Florida

SFL Friday -- Nicolas Sarkozy And Me.

Posted on January 23, 2009
Ok, so it's a slow news day, legal news-wise, and I had little to offer besides thoughts on mentoring young lawyers, drunk Brits, teenagers and porn, and of course Alan Rolnick.In other words, it's pretty much been a regular Friday.Yet I was saved by an alert reader, who forwarded this fascinating story on how French President Nicolas Sarkozy is on a fabulous new diet: In the past 10 months, Julie Imperiali, a former dancer and gymnast, has helped Mr Sarkozy to lose almost 4kg (8...

Alvin Davis On Firing "A Couple," "Some," and "A Few People."

Posted on January 22, 2009
Intrepid reporter Julie Kay delivers this deliciously rich language from Alvin in describing layoffs at SSD:Alvin Davis, managing partner of Squire Sanders' Miami office, said on Friday that nine employees in Miami were laid off at the firm on Thursday, including "a couple runners, some staffers and a few people in accounting...

Judicial Hot Potato in MBC Litigation -- Kendall Coffey Miraculously Available For Comment.

Posted on January 22, 2009
What's with Judges Cooke and Huck recusing themselves from the Mutual Benefits prosecution?Last week, federal prosecutors unsealed an additional 30-page indictment charging Mutual Benefits? founders and legal advisers with conspiracy, fraud and money laundering...

3d DCA Watch -- Nail Polish, Elephants And Judge Schwartz

Posted on January 21, 2009
Hi kiddies, it's a cold clear Wednesday, and to be honest I'm still basking in the afterglow. Boy that was fun, huh?But then I received a nasty letter from opposing counsel that got me pretty steamed so yes, reality is starting to seep back in.Hail, at this rate I may be all Carvered-up again before this day is done...

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"You Got to Admit, It's Getting Better (It Can't Get Much Worse)."

Posted on January 20, 2009
Hi kiddies, well it's the big day so I'm gonna try to stay positive. For example, I'm not going to mention John Pacenti's solid coverage of this report on Alex Acosta's supervision of "good American" Bradley Schlozman.First, some fun background on Scholzman:"Bradley J...

Brad, Have You Ever Seen "Back To School"?

Posted on January 20, 2009
Yes it's true I am a little giddy today.This article on an "affair" dating service founded by a lawyer had this unintentionally hilarious quote:In addition to being operated by a lawyer, Ashley Madison is also used by lawyers, the New York Post reports...

Awesome!

Posted on January 20, 2009
That sure was some inaugural ceremony.Is it just me, or was anyone else surprised by how well Justice Kogan played the violin?Well done, Your Honor!

Help Out on MLK Day -- Take An Associate to Lunch!

Posted on January 19, 2009
Let me say it up front -- I love Melanie Damian (Chris, you're ok, too).I even like Pete Valori.And that's why I want everyone reading this blog to take this associate of theirs out to lunch:Even though Russell Landy, 26, has a good job as an associate at Damian & Valori, a downtown Miami law firm, he notices a new frugality creeping into his spending decisions...

Gerry Richman Writes Letter To DBR Containing 112-Word Sentence.

Posted on January 16, 2009
But who's counting, anyway:That single fact instead lies buried on the inside second page where it is given no prominence and may not be seen by many readers: There could not possibly be a ?conspiracy? involving The Florida Bar, its president and myself who is proudly a partner of The Bar president, because the vote of the Board of Governors appealing the recommendation by the referee in William Abramson?s third disciplinary proceeding that he again be publicly reprimanded be appealed to seek a harsher and more appropriate discipline of a 91-day suspension took place with all members of the Palm Beach County representatives to the Board of Governors including my partner, Jay White, recusing themselves...

Mellon Bank Now Run By Gang of Blithering Simians.

Posted on January 16, 2009
Gerry Katcher, a dear friend of SFL and a guy who has provided loans to most of us in town at some point or another (and we paid it all back -- mostly), just got unceremoniously dumped by a group of heartless chimps: At 82, Gerald Katcher liked to say he planned to keep running Miami's Mellon United National Bank ``until I die -- and for a few months afterward...

