Your Monday Morning Digital Dump!

I need a dump truck baby to, unload my head....

Hi there, raise your hand if you thought bringing Chad Johnson to the Dolphins was a bad idea?

Well now he has a lawyer instead of a job:

Just after 8:30 a.m., Johnson appeared live via video feed in front a judge and was issued a $2,500 bond and a no contact order, instructing him to stay away from his new wife, Evelyn Lozada, the alleged victim.

Johnson later emerged outside the doors of the jail where he hugged his brother, Chauncey, and was accompanied by his lawyer. They did not speak to reporters as he descended down a stairway and walked to a black SUV.

Johnson got in the car, closed the door and the driver sped off with a couple of reporters chasing after them.

His lawyer, Adam B. Swickle said Johnson has not been charged. The state attorney's office will collect all the evidence and make a decision on whether or not to charge within 21 days.

It's Swickle time!

The Herald's Frances Robles takes a look at KFR's San Juan lawyer friend: 

What the attack doesn’t say: a good bulk of the Puerto Rico contributions came from corporations controlled by Fernandez’s boyfriend, wealthy lawyer David Efron. The mailer was sent by A Vote For Justice, a PAC funded by the top prosecutor’s longtime nemesis, the Police Benevolent Association.

Efron is a Cuba-born attorney whose personal injury and medical malpractice law practice is based in San Juan. Records show he controls 26 corporations, most of them real estate developers on the island.

At least 12 of Efron’s companies donated $500 each to Fernandez’s campaign in the past year, according to state campaign finance reports.

And it’s perfectly legal. Although campaign finance law caps donations in state primary races to $500, separate donations can be submitted under the names of individual corporations. Even if they are owned by the same person.

If it's legal and there is no hint of impropriety over it, what's the problem?

In the realm of Souh Florida election shenanigans, this barely registers a blip.

How about that -- UM Law sent students to London to study the Olympics:

UM law student Alicia Lopiccolo is never regretful of her summer in school. One minute, she's laughing, the next, she's leery.

“We're presented with the opportunity to study abroad this summer and the program involved the 2012 Olympics,” Lopiccolo said. “So, that is something that I just couldn't pass up.”

About two dozen Miami law students couldn't either.

They made the trip of more than 4,000 miles from Coral Gables to London to study how the Olympics, and the law, work together.

Not sure of the real-world implications of studying "Olympic Law" but on the other hand when I was at UM the farthest I went for research was Biscayne Baby's (though it definitely felt like another world).

Finally,  the Florida Bar says being an undocumented immigrant does not disqualify you from the practice of law:

The Florida Bar has not found “good moral character and fitness issues” that would disqualify an undocumented immigrant from being admitted to practice law in Florida, but is still waiting for an opinion from the Florida Supreme Court before making a decision.

In a court filing on Tuesday, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners notified the Supreme Court that it determined last month that there were no such character issues that would automatically disqualify Jose Godinez-Samperio from practicing law, though it cautioned that it’s possible, though unlikely, something could still come to light.

But, the board also notified lawyers representing Godinez-Samperio that a final decision will wait until the state Supreme Court weighs in.

“It is anticipated that you will be notified of the board’s final action after the Supreme Court decision on the pending Request for Advisory Opinion,” the Bar board said in its letter to Godinez-Samperio’s main lawyer, Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte back on July 20. “If additional adverse information is received, the board will reopen its investigation.”

The letter was made public when it was sent Tuesday to the Supreme Court to be added to the record in the case.

Initially, the Bar had denied Godinez-Samperio’s application to the Bar, even though he graduated from a Florida law school and passed the Bar exam.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/09/2947363/florida-bar-immigrant-not-disqualify.html#storylink=cpy

Yeah, what's that worth nowadays -- heavy in debt, poor job prospects, hail maybe the applicant will do what Romney says and just self-deport?

Hey, it's his official policy position!

Your Monday Morning Digital Dump!

Hi there, what a nice dreary way to start the work week (for those of you still here).

