Florida

Schoolyard Bully Costs FL School $4M

In a verdict that should serve as a warning to school administrators elsewhere, a Florida jury has ordered a private school to pay $4 million to a 12-year-old whose arm was broken by a school bully. The incident has left the now 16-year-old victim with a permanent injury that prevents…

Oct 23, 2007 9:13 PM CDT

Senior Sleuths Right Civil Wrongs in Florida

A special project of the Florida attorney general has grown into a 35-office effort to protect the state’s senior citizens from large injustices and small that don’t constitute crimes. So-called senior sleuths at Seniors vs. Crime gather the facts and help the elderly make an effective complaint in the right…

Oct 22, 2007 7:06 PM CDT

Big Legal Bill for Anna Nicole Smith’s Baby

Adults who had a relationship to Anna Nicole Smith are still wrangling over a number of issues related to the deceased starlet’s estate. But they are seemingly entirely agreed on one thing: a bill of nearly $200,000 submitted by the court-appointed lawyer representing the interests of Smith’s baby daughter is…

Oct 16, 2007 5:27 PM CDT

FL Boot Camp Guards Acquitted

Updated: A jury has acquitted eight employees of a Florida boot camp of manslaughter in the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson. The all-white jury took about 90 minutes to deliberate in the death of the black teen, the Associated Press reports. Anderson died last year after an altercation with…

Oct 12, 2007 5:54 PM CDT

Sharper Image Purifier Settlement Nixed

A proposal to settle a class action against Sharper Image with $19 coupons for buyers of its Ionic Breeze purifers has been rejected by a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga rejected the proposal as inadequate, the Daily Business Review reports. The legal publication calls the decision a…

Oct 12, 2007 11:06 AM CDT

Jury: Feeding Homeless No Crime

A Florida man did not violate an unusual municipal ordinance against feeding the homeless when he served up food at a public park in Orlando, a jury decided yesterday. Although the prosecution had video footage of Eric Montanez, 22, participating in the organized meal at Lake Eola Park, it didn’t…

Oct 10, 2007 8:21 PM CDT

Anti-Porn Lawyer Wins Round in Judge Dispute

An anti-porn crusading lawyer says he is no longer at risk of being referred to a court ad hoc grievance committee for attaching gay-sex photos to a court filing. Florida lawyer Jack Thompson says the judge vacated an order to show cause why he should not be referred to the…

Oct 10, 2007 6:42 PM CDT

Fax Cited in Hearing Against FL Lawyer

A lawyer for banking regulators pointed to a fax in an effort to show intentional wrongdoing by a former Greenberg Traurig lawyer accused of hiding evidence of $20 million in losses for a now-defunct bank. Special Counsel Lee Strauss argued that Florida lawyer Carlos Loumiet split pages of a fax…

Oct 10, 2007 11:18 AM CDT

FL Lawyer Accused of Hiding Bank Losses

A former partner at Miami-based Greenberg Traurig goes before an administrative judge today to contest allegations that he suppressed material evidence to hide $20 million in losses for a bank client. The Office of Comptroller of the Currency is seeking a cease-and-desist order against Carlos Loumiet that would prevent him…

Oct 9, 2007 11:47 AM CDT

Man on Trial for Feeding Homeless

In what may be a first-in-the-nation case, a Florida man reportedly is to go on trial today for violating an unusual Orlando ordinance that bans feeding a group of homeless persons in a public place. The prosecution says it has videotape of Eric Montanez, 22, at an organized feeding of…

Oct 8, 2007 6:11 PM CDT

Lawyer’s Dispute With Bar, Judge Heads for Hearing

The showdown between an anti-porn crusading lawyer and the Florida Bar is headed for a hearing tomorrow when a federal judge considers the bar’s motion to dismiss the suit. Florida lawyer Jack Thompson’s dispute with the bar has expanded to include the judge in the case, who has refused a…

Oct 8, 2007 4:16 PM CDT

Prosecutor Charged in Sex Sting Commits Suicide

A federal prosecutor accused of traveling to Detroit to have sex with a 5-year-old girl has committed suicide in prison. J. D. Roy Atchison, a U.S. attorney in Pensacola, killed himself on Friday. He was in a special housing unit for inmates who are segregated for a variety of reasons,…

Oct 8, 2007 10:27 AM CDT

Mortgage Enforcement Targets Lawyers

No lawyers apparently were among the 11 borrowers, sellers and real estate industry professionals arrested today in three separate alleged mortgage fraud schemes in South Florida. But attorneys are likely to find themselves on the wrong side of such cases in the future, authorities say. ”In the coming months, you…

Oct 5, 2007 6:42 PM CDT

Rush Limbaugh Divorce Details Secret, But Salary Isn’t

Details of Rush Limbaugh’s 2004 divorce settlement will remain secret because of a Florida appeals court ruling yesterday. The court denied a motion for rehearing (PDF) by the Palm Beach Post, which is seeking to unseal the file, the Daily Business Review reports. A dissenter argued that the agreement is…

Oct 4, 2007 12:27 PM CDT

‘Bar-Certified Sane Lawyer’ in New Judge Dispute

Anti-porn crusader Jack Thompson has had his share of disputes with judges. The South Florida lawyer is vocal in his criticism—so vocal that The Florida Bar is considering two complaints that contend his statements about two judges violated ethics rules. Now Thompson’s lawsuit (PDF) attempting to put a stop to…

Oct 3, 2007 12:10 AM CDT