SFL Friday -- MLK Weekend Edition

Posted on January 16, 2009
Well kiddies, it's been an eventful week, and I'm about to head out. First I'll stop by the Bank of America, then maybe Citibank and then head over to Circuit City....I'm grabbing my wetsuit though because indications are that it may be a little chilly for serious windsurfing...

Joe Klock 3.0 -- Suing Insurance Companies At a Small Firm?

Posted on January 15, 2009
But where will he park his corporate jet:Prominent South Florida litigator Joseph Klock Jr. is leaving the Miami office of Epstein Becker & Green after two years to join the Coral Gables firm of Rasco Reininger Perez Esquenazi & Vigil as a name partner today...

Senator Charlie Crist?

Posted on January 15, 2009
Poor Charlie, he's always being told he has to run for something. First it's honorary pig roast captain, then it's Veep to McCain (that turned out well!), now it's Senator:National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Cornyn (Texas) on Wednesday said efforts are ongoing to persuade Florida Gov...

3d DCA Watch -- Absurd and Absurder Results Edition

Posted on January 14, 2009
Hi kids, it's a cool and clear South Florida morning so let's jump right in and see what those laughable, lovable, resplendently robed coffee-swillers are up to this week:Central Motor v. Shaw:The statutes and case law on offers of judgment sure are screwed up, aren't they?Tell you what -- this opinion won't help...

Exhibit A For Why Lawyers Should Never Write Letters to the Miami Herald

Posted on January 14, 2009
Because intelligent observations such as these by Raquel Rodriguez on the Frank Jimenez appointment mess will be printed right next to this:Providing former President Jimmy Carter with a forum to present his prejudiced and inaccurate views is the equivalent of letting Osama bin Laden write an Other Views column about the U...

Miam Heat: If We Sue Them, They Will Come.

Posted on January 13, 2009
The Miami Heat is facing hard times, with sports fans unable to pony up the dough to buy tickets the way they used to: Cash-strapped fans are buying fewer tickets, and spending less when they do go to a game. Homestead resident Bob Pozza, who works for an appliance manufacturer, and his son Joe, 15, are attending fewer Heat games this year...

We're All Contract Lawyers in India (Or Will Be Soon).

Posted on January 13, 2009
Hi folks, time for a little actual news about our biz -- intrepid reporter Julie Kay takes a look at the growing trend of hiring lawyers on an hourly or contract basis:As law firms downsize, laid-off attorneys and new law school graduates unable to find jobs have been turning to an option they may never have imagined at law school: becoming contract attorneys ? hired guns for $35 an hour...

Paralegals Should Fight Crime and Perform SEC Regulatory Oversight.

Posted on January 12, 2009
Also should be able to index and file properly, according to Fort Lauderdale attorney Mark Tepper:Securities Fraud Attorney Mark A. Tepper urged paralegals to "pay attention" to identify ponzi schemes like the latest alleged scam by Bernie Madoff. "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," he says...

Kendall Coffey Thinks Corruption May Extend Beyond Confines of Palm Beach County.

Posted on January 12, 2009
Hi folks! Yes, it's Monday, might as well get used to it.Does Kendall Coffey have a microphone permanently affixed to his lapel?Perhaps that explains the treasure trove of quotes which seem to flow effortlessly from his lips. Here he is on the latest story about corruption charges in Palm Beach County:"It's certainly not believable to assume that the entirety of the state's corruption is concentrated in Palm Beach," said Kendall Coffey, a Miami lawyer and the former U...

SFL Friday -- Danny Ponce and Other Grey Foxes in Love

Posted on January 09, 2009
It's a cool Friday, the seas are kicking, and I'm heading out of here early today. What about you?I see there was some kind of football game last night. So let me be the first to congratulate Utah for that exciting, winning season.Wait a minute -- was it the Gibsons speaking or did Coach Meyer actually thank Danny Ponce on national television after the win?Perhaps I wasn't dreaming -- it turns out two brains can manage to have deep, sustained love over time: A team from Stony Brook University in New York scanned the brains of couples who had been together for 20 years and compared them with those of new lovers...

Judge Seitz Props Up Dying South Florida Empire For One More Day.

