Florida

Personal Bankruptcies Up 9% in 2010, Expected to Rise Again in 2011

Personal bankruptcies shot up 9 percent in 2010 compared to the previous year and are expected to rise again in 2011. The 1,530,078 filings were a record high since federal bankruptcy law revisions took effect in 2005 that made it harder for debtors to benefit from declaring bankruptcy, the Wall…

Jan 4, 2011 12:00 AM CST

11th Circuit Upholds $387K Sanction of Small Firm for Persisting in Case After Bad Client Depo

A divided federal appeals court panel has upheld a sanction of $387,738 against two South Florida attorneys. After their client contradicted herself repeatedly during an eight-day deposition in a sexual harassment case, Bill and Karen Amlong should have ended the litigation, held the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel…

Jan 3, 2011 7:20 PM CST

Lawyers Sanctioned for E-Mail Insults, Including ‘Scum Sucking Loser’ Comment

Two Florida lawyers who called each other a “retard” and “scum sucking loser” in escalating e-mail insults have been sanctioned by the state supreme court. Nicholas Mooney of Tampa, a lawyer representing Volkswagen of America, received a public reprimand and must take a class on professionalism, according to the St.…

Jan 3, 2011 12:00 PM CST

Fla. Appeals Court OKs Class Action Against Stern Law Firm Over Foreclosure Fees

A Florida appeals court has given the green light to a class action against an embattled foreclosure king and his Plantation law firm alleging that it charged at least 2,000 homeowners excessive reinstatement fees. The 4th District Court of Appeal agreed with a state circuit court judge that the homeowners’…

Dec 30, 2010 12:11 PM CST

Epstein Becker Miami Office to Close As Top Attorney Leads Lawyers & Staff to Duane Morris

Epstein Becker & Green will be closing its eight-year-old office in Miami after managing partner Michael Case led most of its attorneys and staff to Duane Morris. Casey says he couldn’t pass up the chance to establish a labor and employment practice for his new firm in Miami and he…

Dec 29, 2010 1:29 PM CST

Good Lawyering Saves Defendant Arrested for Violating Protective Order That Didn’t Exist

After her relationship with Jesse Almond deteriorated, Sandra Bogden sought a protective order against the 75-year-old Florida retiree. Judge Lorraine Kelly denied Bogden’s request. But somehow a protective order was issued, perhaps because parts of two different orders got mixed together during the Pinellas County jurist’s call that day in…

Dec 28, 2010 12:17 PM CST

Colo. Author Faces Fla. Obscenity Case, Allegedly Sold Signed Copy of ‘Pedophile’ to Authorities

The Colorado author of The Pedophile’s Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover’s Code of Conduct has been arrested in a Florida obscenity case after allegedly selling a signed copy of his book to Polk County undercover officers. Philip Ray Greaves II was arrested at his Pueblo home on a…

Dec 20, 2010 6:54 PM CST

Ex-Clerk Gets 2 Years for Coerced Court Sex; Ex-Guard Gets 30 Years for Cuffed Inmate Rape

A former court clerk magistrate in Massachusetts was sentenced yesterday to two years in federal prison for coercing two women facing prostitution charges into courthouse sex. James Burke, 43, also lost his $84,000-a-year job at Chelsea District Court after his arrest last year, the Boston Globe reported. One of the…

Dec 17, 2010 8:34 PM CST

Defendant Who Covered Up Tattoos at Trial Declines to Do So in Life-or-Death Penalty Phase

A neo-Nazi defendant with facial tattoos that many might find disturbing covered them up during his Florida murder trial, with the help of a cosmetologist paid over $100 a day by the state. But now that he’s been convicted in a 2006 attack motivated by bias that left a man…

Dec 16, 2010 5:44 PM CST

‘Hostile Makeover’ Pits Employer Against Employee Concerning Unhealthy Habits

Two hospitals in Florida are part of a “hostile makeover” workplace trend: They are requiring job applicants to take a nicotine test, in order to screen out any who smoke, writes columnist Beth Kassab in the Orlando Sentinel. A majority of states ban such employer intrusion into a worker’s off-the-job…

Dec 14, 2010 11:56 PM CST

Deposition Disclosure Fights Involve Robo-Signers and Sheriff Joe Arpaio

May depositions be posted on the Internet or otherwise released to the public? A Florida lawyer who posted robo-signer testimony and an Arizona sheriff targeted in a racial profiling lawsuit are taking opposite stands in court battles over the issue. Sarasota, Fla., lawyer Christopher Forrest is challenging a temporary injunction…

Dec 10, 2010 1:47 PM CST

As Jim Morrison Wins Pardon, ACLU Says Dead Rock Stars Shouldn’t Dominate Clemency Board Agenda

Backed by Florida’s outgoing governor, former Doors front man Jim Morrison won a posthumous pardon today of his indecent exposure and profanity conviction resulting from a raucous 1969 rock concert in Miami. However, the action today by the state’s clemency board wasn’t music to the ears of everyone attending the…

Dec 9, 2010 9:57 PM CST

Fla. Woman’s 25-Year Mortgage Foreclosure Battle a Cautionary Tale for Lenders

During the 25 years that Patsy Campbell has been fighting a mortgage foreclosure case on her Florida home she has outlasted six lenders and seen seven great-grandchildren born. She last made a mortgage payment on her Okeechobee County home in 1985, reports the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.). Attorney Robert…

Dec 8, 2010 11:39 PM CST

1 Way or Another, Homeless Headed to Jail, Says Fla. Mayor; Public Defender Vows $50/Hour Fight

A new homeless shelter expected to open in a month on Florida’s west coast will arguably offer those down on their luck something of a Hobson’s Choice. If they are found sleeping on the sidewalk, they can be arrested and locked up in a cell. Or they can opt to…

Dec 8, 2010 7:54 PM CST

WTF? ‘10 Most Obscene Cities’ List Doesn’t Include Most Likely Suspects

Business Insider this week published its third annual “10 Most Obscene Cities in America” list, and New York City ain’t on it. Neither is friggin’ Chicago. According to the online magazine’s posts since 2008, the methodology of the list’s creation was inspired by Florida defense attorney Lawrence Walters. Posts link…

Dec 8, 2010 7:26 PM CST