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Florida
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March 08, 2024
Split NC High Court Reopens Embattled Realty Firm
The North Carolina Supreme Court has temporarily lifted a business shutdown order on MV Realty amid the state's claims that the company imposed predatory fees, with a dissenting justice fearing that unshackling it could put homeowners at risk of losing their homes.
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March 08, 2024
Patent Case Over Air Conditioners For Boat Use Sinks At ITC
The U.S. International Trade Commission has decided that a Swedish manufacturer of air conditioners for use on boats doesn't have a patent case against a handful of rivals based in Florida and China after all.
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March 08, 2024
Feds Win Houseboat Obstruction Suit Against Fla. Man
The federal government scored a win in Florida federal court in its suit alleging former financial trader and self-described activist Fane Lozman's "floating home" is a structure that obstructs a navigable waterway, with the judge finding there is no genuine dispute that Lozman violated the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act.
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March 08, 2024
WaPo Scores Exit In Trump Media's $3.8B Defamation Suit
A Florida federal judge on Friday tossed a $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit by former President Donald Trump's social media startup but gave the company another shot at supporting its claims that the Washington Post acted with malice in its reporting accusing the startup of securities fraud.
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March 08, 2024
Misspent Pandemic Loan Cash Gets Fla. Man Prison Time
A Florida federal judge sentenced a 39-year-old Miami man to nearly six years in prison after he admitted to receiving $4.4 million in loans meant to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic and spending the cash on diamond-studded gold jewelry and luxury automobiles, court records show.
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March 08, 2024
SEC Crypto Target Can't Send Securities Query To 11th Circ.
A Florida federal judge has declined to send the question of whether crypto transactions on public exchanges are securities to the Eleventh Circuit after rejecting a bid to toss a securities enforcement case against an alleged $37 million cryptocurrency pump-and-dump scheme.
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March 08, 2024
Experian Biased Jury In Credit Reporting Suit, 11th Circ. Told
An attorney for a Florida resident who sued Experian alleging it inaccurately reported a discharged mortgage in his credit history told the Eleventh Circuit on Friday that a lower court judge allowed the company to introduce improper evidence at trial, arguing it caused jurors to deliver an unfavorable verdict against her client.
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March 08, 2024
IRS Leaker Should Be Deposed Without All Docs, Judge Says
Attorneys for a hedge fund executive should question the former IRS contractor who admitted to stealing the tax returns of him and others, even though the IRS hasn't finished producing evidence in the case seeking to hold the agency responsible for the leak, a Florida federal judge said Friday.
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March 08, 2024
Green Groups Want Fla. CWA Permitting Back With Feds
Conservation groups that successfully challenged the U.S. government's approval of Florida's Clean Water Act permitting program have told a federal judge that the Sunshine State's bid to retain some permitting authority in the meantime would only cause confusion and fail to safeguard endangered species.
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March 08, 2024
11th Circ. Declines To Hear Building Defect Coverage Dispute
It's too early to determine whether a Florida federal court erred in its coverage determinations in a long-running construction defect insurance dispute, the Eleventh Circuit has ruled, finding that the "purported final judgment here does not dispose of all claims against all parties."
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March 08, 2024
Migrant Parole Program Survives GOP States' Challenge
A Texas-led coalition of states lost their bid to challenge a Biden administration program letting Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans temporarily work in the U.S., after a federal judge ruled Friday they lack standing to sue over the program.
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March 08, 2024
Fla. Atty Suspended Over Bogus Cases After Possible AI Use
A Florida federal judge on Friday suspended an attorney from practicing law in the Middle District of Florida for one year after he fabricated cases listed on court documents, saying they may have resulted from his use of artificial intelligence.
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March 08, 2024
Cybersecurity Co. Promotes Attys To GC, Chief People Officer
Florida-based cybersecurity company ReliaQuest announced it has promoted two of its in-house attorneys to general counsel and chief people officer.
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March 08, 2024
Ex-Jaguars Employee Seeks Leniency For $22M Theft
A former Jacksonville Jaguars finance employee who pled guilty to embezzling $22 million from the team over a three-year period made a remorseful request to a Florida federal judge for a sentence that does not include prison time.