Posted on January 08, 2009
Now I wish I could give Brother Bill his great thrillI would set him in chains at the top of the hillThen send out for some pillars and Cecil B. DeMilleHe could die happily ever afterI love Judge Seitz. It's not just that deep, sonorous late-night FM-radio voice that resonates when she's speaking through the Court's sound system, it's the stuff she says and does too!Here she is very carefully -- and very slowly -- enunciating in her best, sober, and most serious fashion, the reasoning for her sentence of the de Céspedes brothers:Seitz said she had to be stern because she did not want Miami to crumble, as happened to the Roman Empire, because of a lack of ``civic virtue...

3d DCA Watch -- When Stars (Sleepily) Collide Edition

Posted on January 07, 2009
Hi kiddies, it's our first 3d DCA Watch of the New Year and boy am I excited! I am sure our resplendently robed coffee-swillers to the south have been very very busy, toiling in that cold concrete courthouse by the highway just so all of us good boy and girl lawyers have something to ponder, nod, roll our eyes and/or laugh about each Wednesday...

L'Affaire Galleria Mall $36 Polo -- Resolved!

Posted on January 07, 2009
This has to be one of my favorite South Florida judicial scandals of late:Last year, Fort Lauderdale attorney Lawrence ''Chris'' Roberts alleged that Seidlin solicited kickbacks in exchange for appointments as a special public defender on cases. Attorneys are paid $350 per case for such appointments...

Legal Recruiter Jorge Luna Writes Article Praising Jorge Luna

Posted on January 06, 2009
Hi kids! It's only the first Tuesday of the New Year and I already got one really bad order from a federal judge.Oh well, the week's not over yet. Of course now we all have those meetings, depositions, lunch appointments, hearings etc. that we put off to the New Year coming in all at once...

Hooray -- Former Bush Aide Now Gets to Nominate Dade Judges!

Posted on January 06, 2009
Hmm, I was reading this article from the DBR on the new 11th Circuit JNC members when something didn't seem quite right:Three new Miami-Dade judicial nominating commission members have been appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist.Rayfield McGhee of McGhee & Associates in Miami Gardens, GrayRobinson shareholder and Cuban American Bar Association president Marlene Quintana of Miami and Akerman Senterfitt associate Daniel Schwartz of Miami Beach were named to terms expiring in mid-2012...

Welcome Back, Plebes!

Posted on January 05, 2009
So how was your New Year's break? Mine was the usual, I won't bore you with all the gin-soaked cinematic details, but let me say this -- never, ever agree to go to a yoga class with the sports-intensive Alan Fertel.That's all I'm gonna say about that...

2008 -- A Visual Look Back (These Are A Few of Our Favorite Things)

Posted on December 26, 2008
Well kiddies it's been a fun ride, what with law firm layoffs, Madoff, the economies, homicidal Santas, and that whole real estate thing.You can get a feel for how crappy things have been by looking at the ABA's excellent list of Top Ten Legal Stories of 2008...

A Certifiable, 100 % Guaranteed Frank Jimenez-Free Post!

Posted on December 24, 2008
"And so this is Christmas. And what have you done?"Let's see, what's happening.....Economic crisis not good.Jobless claims at 26-year high.Dolphins to somehow blow playoff chances.Frank Jimenez does a mitzvah.Shoot! I was almost there!Oh hail: A Miami man imprisoned more than a half-century ago for his help flying weapons to the Jews who fought to create Israel received a posthumous presidential pardon Tuesday...

3d DCA Watch - Lump of Coal Edition

Posted on December 24, 2008
Tough times all around, and things do look bleak, but it's Christmas after all, so let's see what our coffee-swilling resplendantly robed ones to the South have stuffed into our legal stockings this Christmas Eve in a very special holiday edition of our patented 3d DCA Watch:Eww...

Miami Herald Frank Jimenez Editorial Watch

Posted on December 23, 2008
Oh man am I sick of this story.Still, the news keeps coming.Let's see, we've had the St. Pete Times weigh in on the Frank Jimenez appointment mess.And now the Palm Beach Post:The worst kind of judicial politics may place an unqualified person on the Florida Supreme Court...

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