Let's take a quick peek around town:

1.  The Herald wades into the swamp of judicial election campaigns.

This is an interesting article because it alludes to but does not identify outright the key factors associated with winning a judicial election.  Here are the indicators:

hire a judicial consultant early
raise lots of money
have the right last name (hyphenated is even better!)
get the right endorsements
pick the right low-hanging fruit opponent
stuff the low-turnout ballot box

 2.  Gregg Fields on how all the lawyers are on vacation and one lawyer put her cell phone in a box!  (no worries, there's always an iPad backup).

3.  Turns out all the foreclosure mill investigations have gone nowhere:

With no closure and no one held accountable, there is no justice, anti-foreclosure activists say.

“I’m incredulous at this point that two years later nothing has happened,” said West Palm Beach foreclosure defense attorney Melva Rozier. “I didn’t think it would take so long. It seemed as though a lot of conduct and actions were pretty obvious on their face.”

Some have now turned their ire on the Florida Bar, which says it has power only to investigate individual attorneys, not law firms.

Despite hundreds of foreclosure-related complaints against attorneys, not a single Florida lawyer who represents banks in foreclosure cases has been disciplined for foreclosure fraud by the Florida Bar.

And all of the major players, including leaders of the Law Offices of David J. Stern and Boca Raton-based Shapiro & Fishman, remain members in good standing with the Bar.

“In my opinion, (the Bar’s) inaction — especially on Stern — counts as one of the most egregious derelictions of responsibility in legal ethics history,” said Michael Olenick, a West Palm Beach-based housing analyst with the finance research firm Nastiaco. “It leads to the question of whether the Florida Bar is protecting the people and business of Florida, or the lawyers of Florida. Their inaction strongly suggests the latter.”

What, I can't hear you -- my cell phone is in a box and the reception isn't all that great here in North Carolina.

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

Stormy Monday (Again).

Greenberg Traurig oy!

The dismissal of Greenberg from nearly all things Rothstein is the talk of the cocktail circuit in South Florida's legal community.

Hey, at least they're finally discussing something law-related.

In other news, there is this:

A new survey found that Fortune 1,000 corporations are significantly less likely to arbitrate contract disputes today than they were in 1997.  In the 1997 study, 85% of companies reported using arbitration in commercial contract disputes at least once during the prior three years.  In 2011, however, only 60 percent of companies so reported.  In contrast, the companies’ usage of mediation remained steady at around 80%.

 The most common reasons given by survey respondents (general counsel and senior corporate lawyers) for not using arbitration included: the difficulty of appeal, the perception that arbitrators tend to compromise, the concern that arbitrators may not follow the law, a lack of confidence in neutrals, and high costs of arbitration.

Can someone let the Supremes know?

Happy Monday!

Let's see, I hope everyone is getting ready for the holidays and things are starting to slow down until the New Year.

A few items that caught my eye this morning:

1.  Spencer is lighting a giant Menorah (caution -- video is very hamish).

2.  Judge Jordan's nomination stalled at year end. 

Here's a portion of Senator Leahy's powerful 12/17/11 statement on this gridlock:

Our courts need qualified Federal judges, not vacancies, if they are to reduce the excessive wait times that burden litigants seeking their day in court. It is unacceptable for hardworking Americans who are seeking their day in court to suffer unnecessary delays.  When an injured plaintiff sues to help cover the cost of his or her medical expenses, that plaintiff should not have to wait for three years before a judge hears the case.  When two small business owners disagree over a contract, they should not have to wait years for a court to resolve their dispute. 

With one in ten Federal judgeships currently vacant, the Senate should have come together to address the serious judicial vacancies crisis on Federal courts around the country.  Bill Robinson, the president of the American Bar Association, warned recently in a letter to Senate leaders that excessive vacancies and high caseloads “deprive… our federal courts of the capacity to deliver timely justice in civil matters and has real consequences for the financial well-being of businesses and for individual litigants whose lives are put on hold pending resolution of their disputes.”  Justice Scalia, Justice Kennedy and Chief Justice Roberts have also warned of the serious problems created by persistent judicial vacancies.  This is an issue affecting hardworking Americans who are denied justice when their cases are delayed by overburdened courts.

