Florida

"I'd Rather Not Answer That" = YES.

Posted on April 28, 2009
The inestimable Julie Kay breaks news as usual regarding the shameful effort by prosecutors in Alex Acosta's office to trap uber-lawyer David O. Markus, which resulted in an explosive $600k sanctions order by Judge Gold:The three prosecutors themselves are appealing...

Limos for Everyone?

Posted on April 27, 2009
Several in-the-know readers have passed along an incendiary anonymous memo making the rounds among administrators and trustees regarding financial mismanagement at the University of Miami.Thanks folks, but I'm not touching it -- it's even too hot for your humble crappy (lawsuit-averse) blogger...

Charlie Pickett and the Eggs!

Posted on April 27, 2009
Welcome to Monday, peoples.Wow -- I had no idea Charlie Pickett now practices securities law in Palm Beach:Before Pickett, 55, was a lawyer at West Palm Beach's Casey Ciklin Lubitz Martens, he was a South Florida musical god. With his bands The Eggs and then The MC3, this guy from Dania injected a sweaty dose of rock-laced country and blues into the local '80s music scene...

Ode to Catherine Van Asselt

Posted on April 24, 2009
You are South Florida's Lexis representativeSmart like a foxMuch prettier than Randy Kroner or Ed KnoxBut dear Catherine I must confessThat Westlaw costs less.

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SFL Love Pyramid Friday

Posted on April 24, 2009
Well kids, the weekend is nearly here and I'm excited about it.But first I have to get a few things done.Write nasty letter, check.Send out some bills, check.Get out of 4 p.m. conference call on some bullcrap excuse, check.Read Judge Posner's penetrating discussion of "lubricious sexual devices," check...

Just Lucky, I Guess.

Posted on April 24, 2009
This from Alana Roberts in today's DBR:This is the second, high-profile Loumiet banking client that has been implicated in a fraud. Note -- Carlos was completely cleared of the first one.Still, I'm curious -- Bowman Brown, do you have anything to add to this story?

Note to Miami Herald -- Torture Is Not A "Partisan" Issue.

Posted on April 24, 2009
Sorry but this stuff bugs the crap out of me:Yet liberal activists Thursday delivered 250,000 petitions to Attorney General Eric Holder demanding an independent prosecutor. Liberals in Congress are calling for a commission. And Obama himself all week refused to rule one out, saying that a bipartisan, independent panel would be the best option...

Judge Jay Bybee, Legal Scholar.

Posted on April 23, 2009
Hi kids!This time I mean it literally.Kids who are at work today with your parents, this is what your parents do when they go to the office. They waste time and slack off in front of the computer -- just like you!Except when they are done, they type the following:"2...

My Day With Milton Hirsch.

Posted on April 23, 2009
I like Milt Hirsch.Good lawyer, funny guy, he's gonna make a great judge.But Milt, seriously, please stop following me around. He's everywhere.Here he is with some other old white guys at the FACDL pro bono public defender event yesterday. I saw him again later at Stearns Weaver for the Bob Graham fundraiser for legal aid -- buy Senator Graham's new book on participatory democracy, btw...

3d DCA Watch -- Through A Glass, Obversely Edition

Posted on April 22, 2009
Hi kiddies!Is it kismet, fate, or simple indigestion that I happened to glance at my DCBA Bulletin and, after reflecting on the full-color beauty that is my friend Timothy Ravitch (what, no color for Gisela Munoz?), noticed that the DCBA plans to honor Judge Schwartz with a Judicial Excellence Award...

Young Whippersnapper Writes Letter!

Posted on April 22, 2009
That fresh-faced kid over at the Podhurst firm wrote a letter to the Herald: The April 19 story Famous architect Frank Gehry feuding with Miami Beach over New World Symphony project omitted the role of the New World Symphony's leadership in contributing to this problem...

You Are Needed Now.

