Your Case is Next - Right After the First 368,000!

How's your civil action going in state court?

According to this DBR story, not too well:

As attorneys across South Florida absorb the news of yet another budget cut to clerks of the court by the Legislature, they foresee business costs rising and securing justice for clients getting harder.

The Legislature surprised the state's elected clerks during last-minute House-Senate conference talks by whacking their budget 7 percent, or nearly $31 million.

If the county clerks responded with layoffs alone, about 900 employees statewide would be out of work July 1.

This will be the fourth consecutive fiscal year clerks have taken a hit. Since 2009, their budgets have shrunk by just over a quarter.

This is causing anger among trial attorneys, particularly attorneys who specialize in civil litigation. Clerks must give priority to criminal proceedings, so resources shift at the expense of civil courts.

Has it occurred to Governor Scott that a conducive business environment requires an operational civil justice system?  You know, so businesses can settle legal disputes without resort to swords and direwolves?

Meanwhile, David Stern explains the tactful way he broke the bad news to his employees:

"There's nothing left for you here. There's nothing left for me here. We're done. And that's the end of the story,"

"Also, Liz left some awesome home-baked cookies in the kitchen -- yum!" 

Too bad so sad about all those cases languishing in the court system:

And the 368,000-case backlog in the state's foreclosure courts has grown as the Stern firm's wayward files added to the logjam, some attorneys said.

"Let's face it : Florida was struggling with foreclosures in the first place," said Sylvia Ayalon, a former analyst at the Consumer Mortgage Audit Center in Fort Lauderdale, who now works for Fembi Mortgage in Miami. "That combined with a defective process, the large footprint of the Stern firm, and the backlog just continues to grow."

"Did I mention the awesome cookies -- yum!  Thanks again, Liz.  

Liz???"