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March 07, 2024
Fla. Justices Won't Reinstate $31M Award In Hit-And-Run Suit
An overturned $31 million jury award won't be reinstated by the Florida Supreme Court, which ruled Thursday that a bar accused of negligently serving alcohol to an underage person who later hit an intoxicated teen with his car and fled the scene should have been allowed to argue that the teen was partially at fault.
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March 07, 2024
11th Circ. Urged To Restore Qui Tam Over Small Biz Contracts
The U.S. Department of Justice argued Thursday in support of reinstating a qui tam lawsuit against two companies that gained control of a small Florida construction business, telling the Eleventh Circuit that they were not qualified for a government program that awards contracts to firms owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals.
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March 07, 2024
11th Circ. Told Workers Unfairly Paid With Reduced Golf Rates
Three men who were classified as volunteers at a Florida for-profit municipal golf course urged the Eleventh Circuit on Thursday to reverse a lower court decision dismissing their lawsuit alleging they were denied fair wages after only being compensated with discounted fees on rounds of golf, saying they should get the chance to prove they were employees.
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March 07, 2024
Investment Adviser Can't Exit Suit Over Stolen Clients
A Florida judge said Thursday she would not allow a retired investment adviser to exit a suit by Mercer Global Advisors accusing him of breaching his employment agreement by conspiring with his wife to steal clients, ruling that there was clearly a factual dispute that should go to trial.
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March 07, 2024
Insurer, Biz To Face Trial Over $11.8M Wrongful Death Verdict
A Florida federal judge is sending to trial a coverage dispute between a construction and landscaping company and its insurer over an $11.8 million jury verdict for the wrongful deaths of four women after finding that there are questions of fact regarding whether the insurer acted in bad faith.
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March 07, 2024
Feds Designate 1.1M Acres Of Habitat For Imperiled Fla. Bat
In a move conservation groups characterized as much welcomed and long delayed, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated about 1.1 million acres in southern and central Florida as critical habitat for the endangered Florida bonneted bat.
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March 07, 2024
FTC Slams 'Unprecedented' 7-Eleven Defense In Agency Suit
The Federal Trade Commission is calling 7-Eleven's theory that only the U.S. Department of Justice can seek civil penalties for violating commission orders "unprecedented," asking a D.C. federal judge to deny the company's motion to dismiss the commission's suit for allegedly violating a 2018 consent order.
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March 07, 2024
Cano Health's Ch. 11 Financing Approved Consensually
Primary care group Cano Health Inc. told a Delaware bankruptcy judge Thursday that productive talks with a recently appointed creditors' committee had enabled it to submit a consensual order to gain final approval for its $150 million Chapter 11 loan.
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March 07, 2024
Jurors In NY Trump Trial Will Be Anonymous Except To Parties
A New York state judge ruled Thursday that jurors in Donald Trump's criminal hush-money case will remain anonymous to the public, but said the former president, the Manhattan district attorney and their counsel and consultants would know the jurors' names and addresses.
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March 07, 2024
Whistleblower Wants Reward For Helping SEC In $18M Scam
A whistleblower told the Eleventh Circuit on Thursday that he is entitled to a whistleblower reward under the Dodd-Frank Act because he provided the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with information the agency used to obtain $18 million in judgments against the perpetrators of an alleged Ponzi scheme.
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March 07, 2024
Feds Want 7 Years For Jaguars Worker Who Stole $22M
Federal prosecutors asked a Florida judge Thursday to sentence a former employee of the Jacksonville Jaguars to seven years in prison because he "betrayed" the football team when he embezzled $22 million to "live in the fast lane."
Expert Analysis
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How Fla. Tort Reform Will Shift Construction Defect Suits
Recent modifications to Florida's private statutory action rules for building code violations and to the statute of limitations and repose for defect claims significantly clarify ambiguity that had existed under previous rules, and both claimants and defendants should consider new legal arguments that may become possible, say Ryan Soohoo and George Truitt at Cole Scott.
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A Lawyer's Guide To Approaching Digital Assets In Discovery
The booming growth of cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens has made digital assets relevant in many legal disputes but also poses several challenges for discovery, so lawyers must garner an understanding of the technology behind these assets, the way they function, and how they're held, says Brett Sager at Ehrenstein Sager.
