Jury Awards Florida Broker $47.8M in Damages After Six-Year Fight Over Commission

A six-year legal battle over a stolen commission in Miami-Dade County concluded last month with a jury awarding a broker $47.8 million in damages, one of the highest wherein a jury authorized and awarded punitive damages in a Florida broker commission dispute, according to the plaintiff’s attorney.

The case dates back to 2018, long before the mandate for buyer broker agreements that was part of the landmark National Association of Realtors® settlement of 2024, when according to court filings, Florida broker Alexander Goldstein, owner of Miles Goldstein Real Estate, was working with a buyer Reuben Ezekiel and his business partner in looking at properties in Golden Beach, a small exclusive celebrity enclave in Northeast Miami-Dade County.

Court filings note that after a year of looking at properties with his client, Goldstein submitted an offer on a waterfront property listed at $2.9 million. Goldstein later learned the sellers were looking for $2.8 million and relayed this to Ezekiel, who then said he was no longer interested in the property and summarily terminated the broker relationship.

Less than two hours later, the filings note, Ezekiel submitted a new contract on the same property for $2.8 million—using his sister, Irene Ezekiel Ishay, as the broker of record, “for the purpose of diverting Goldstein’s commission back to himself,” said plaintiff’s attorney, Josef Timlichman of Josef Timlichman Law PLLC, causing Goldstein to reportedly lose out on what would have been an $84,000 commission.

In 2020, Goldstein sued over the unpaid commission, which, after six years of court battles, culminated May 15 when a jury ruled in favor of Goldstein, finding Ezekiel liable for fraud, tortious interference, conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to interfere in a business relationship, according to the court order. The $47.8 million jury award in damages included $19.83 million in compensatory damages and $28 million in punitive damages (those meant to punish harmful behavior), the amounts of $18 million against Ezekiel personally and $10 million against R&R GB Investment Group, Ezekiel’s business partner.

Timlichman explained that the hearing before a jury in May followed a previous determination a year ago by the court that fraud had taken place and Goldstein was owed his commission, and that the reason for the most recent decision and astronomical award by the jury was to “send a message” about business practices in Florida. 

“South Florida is a serious place, doing serious business at the highest levels. For too long, Florida has carried a stigma as a sunny place for shady people. We are not that. Brokers like Alex Goldstein, who built his career by playing it straight, should not have to watch their commission stolen through…a sister paid to pose as their replacement, or watch a defendant try to shape public opinion against them on local television during the case.”

Timlichman noted that during the course of litigation, Ezekiel appeared on “Help Me Howard,” a long-running local consumer-affairs segment on Miami’s WSVN Channel 7, and made statements about Goldstein in an attempt to apply reputational pressure on Goldstein and shape public perception of the case.

“The Court ruled in our favor twice,” stated Timlichman. “The jury saw it for what it was. The investors who finance these arrangements should take notice.”

Peter Solnik, the defendants’ attorney, said the tort claims should not have proceeded to the jury, as the case involved “nothing more than a breach of contract—a non-payment of a commission.”

He said the plaintiff dismissed the contract claims after his opening statement and only proceeded under the tort claims, “which my client and I maintain did not cause the harm and were barred by the independent tort doctrine. Any harm was caused by the alleged intentional exclusion of Miles Goldstein from the negotiations—not any alleged false statement or interference.”

Solnik called the verdict “grossly excessive.”  

“Even if the tort claims could serve as a basis for the lawsuit, it is very unfortunate that the jury awarded such an excessive amount of money in damage to the Plaintiff,” Solnik said in a statement to RISMedia. “The verdict was (so) grossly excessive that it shocked the conscience of the court. This case involved an unpaid $84,000 commission, however, the jury found Defendants owed $500,000 and $250,000 respectively for the unpaid commission. There is no scenario where a jury could have reasonably found damages of $500,000 when the Plaintiff only asked for $84,000 in his closing argument. 

Timlichman said he expected there will be some adjustments to the award but “not tens of millions.”

On May 22 following the verdict, Solnik filed an amended motion for a new trial. To date, no final judgment has been issued.

“I am cautiously optimistic that the Presiding Judge will either 1) order a new trial, 2) substantially reduce the verdict and/or grant my clients a Judgment Notwithstanding the Verdict,” Solnik stated. “I look forward to arguing my clients’ Post Trial Motion.”