Your Monday Morning Digital Dump.

 
Hi kids, was this weekend hot enough for you?

Let's see what's happening around town:

1.  Rumpole is conducting a real live prisoner's dilemma experiment -- five attorneys have apparently decided to "go rouge."  Time to play again?

2.  You're in luck -- Jose Baez says he will take your piddly dink cases:

I don’t want people to think I only take big cases. I always say, ‘No case is too big, and no case is too small.’ It’s no longer about a national story or getting recognition: it’s about working hard and seeking justice for our clients.

Thank goodness that "national story/getting recognition" period is over!

3.  Neil God!

4.  Shpoonkle Pro Bono launches:

Shpoonkle Pro Bono serves to heighten successful integration of law firms and attorneys in delivering volunteer services in the areas of Civil, Criminal, and Juvenile Rights. Shpoonkle Pro Bono augments legal assistance to many of charities most vulnerable groups of clients. Many of these charitable groups are overwhelmed and lacking in resources. Our goal is to facilitate easier online access to varied charitable organizations to legal professionals who want to help them.

This is expected to be a high profile event with local business, legal professions, politicians, and a few celebs, expected to turn out for the launch of this wonderful new charitable organization. The event sponsors can be found on http://www.shpoonklepb.com/charityevent/ . Eye on South Florida is expected to be covering the event as well. Please join the celebration in launching this new and exciting charity that supports the efforts of other charitable organizations’ legal issues for their service population.

Not sure what any of that means, but it sounds like a good thing.

5.  Judge Ramirez says writing dissents is like a good work out:

I always found that writing a dissent when the majority writes a PCA is like shadow-boxing.  It gives you a good workout but doesn’t accomplish anything.

That's exactly what writing a sanctions motion feels like!

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/07/30/2920667/casey-anthonys-attorney-comes.html#storylink=cpy

Let's Talk About Logue!

 

With apologies to Celine Dion, I happen to think this is a good pick for Judge Ramirez' successor:

Logue, 56, has served as an attorney for Miami-Dade County, acting as counsel for the Board of County Commissioners and the property appraiser. “Tom brings to the bench an impressive record as a litigator and appellate attorney,” Scott stated in a release. “Equally impressive is Tom’s abiding commitment to judicial restraint. His career and his scholarly writings demonstrate a deep understanding of the notion that the rule of law, and not personal preference, must prevail in our courts.” Logue fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Juan Ramirez Jr.

 That's ok, the Judge still has the power of the Blogger Pulpit.

3d DCA Watch -- Well Well Well?

Well well well let's first wish Judge Ramirez congratulations again for his service and best wishes in his new role as JAMS mediator.

It was a very nice retirement party -- Rudy Sorondo told a few tales, Chief Judge Wells quoted John Lennon (hey, so did I!), Judge R thanked his family, clerks, JAs and colleagues, in all it was a very lovely event.

Oh, and the Judge's portrait was revealed, very striking:

(Oops, wrong photo!)

I kid -- it was a very nice ceremony and we wish the Judge much continued success.

Speaking of Rudy Sorondo, here he is arguing for the appellants in a case where Judge Manno-Shurr struck the defendants' pleadings based on fraud on the court:

On August 13, 2010, the Bank filed its Motion to Strike, alleging the defendants schemed to defraud the trial court by submitting perjured deposition testimony, suborning and attempting to suborn perjury, and forging corporate documents, all in an effort to conceal the Cohens’ ownership interests in the Corporate Defendants and Offshore Entities. On October 1, 2010, the trial court commenced an evidentiary hearing on the Motion to Strike, and received evidence over a three-day period. After the hearing, the trial court concluded the defendants intended to defraud the Florida court, and struck their pleadings. Upon review of the case law and the voluminous record, we affirm in part, and reverse in part.

Basically, Judge Rothenberg's opinion goes into exquisite detail and upholds the lower court ruling, except as to one defendant (not represented by Rudy).  It ends this way:

While we are mindful of Florida’s strong public policy favoring the resolution of cases on their merits, the judiciary cannot be, and is not, impotent against those wishing to corrupt the litigation process by employing fraud and deception at every turn. Accordingly, we affirm the default judgment as it pertains to the Cohens and the Corporate Defendants because the record evidence establishes, clearly and convincingly, that these litigants have engaged in a massive and unprecedented scheme to defraud the trial court below.