Posted on April 22, 2009
Oh boy, so it's Wednesday.Remember when musicians used to get up on stage and play? And they were pretty good musicians? And we were all entertained by this?Yep, those were the days.So I see my friends Rick Freedman and Carlos Martinez are holding a press conference at 11:30 this morning:On Wednesday, April 22, 2009 at 11:30 AM, Eleventh Judicial Circuit Public Defender Carlos Martinez will hold a joint Press Conference with Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (FACDL) - Miami Chapter President Rick Freedman to announce FACDL-Miami's participation in a Pro Bono Initiative...

Judge Seidlin Really Really Wants To Help People.

Posted on April 21, 2009
Oh South Florida! Why do you bless us with so many endlessly entertaining state court judges?Is it the water? The mold? It must be something, but please baby don't ever let it stop.In our latest installment, the Herald takes a close look at former crybaby Anna Nichole Smith Judge Larry Seidlin:From 2003 to 2008, Kasler gave the Seidlins more than $400,000...

Glenn Garvin Lives in Tuckahoe And Thinks Dr. Arthur Harmon Makes Some Valid Points.

Posted on April 21, 2009
I finally figured it out -- Glenn Garvin is stuck in Season Six of Maude.The Herald TV columnist-turned-editorialist inhabits a world that is straight out of that groundbreaking 70s sitcom, filled with "wacky" limousine liberals, hippies lurking under every bed, Feminazis and long-haired draft-dodgers who seek to impose their "batty" PC cultural values on the silent majority of decent, hardworking hard-hat Americans...

Catholic Federal Judges To Meet and Honor Judge P

Posted on April 21, 2009
Our friends at the DBR note that the revived Catholic Lawyers Guild is set to honor Magistrate Judge Palermo after the annual Red Mass on Thursday:The reactivated Miami Catholic Lawyers Guild will recognize U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter R. Palermo on Thursday with the Lex Christi Lex Amoris award...

Victor Diaz Probably Doesn't Like "Dogs Playing Cards" Much Either.

Posted on April 20, 2009
Hi kids!Is it me, or is Podhurst partner Victor Diaz looking better and better? The sharp clothes, the funky glasses, the man is just rockin' it lately.But you won't see him buying any Velvet Elvis oil paintings:Commissioner Victor Diaz, who has been outspoken in his desire to keep Gehry at all costs, said the city has mismanaged the project -- and mishandled the famed architect...

DCBA Clothing Drive Begins!

Posted on April 20, 2009
I'm sure many of you already received this email, alerting us to a DCBA Young Lawyers Section clothing drive: DCBA Young Lawyers Section Professionalism Committee and the Horizons Committee in conjunction with 'Canes Closet & Hope Public Interest ResourceCenter at the University of Miami School of Law SEEK YOUR ASSISTANCE WITH A PROFESSIONAL CLOTHING DRIVEThe Professional Clothing Drive is a philanthropic event that coordinates the donation of work-appropriate clothing for men and women to local domestic violence shelters and other needy individualsApril 20, 2009 through May 01, 2009at the listed locations Hogan & Hartson LLP Mellon Financial Center1111 Brickell Avenue Suite 1900Miami, FL 33131 (firm lobby) Hughes, Hubbard & Reed LLPMiami Center201 S...

Holocaust Remembrance Day

Posted on April 20, 2009
Well, today is Hitler's birthday and tomorrow is Holocaust Remembrance Day.Hey, facts are facts.It's certainly true that almost every religious or ethnic group has been the subject of both formal governmental and informal societal persecution at one point or another in world history...

Stuart Slotnick, My Hero.

Posted on April 17, 2009
Remember when Buchanan Ingersoll had an Aventura and Miami office? You know, back when there were solvent banks and real estate clients and that kind of thing.Hey, what do you know? I guess technically they still do.Hi Jack Kessler and Richard Morgan!Listen Jack and Richard, I want you to talk to your New York partner Stuart Slotnick...

SFL Friday -- Walk Down That Lonesome Road

Posted on April 17, 2009
Well it's Friday, folks, and I hope you all made it through the week.Unfortunately, we will be foregoing our usual Friday afternoon post due to the sudden and incomprehensible loss of former AUSA and White and Case attorney Beth Jarrett.Please note there will be a memorial service Sunday at 4 for Beth at the home of the family, 5400 LaGorce Drive, Miami Beach...

Freeloading Guardian Ad Litem Brags About Perks.

