The court docket: the beer-mug case that nearly ended it all
Perez-Valdivia v. RP Palm Beach, LLC d/b/a Roxy’s Pub, Case No. 502021CA002375XXXXMB, Palm Beach County Circuit Court (15th Judicial Circuit), filed February 22, 2021 [22].
According to the complaint, on September 20, 2020, Miami-Dade resident Rafael Perez-Valdivia was at Roxy’s with his wife when a drunken patron began harassing him — over a span of roughly twenty minutes — before throwing a glass beer mug that struck him in the face. The complaint alleges security personnel were present on the premises and made no attempt to stop the assault. Counts: negligent security and loss of consortium [22][7].
The docket (278 entries, pulled directly from the Palm Beach County Clerk’s eCaseView) tells the four-year story [34]. Roxy’s answered in April 2021. The plaintiffs served formal proposals for settlement in December 2022 and again in December 2024 — both went nowhere, which later triggered fee entitlement under Fla. Stat. §768.79 [34][23]. In 2023 the plaintiffs won leave to amend and added Von Esselborn, the property-owning corporation, as a defendant [34]. In June 2024 they filed an emergency motion to strike Von Esselborn’s pleadings for failure to participate in discovery and comply with a court order, which the court set for an emergency hearing [34]. The defendants’ motion for summary judgment was denied August 27, 2024 [34].
The original Final Judgment was bigger than the press reported: $883,200 against RP Palm Beach and $588,800 against Von Esselborn — $1,472,000 total.
The jury trial ran February 18–21, 2025, before Judge Bradley Harper, with jury questions posed during the depositions/testimony of witnesses including James Webb and Samantha DelBene [34]. The verdict came February 21, 2025. The original Final Judgment of February 26, 2025 was actually bigger than the press reported: $883,200 against RP Palm Beach and $588,800 against Von Esselborn — $1,472,000 total [34]. The defendants then won a reduction for collateral-source benefits (order of May 16, 2025), producing an amended judgment June 11, 2025, and the Second Amended Final Judgment of August 25, 2025: RP Palm Beach liable for $702,949.75, Von Esselborn for $468,633.17 — a total of $1,171,582.91, accruing interest at 9.15% per year [34][23][7].
Then came the collection fight, also visible line-by-line on the docket: writs of execution issued December 4, 2025; defense counsel John Howe withdrew in mid-December 2025; the court twice ordered the defendants to complete the Form 1.977 fact information sheet (December 16, 2025, and again — on a motion to compel compliance — February 19, 2026); the original writs came back “returned not executed,” and fresh writs issued April 10, 2026 [34]. The owners didn’t pay [2]. The plaintiffs’ attorneys pursued the properties — and the liquor license [24]. On April 17, 2026, PBSO posted a notice of levy on the door; the property was declared in the Sheriff’s custody, and a public auction of 309 and 313 Clematis (combined tax-assessed value about $4.3 million) was set for June 2, 2026 [7][4][2].
The auction was cancelled hours before it was set to begin, after a last-minute settlement between Webb and the Perez-Valdivias. The bar stayed open [25][26].