If caseloads were really a concern of Republican Senators, as they contended when they filibustered the nomination last week of Caitlin Halligan to the D.C. Circuit, they would not have blocked us from voting to confirm consensus nominees to fill judicial emergency vacancies.  They would have consented to consider the nomination of Judge Adalberto Jordan of Florida which was reported unanimously on October to fill a judicial emergency vacancy on the Eleventh Circuit.  He is a well-respected Federal judge and his nomination is strongly supported by Florida’s Republican Senator, Senator Rubio.  Yet, despite the judicial emergency Republicans continue to delay consideration of that nomination.

 3.  Newt wants US Marshals to round up "activist" federal judges:

The former House speaker Sunday showed no sign of letting up on his assault on such judges. During an appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Gingrich suggested the president could send federal law enforcement authorities to arrest judges who make controversial rulings in order to compel them to justify their decisions before congressional hearings.

When host Bob Schieffer asked how he would force federal judges to comply with congressional subpoenas, Gingrich said he would send the U.S. Capitol Police or U.S. Marshals to arrest the judges and force them to testify.

How could this possibly go wrong?

Monday Morning Round Up.

Hi kids, let's see what is happening on this beautiful Monday.

1.  Brian Tannebaum is officially one of the most important people*

*on Twitter!

**and he's mad about it!!

2.  Local LGBT law students unite:

"I have been working with lesbian and gay law students from all four Southeast Florida law schools (UM, FIU, Nova, St. Thomas) to create a unique regional organization. The organization is called Unified Students (“US”) and our goal is to organize students who want to get involved in LGBT related pro bono work. Some projects we would like to work on include (i) conducting a legal clinic under the supervision of attorneys to help LGBT families with estate planning that will hold up under Florida state laws, (ii) creating an internet data base to connect students wanting to do volunteer research for LGBT related pro bono cases with attorneys looking for research on those kinds of cases, and (iii) attempting to change policies of homeless shelters that exclude transgendered people."

These are terrible goals -- doesn't anyone want to bomb Iran?

3.  Aww, how cute:  Terrell Owens sues GT.

And how was your weekend?

Your Monday Morning Digital Dump.

Good morning!

Let's get your strap-on you strapped on and ready to hit the ground running this week:

1.  We're just like New York, only cheaper:

Longtime international attorney, George Rocky Harper of Harper Meyer, believes the perception of Miami’s legal market has changed. “Miami is viewed as a lower-priced alternative to New York with equally as sophisticated lawyers.”

2.   Mike Kosnitzky suggests that all that glitters may not be Asian casino mega gold:

I was troubled to learn that several South Florida business leaders were taken on junkets to see other Genting properties in Asia without full disclosure of who attended, what they saw and the cost of these trips paid for by Genting. I am not suggesting that these trips are improper. However, in our rush to love the proposal and Genting we must not lose sight off the public’s need to know who is influencing the process and why.

Come on, Mike -- this is Miami we're talking about.

3.  Magistrate Judge Goodman is a better researcher than the lawyers who appear in his courtroom:

Both parties provided the Court with citations to a variety of federal circuit and district court opinions at the hearing in support of their positions. But no party provided the Court with a case from either the Eleventh Circuit or any district herein that specifically addresses this question (i.e., whether a treating physician may provide opinion testimony on causation, future treatment, and extent of a disability without the submission of an expert witness report). Nonetheless, this Court was able to find authority from within this circuit that squarely addresses the issue presented here.

Way to rub it in, Judge.

SFL Monday -- Must Be Santa.

So I biked into work this morning, cigar in hand, across the causeway against a light blue sky and light green sea, breezy birds and boozy work crews, beautiful women and ugly dogs, walking clubs, backpackers, lost tourists, unlit Christmas lights, Chabad Houses, iced coffees, sleeping men and bike lanes that start and stop inexplicably for no apparent reason.

God I don't feel like working this morning.