Florida

Put Down That Crackberry, You Plebes!

Posted on March 02, 2009

SFL Friday -- Coffee Is For Closers Edition

Posted on February 27, 2009

Clause Wiping Out All Public Equity in Marlins Deal Just A "Technicality."

Posted on February 27, 2009

Alberto Mora Profile Is A Must-Read.

Posted on February 26, 2009
UM Law grad and former Greenberg attorney Alberto Mora gets the love in this great profile:Though he now lives in a red-brick mini-mansion down a silent, frostbitten cul-de-sac in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., Alberto Mora is at heart a Miami Cuban...

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Note to Justice Alito: Leave Our Cultural Icons Alone!

Posted on February 26, 2009
Holy hail, what's this:Last year Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. won praise for quoting Bob Dylan in an opinion (a dissent, actually, in Spring Communications Co. v. APCC Services.) Not to be outdone, apparently, Justice Samuel Alito Jr. today quoted at length from John Lennon...

Water Fountain Ceremony A Success!

Posted on February 25, 2009
So it was a large and enthusiastic crowd gathered yesterday evening for the water fountain ceremony at the Courthouse:At a ceremony Tuesday, the Dade County Bar Association formally apologized for the two fountains -- stark reminders that the courthouse was once segregated, and that racism was woven into Miami-Dade's legal roots...

3d DCA Watch --Special Fortune Cookie Edition

Posted on February 25, 2009
Hi kiddies, well that was some speech last night, huh?Well it was, right up until -- oh god -- that Jindal guy came on my teevee and said he wants to give back all the taxpayer-funded New Orleans reconstruction money, or something like that.Anyways, our coffee-swilling judicial scribes have been busy...

Did I Mention That Crook Almost Hired Me?

Posted on February 25, 2009
Can anyone politely ask Bowman Brown to shush up already over his now legendary near-miss almost representation of R. Allen Stanford:?He came to town referred by a prominent Texas law firm in the late ?80s, early ?90s,? said Bowman Brown, an international banking attorney with Shutts & Bowen...

We Are All Doomed.

Posted on February 24, 2009
Hey, get to the state courthouse much?Sure you do -- if you are a foreclosure mill:From mid-2006 to mid-2007, about 35,000 civil cases were filed in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, according to the Office of State Courts Administrators, or OSCA. The number shot up to 65,000 the next year, and Bailey said the increase is attributable to the spike in foreclosures...

Glenn Garvin, Financial Wizard.

Posted on February 24, 2009
Hi kids, I hope you have all bought or downloaded Van Morrison's latest -- a remarkable live performance of his first (and perhaps finest) record, Astral Weeks. It's number 4 in music at Amazon and for good reason. Give it a listen.Okay, we already reported on the Herald's latest idea of a cost-cutting measure -- having its reliably conservative TV critic, Glenn Garvin, write a weekly column on the editorial page...

Time to Dust Off Those Stanford War Stories!

Posted on February 23, 2009
Boy, it's funny how everyone in town now swears they always knew R. Allen Stanford was a crook.Hail, the lady pouring my cafecito this morning went on and on about how she always thought the guy was bad news.Now comes Shutts attorney Bowman Brown, who shares this delightful war story about the good old days:During the 1980s, Stanford came calling at the office of Miami attorney Bowman Brown, a respected banking lawyer with the Shutts & Bowen law firm...

Mondays Are for Slumdogs and Mitch Widom

Posted on February 23, 2009
Hi folks, how was your weekend?Mine was unexceptional -- windsurfing, food, wine, and Oscars. Yawn.Don't forget to contribute to Mitch Widom's big fundraiser -- 2009 LexisNexis® Law Firm Challenge ? for the 14th Annual Mellon United National Bank Keymorada Invitational Tournament...

Hector Chichoni (Sung to the Tune of "Hey Bo Diddley")

Posted on February 23, 2009
Forget the gloom and doom swirling around the twin Bilzin headlines breaking today, and let's talk some good news instead:Hector A. Chichoni, attorney at Epstein Becker & Green, has been appointed national immigration counsel by ALTA, the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association...

SFL Friday -- Cursed Technology Edition

Posted on February 20, 2009
Let's try to put things in perspective before we windsurf over to the glorious South Beach Wine & Food Festival, which is always a blast (even if ticket sales are down and they are losing sponsors due to the crumbling economy):Let's see -- it's raining rats at the Palm Beach County courthouse; even Blackwater(!) had to lay off some workers; we can't afford to build more prisons and may have to let some prisoners go free; and -- believe it or not -- but we will all have to pitch in and buy Maurice Jay Kutner's law office an answering machine:Maurice Jay Kutner and Anthony Sabatino, listed in court records as Louise Sage Stanford?s lawyers in the Florida case, also were unavailable for comment late yesterday...

Finally -- A Banker I Can Believe In!

Posted on February 20, 2009
So I hope you all were at Uncle Miltie's judicial fundraiser last night. I thought it was a good showing for a good guy who will make a more than good judge.To be honest, I was getting a little sick of continually posting pics of Milton Drysdale or Mr...

Admiralty Lawyers Politely Discuss Professionalism Before Judge Stettin.

Posted on February 19, 2009
DBR reporter Billy Shields does a nice job capturing the feel of this fun hearing before Judge Stettin yesterday:?I?m not going to give this man a nickel,? the judge said. Wingate ?went behind my back.?An angry Stettin repeatedly told Rivkind at the hearing...

Guest Blogging At David's Shop.

Posted on February 19, 2009
Hey, I'm a guest blogger!David's got some kind of "big case," so he let your humble crappy servant fool around a little bit over at his very fine blog.Thanks, and good luck David!!You can see the results here.