Not a pretty picture (I don't mean the hot tub -- I love that picture!).

This One's For You, Judge Ramirez!

I've received countless emails and notes from practitioners this morning genuinely upset to see blogger and "millennium" jurist Judge Ramirez departing from the 3d DCA bench.

But he won't be far -- he's helping to launch a Miami office of the big-shot mediation outfit JAMS:

"Basically, I decided I would leave on my own terms and my own schedule," he said. "I got a very nice offer from JAMS," short for Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services.

Founded in 1979, JAMS bills itself as the world's largest alternative dispute resolution service. It has 280 full-time "neutrals," primarily retired judges and attorneys, and 195 employees. The Irvine, California-based firm handles about 10,000 cases a year at its various locations. Last year it formed JAMS International to handle cross-border disputes.

JAMS announced last month that it would be opening a Miami office this spring. The branch will be on the 26th floor at 600 Brickell Ave. Its offices will include 10 conference rooms.

On behalf of your many friends, colleagues and admirers, thank you for your years of dedicated (and superior) public service.

Now you get to sit in a room and watch lawyers yell at each other!

Parsing Judge Ramirez's New Blawg!

A happy development in South Florida Blawgerland:

One of our favorite bunker-dwellers, Judge Ramirez, has started a new blawg!

Judge Ramirez is a fantastic judge and a genuinely good guy, so we're very pleased he has decided to share his thoughts on the law in a more informal setting.

The blog is called "Florida Law Update" -- ok, not the catchiest title in the world, but let's give the Judge a chance.

Taking a look, the Judge has put up two posts about cases we have also covered.

Interestingly, the Judge has managed to discuss these cases without any obscure pop-cultural references, no obsessions with local attorneys, not a single mention of the Holocaust, no discussions of why Robert Palmer and Paul Rogers both fronted 80s supergroups at the exact same time, and no photos of lost starlets we are certain we can cure with our abiding love.

It's a unique approach but we wish the Judge great success!

BREAKING -- 3d DCA To Disclose Oral Panelists Before Next Week's Calendar!

It's true I was absolutely mesmerized to learn of the intricate details of the 3d DCA's construction in the riveting lecture "Appreciating Concrete:  An Hour-By-Hour Account of How the Bunker Was Born!" during the recent Third DCA Historical Society luncheon, so I may have missed something minor in what was an otherwise highly informative event.

That's why I was surprised to hear from a tipster that Chief Judge Ramirez apparently also said something about the 3d now disclosing who will sit on its oral argument panels starting the Wednesday before the next week’s calendar.

The first panel up for May 16 arguments is Schwartz, Schwartz, and Schwartz.

Good luck all.

I kid, I kid!

Actually, it will be Suarez, Lagoa and Emas.

See, this is what happened when you get caught up in a debate over whether it's more important to have a relatively high compressive strength, or a lower tensile strength, and what is the proper coefficient of thermal expansion.

For gosh sakes, will that argument ever end?

Pick on Your Favorite Senior Judge!

Well, I suppose you could also pen a deeply-felt and tenderly expressed tome, professing unabiding and undying love, admiration, and respect.

But I know you guys too well for that.

Anyhoo, here's the list of usual suspects:

Philip Cook, Robert M. Deehl, Charles D. Edelstein, Eugene J. Fierro, Seymour Gelber, Marvin H. Gillman, William E. Gladstone, Leonard E. Glick, Jon I. Gordon, Edward S. Klein, Judith L. Kreeger, Thomas K. Petersen, Jeffrey Rosinek, Alan R. Schwartz, Martin Shapiro, Roger A. Silver, Stuart M. Simons, Raphael Steinhardt, Herbert Stettin, Sandra Taylor and David L. Tobin.

You can send your comments via email to seniorjudge@flcourts.org, or snail mail to Thomas D. Hall, Clerk, Florida Supreme Court, 500 South Duval Street, Tallahassee 32399.

You can also make actual, real live human contact by calling our very own Judge Juan Ramirez, Jr., chair of the Review Board, at (305) 229-3200, ext. 3216.

Get 'em in by tax day!