss] [injury] [or] [damage] would not have occurred.
b. Concurring cause:
In order to be regarded as a legal cause of [loss] [injury] [or] [damage] the malicious [institution] [continuation] of such a proceeding need not be the only cause. The malicious [institution] [continuation] of a proceeding may be a legal cause of [loss] [injury] [or] [damage] even though it operates in combination with [the act of another] [some natural cause] [or] [some other cause] if the malicious [institution] [continuation] of a proceeding contributes substantially to producing such [loss] [injury] [or] [damage].
c. Intervening cause:
Do not use the bracketed first sentence if this instruction is preceded by the instruction on concurring cause.*
*[In order to be regarded as a legal cause of [loss] [injury] [or] [damage], the malicious [institution] [continuation] of a proceeding need not be its only cause.] The malicious [institution] [continuation] of a proceeding may also be a legal cause of [loss] [injury] [or] [damage] even though it operates in combination with [the act of another] [some natural cause] [or] [some other cause] occurring after the malicious [institution] [continuation] of a proceeding occurs if [such other cause was itself reasonably foreseeable and the malicious [institution] [continuation] of a proceeding contributes substantially to producing such [loss] [injury] [or] [damage]] [or] [the resulting [loss] [injury] [or] [damage] was a reasonably foreseeable consequence of the malicious [institution] [continuation] of a proceeding and the malicious [institution] [continuation] of a proceeding contributes substantially to producing it].
Provenance
- Source
- floridabar.org
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-18
- Edition
- 2026-08-18
- Content hash
a2a20df9c7b3c4c76d863c9f7e9748bf3f7e627493c0957c1ac1404c5f3a7c2d
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