Posted on April 16, 2009
So I hope everyone either got teabagged or teabagged somebody else yesterday, depending on your preference. Personally, I think a healthy public discussion of teabagging can only be a good thing.Meanwhile, here is freeloader Edward B. Kaplan boasting about all the perks of being a Guardian Ad Litem:Funds that may be cut are badly needed for Guardian ad Litem staff and office expenses...

Enough With Poor People Voting!

Posted on April 16, 2009
I am so sick of watching poor people vote. Lord knows I saw more than my share of that during the 2008 election, what with Governor Crist extending the early voting and making it slightly easier for working people to get to the polls.And look what happened!That's why Alex Diaz de la Portilla's new proposal to eliminate their voting rights makes a lot of sense:Republican lawmakers, who control both houses of the Legislature, have proposed sweeping changes to the state?s election laws, including new procedures on registering voters, and requiring voters to use a provisional ballot if they move shortly before an election...

Herald Writes Mildly Interesting Editorial.

Posted on April 15, 2009
I usually read Herald editorials purely for their comic and/or sleep-inducing values.So I was a bit surprised to see one today about our own federal blogger uber-lawyer:U.S. District Judge Alan Gold used that term, ''win at all costs,'' to describe the egregious misconduct of three U...

Beth Jarrett, RIP.

Posted on April 15, 2009
Dedicated mother, loving wife, superlative attorney, generous philanthropist and friend to many, UM Law grad Beth Jarrett has tragically and suddenly passed away.The words of the opening prayer of the Yizkor service, chanted by Jews under conditions of persecution for many hundreds of years, seem particularly apt to me now...

3d DCA Watch -- An Unprofessional Bit of Gamesmanship Edition

Posted on April 15, 2009
Hi folks, well it's tax day and I know like good little attorneys all of you have cut a nice check and applied for your first extension. See how easy that was!But not our busy resplendently robed scriveners to the south. Ensconced in their concrete bunker by the highway, they spend their days filled with laughter, love, and PCAs; their nights consumed with thoughts of the unburdened ones, those non-responsible persons in all of their non-responsible positions -- oh how liberating it must be to merely shape young minds and teach them how to read, or get a knot out of of someone's back...

Happy Anniversary, Judge Barkett!

Posted on April 14, 2009
Did you know today is the fifteenth anniversary of the Senate's confirmation of Judge Barkett to the 11th Circuit? And she received her commission the next day.Her confirmation took more than six months, thanks to Senator Hatch and her perceived hostility to the death penalty...

Teabagging For Liberty!

Posted on April 14, 2009
It's a slow legal news day, and I'm bored. What, you want to discuss Judge Gold's opinion on that stupid "enhanced" Cuban travel agency fee? Like you have to be Justice Cardozo to know the State of Florida can't have its own foreign policy.(psst, someone tell Representative David Rivera...

They Write Letters.....

Posted on April 14, 2009
This time it's the dynamic duo, Judges Cindy Lederman and Jeri Beth Cohen, and they apparently think it's a bad idea to further defund the Guardian Ad Litem program: If Florida House budget proposal 2009 passes, the most vulnerable children are at risk of losing their voice in court...

The "Right" To Purchase Something From Somebody.

Posted on April 13, 2009
For Justice Thomas, that is about all it boils down to:?Today there is much focus on our rights,? Justice Thomas said. ?Indeed, I think there is a proliferation of rights.??I am often surprised by the virtual nobility that seems to be accorded those with grievances,? he said...

Teachers, Masseurs And Other Non-Responsible Positions.

Posted on April 13, 2009
Careful readers know I adore Judge Schwartz.And it's not just the ticky-tacky, gloriously large nature of his opinions, it's what he says sometimes too!Here he is patiently explaining the proposed rule change so that convicted felons can't ever become lawyers, ever:?We just felt it was inappropriate to have convicted felons barred from being on the Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission and being teachers and masseurs, and a whole slew of what would seem to be non-responsible positions, and not have it impossible to be a felon for a lawyer,? said Third District Court of Appeal Senior Judge Alan Schwartz, who chaired the 15-member commission...

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