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Opinion
High Court's Ethics Statement Places Justices Above The Law
The U.S. Supreme Court justices' disappointing statement on the court's ethics principles and practices reveals that not only are they satisfied with a status quo in which they are bound by fewer ethics rules than other federal judges, but also that they've twisted the few rules that do apply to them, says David Janovsky at the Project on Government Oversight.
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Opinion
Time For Law Schools To Rethink Unsung Role Of Adjuncts
As law schools prepare for the fall 2023 semester, administrators should reevaluate the role of the underappreciated, indispensable adjunct, and consider 16 concrete actions to improve the adjuncts' teaching experience, overall happiness and feeling of belonging, say T. Markus Funk at Perkins Coie, Andrew Boutros at Dechert and Eugene Volokh at UCLA.
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History Supports 2nd Circ. View Of FAA Transport Exemption
In the circuit split over when transport workers are exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act, sparked by the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Southwest Airlines v. Saxon, the Second Circuit reached a more faithful interpretation — one supported by historical litigation and legislative context, though perhaps arrived at via the wrong route, say Joshua Wesneski and Crystal Weeks at Weil.
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Tips For In-House Legal Leaders In A Challenging Economy
Amid today's economic and geopolitical uncertainty, in-house legal teams are running lean and facing increased scrutiny and unique issues, but can step up and find innovative ways to manage outcomes and capitalize on good business opportunities, says Tim Parilla at LinkSquares.
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Beware Patchwork Of State NIL Laws For Student-Athletes
With each U.S. state at a different stage of engaging with name, image and likeness laws for collegiate and high school student-athletes, the NIL world is as much a minefield for attorneys as it is for the players themselves — and counsel must remain on red alert for any and all legislative changes, say Lauren Bernstein and Dan Lust at Moritt Hock.
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What Associates Need To Know Before Switching Law Firms
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
The days of staying at the same firm for the duration of one's career are mostly a thing of the past as lateral moves by lawyers are commonplace, but there are several obstacles that associates should consider before making a move, say attorneys at HWG.
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A Case For Sharing Mediation Statements With Counterparties
In light of a potential growing mediation trend of only submitting statements to the mediator, litigants should think critically about the pros and cons of exchanging statements with opposing parties as it could boost the chances of reaching a settlement, says Arthur Eidelhoch at Eidelhoch Mediation.
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Preparing For Legal Scrutiny Of Data Retention Policies
Two recent cases involving Google and Meta should serve as a call to action for companies to ensure their data retention policies are updated and properly implemented to the degree of being able to withstand judicial scrutiny, especially as more data is generated by emerging technologies, say Jack Kallus and Labeed Choudhry at Kaufman Dolowich.
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Opinion
Attorneys Should Have An Ethical Duty To Advance DEI
National and state bar associations are encouraging attorneys to apply diversity, equity and inclusion practices in the legal profession and beyond, and these associations should take it one step further by formally recognizing ethical duties for attorneys to promote DEI, which could better the legal profession and society, says Elena Mitchell at Moore & Van Allen.
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Data-Driven Insights Are Key To Attracting Today's Clients
As law firm growth slows and competition for clients increases, modern firms must rely on robust data analytics to develop the sector-based expertise and industry insights that clients increasingly prioritize in relationships with counsel, says Lavinia Calvert at Intapp.
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In Arbitration, Consider The Influence Of State Laws
A California appellate court's recent refusal, based in state law, to compel arbitration in Barraza v. Tesla illustrates the importance of understanding substantive and procedural differences between state arbitration law and the Federal Arbitration Act — and when those distinctions can alter case outcomes, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.
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Tips On Workplace DEI Efforts In A Changing Legal Landscape
Amid years of political debates about diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility efforts in the workplace, and increased state legislation in this area, employers can still explore ways to engage in DEIA training and initiatives without creating unnecessary legal risks, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
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Ghosting In BigLaw: Why Better Feedback Habits Are Needed
Not giving assignments or constructive criticism to junior associates can significantly affect their performance and hours, potentially leading them to leave the firm, but partners can prevent this by asking the right questions and creating a culture of feedback, says Rachel Patterson at Orrick.