Dwayne Wade Sues Some Lawyers Over STD.

Posted on February 19, 2009
Hey Dwayne, I like you and all, but suing the lawyers representing your wife seems a bit much:?They were out to wreck his reputation,? Wade?s attorney Joseph Power Jr. said. ?What they put in that pleading is totally false. We?re suing to prevent people from wrecking his reputation and that?s what they did and that?s what they?re doing...

One Less Deep Pocket

Posted on February 19, 2009
I see Judge Huck refused to enjoin Santander from contacting their Madoff-affected clients and offering individual resolutions:About 70 percent of Banco Santander SA customers offered compensation for losses linked to Bernard Madoff have decided to accept it, lawyers for Spain?s biggest bank told a Miami court...

3d DCA Watch -- Couldn't Stand the Weather Edition

Posted on February 18, 2009
Hi kiddies, is it that time already?You know, that glorious moment of the week when the judiciary floodgates open, when the mighty storm systems of justice batter the hapless defenses of all you ham-and-schleppers seeking cover on Flagler Street -- yes get ready for some righteous rage, some Old Testament fury, because our resplendently robed scribes are swilling their coffee like a Category 5 Hurricane this week, oh man oh holy hail, oh...

Elected Judges and Campaign Contributions: The Public's Just Not Into You.

Posted on February 18, 2009
Wow, are you all following the case of the West Virginia Supreme Court judge who was elected with $3 million in campaign contributions from a coal mining executive who had a case pending before their Supreme Court? And the judge he helped elect promptly delivered the deciding vote that overturned a $50 million jury verdict against the coal company?USA Today covered the story on its front page yesterday...

Bankers Behaving Badly, South Florida Edition.

Posted on February 18, 2009
Geez, I don't know who's worse -- Mr. Drysdale, or Mr. Mooney? Or maybe it's our own Miami Center's R. Allen Stanford:At the heart of the investigation are CDs issued by Stanford International Bank, which claims to have 30,000 clients in 131 countries...

An Actual Court Hearing!

Posted on February 17, 2009
What do you know -- I'm going to Court this morning! And that means lots of lawyers on the other side, a judge, a court reporter, and a courtroom.If I'm lucky maybe there'll even be some law involved. It's state court, so who knows?Congrats to the DBR for their new redesign -- I was at the unveiling at the Havana Club last Tuesday, and I like it alot...

Monday Morning Pop Quiz!

Posted on February 16, 2009
Ok kiddies here we go --Steve Zack is elected President of the ABA. Describe your feelings about this.....now:Vaguely happy.....and a little verklempt?Oh darn I was never good at these things!In other news, I hear that Curtis Mase is looking to represent Buffalo airplane crash victims (not that there's anything wrong with that), Herald TV critic Glenn Garvin is not that great a First Amendment legal scholar, at least according to his own newspaper, and privatization of essential governmental functions is always a good idea, except when it's not:Florida is coping with the effects of a failed and expensive food-privatization venture of former Gov...

SFL Mixed Messages Friday the 13th Valentine's Day Edition!

Posted on February 13, 2009
Sheesh what a week. I hope you all survived. However, if you're in a morbid Friday the 13th frame of mind you can see a partial list of those attorneys that didn't here (thanks so much for the downer, Brian!).Hey, did you know that according to National Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, all you fired lawyers and staffers are now a greater threat to our national security than good old fashioned Muslim terrorists? Well, he did kinda said that...

Fun With New Math!

Posted on February 13, 2009
Boy, February is always a bad time to be at a big firm, what with collection issues, reviews etc. but it's especially bad this year, huh? You can add Mike Casey's Epstein Becker to the list of firms that fired lawyers yesterday:Here is a summary of jobs lost yesterday: Bryan Cave: 58 lawyers and 76 staffers Cozen O?Connor: 61 staffers Dechert: 19 lawyers DLA Piper: 80 lawyers and 100 staffers Epstein Becker & Green: 23 lawyers and 30 staffers Faegre & Benson: 29 lawyers Goodwin Procter: 38 lawyers and 36 staffers Holland & Knight: 70 lawyers and 173 staffersIn other fun math news, I see how the planned expenditure of Miami-Dade taxes to build that spiffy new Marlins stadium will total $1...

Bloody Thursday at Holland & Knight?

Posted on February 12, 2009
Ok ok I don't have anything solid, but many of you are reporting doom and gloom over at H&K today, particularly among younger lawyers.To my many H&K friends I say good luck to you all.If I hear more I will let you know.

Judge Joel Brown Elected New Chief Judge.

Posted on February 12, 2009
We're not too sure this is a job to envy given the dire economic circumstances, but congrats are in order to new Chief Judge Joel Brown.Good luck Judge -- you're gonna need it.

I Wish I Knew How to Quit You, Roberto Martinez!

Posted on February 12, 2009
So, how many of you woke up this morning and found out you were a Super Lawyer? Ahhh, that packet is so cute!I'm shocked -- shocked -- to learn that the County did not negotiate a very good deal to spend hundreds of millions of tax dollars building a new stadium for the Marlins:''It's probably not the best deal that has ever been worked out between a community and a team,'' Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez said after his State of the County speech on Tuesday...

3d DCA Watch -- Life on Mars And Alvin Davis Edition

Posted on February 11, 2009
Hi kiddies, it's that time of the week when our merry band of beloved jurists dispense their short stories of justice, that glorious day when the resplendently robed scribes by the highway swill their coffee, deny their writs, and occasionally wreak havoc with our entire system of equitable jurisprudence, as they do so in this action-packed edition of 3d DCA Watch:Extraordinary Title v...

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