Donate to Project Pinstripe, You Plebes!

A loyal tipster advises that everyone's favorite downtown clothier, Steve Cassidy of the Tom James Company, is actually doing a good thing that doesn't even involve you buying a new suit.

He's collecting suits, shirts, and ties for Project Pinstripe of South Florida, which will benefit 50 young men from The Boys and Girls Club. The goal is to provide a head to toe power outfit and a dress for success etiquette class.

You can email Steve at s.cassidy@tomjames.com, and give him some ties and shirts you got as gifts, but you know you'll never wear.

Me, I'm giving him that old white polyester leisure suit, and that shirt with the wide lapels. Hail, I may even through in my gold medallion -- I want these kids to succeed!

January 30, 2009

Bowers, 34 FLW 207, trial court erred in discharging the def from further prosecution based on a violation of rule 3.191-continuances and delays attributable to the def waived speedy trial time in rule 3.191(m) even after a mistrial one would have to file a demand.


Beam, 34 FLW 217, 5th DCA, def who had sexual intercourse with his 18 year old adopted daughter and niece by his marriage could not be convicted of incest because adopted daughter was not related to the def by consanguinity-does not extend to persons related by affinity or adoption or biologically by blood


Harris, 34 FLW 220, 2nd DCA, error to stop vehicle on ground that trailer hitch partially blocked the tag and ofcs could not read the letters on the tag from 30 to 50 feet-properly attached trailer hitch is not "other obscuring matter" for purpose of statute requiring that id information on plate be clear and distinct and free from defacement, etc.

Cromartie, 34 FLW 223, 1st DCA, evidence to exclude evidence of def's blood alcohol level at time of fight in which the def struck the victim one time and victim fell under theory of defense was that victim was acting in an aggressive, threatening manner, under the influence of alcohol and was defending himself when he struck the victim only once-new trial required


The Law Offices of Roger P. Foley, P.A.

Big Firm Follies -- Both Sides Now.

It was nice seeing someone intelligent behind the Presidential podium last night, attempting to answer difficult questions with some sense of context, history, reality, and informed judgment. Whether any of it will work, however, is another matter....

Meanwhile, DBR's Alana Roberts works the endless well of Akerman rumors and speculation and finds some non-equity partners are getting all Carvered-Up:

Akerman Senterfitt has reported a dramatic 30 percent drop in its non-equity shareholders, capping off a difficult year marked by rapid turnover, the embarrassing collapse of a merger and the revelation that it missed its budget.

Other than that, though, things are just peachy!

And over at Hogan & Hartson they have frozen associate pay and are trying to figure out a way to get rid of their secretarial staff....nicely:

Hogan & Hartson is the latest firm looking to trim its legal staff, but it hasn't enacted layoffs.

Instead, the Washington-based firm offered buyouts on Monday to about 240 of its legal secretaries and word processors. Staff and associate layoffs have become commonplace at law firms in the past six months, but Hogan & Hartson is among the first to encourage staffers to leave voluntarily.

"In the end, I think people are going to feel pretty good that the firm gave people a choice," said Hogan & Hartson Chairman J. Warren Gorrell Jr. The buyout offer has been extended to secretaries and word processors who have been with the firm for at least five years. Those who choose to accept the buyout will receive four weeks of pay, plus an additional week of pay for every year they spent with the firm. The buyout offer is more lucrative for longtime secretaries, who generally make more money than recent hires.

Everyone knows longtime secretaries at big firms are notoriously tough survivors, who are not pushed around easily and have lots of ways of exacting vengeance if they feel mistreated or under appreciated.

Better have a runner taste that coffee, Mr. BigFirm BigShot -- better yet, pour it yourself.

Oh hail I'm not done yet this morning. Here's my ode to you beleaguered BigFirmers, sung to the tune of Joni's "Both Sides Now":

Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say "You're Fired" right out loud
Dreams and schemes and declining profits-per-partner
I've looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads, they say I've changed
They question why my billables went down
And why I don't originate

I've practiced law from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's the BS from the managing partner I recall
I really didn't know he was such a heartless jerk after all

I've practiced law from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's that crap from that jerkoff in my exit interview I recall
I really don't like this place after all

Hang in there, folks!

Glenn Garvin, Legal Scholar.

Forget 2012, the apocalypse is now:

Continuing its slide into self-parody, the Miami Herald's lovable right-wing TV critic, Glenn Garvin, is now also a legal scholar.

In the first of his biweekly opinion columns, he wades into the 11th Circuit's Vamos a Cuba opinion, and naturally gets everything pretty much totally wrong:

Librarians may imagine themselves high priests, beyond the control of mere mortals, but the School Board correctly recognized them for what they are: public employees, accountable to the people who pay their salaries.

Yeah, what's with these high-falutin' librarians, always telling us to shuush, their long flowing hair pulled tightly into a neat conservative bun, their smart glasses perched down their demurely sexy noses, imagine what long legs, garters and silk could be underneath all that sensible buttoned-down business attire???

Oops, sorry, I got a little distracted.

Anyways, go get 'em Garvin -- knock those "high-priest librarians" down a peg, buddy -- I can't think of anybody more deserving!!

Glenn, you can be mildly amusing at times, but stick to what you know -- profiling fair and balanced guys like Brit Hume and Glenn Beck, ripping into revered liberal icons like John Lennon, scaring people about the alleged return of the Fairness Doctrine, and being the only TV critic in the country who raved about that now-canceled Fox News "Daily Show" disaster.

But leave the warmed-over Jonah Goldberg to...well, Jonah Goldberg.

Rick Ross, YouTube, and the Carol City Gang.

TSG has posted a fun transcript involving our own fake tough guy rapper, Rick Ross:

The rapper Rick Ross would have his fans believe that he made millions trafficking cocaine while running with one of Miami's violent street gangs. Of course, that claim took a hit recently with the disclosure that Ross (real name: William Leonard Roberts) actually once worked as a corrections officer, news that was met with derision in hip-hop circles. Now, records show that Ross's own lawyer last year disputed reports that the performer has ever been affiliated with any gang. Ross's purported hoodlum connections were explored last April during a deposition of Officer Rey Hernandez, a Miami Beach cop who arrested Ross in January 2008 on gun and marijuana charges (one of the few blemishes on Ross's rap sheet). As seen in the below transcript excerpts, Ross's lawyer, Allan Zamren, asked Hernandez why Ross's case was assigned to the gang task force. "Because your client claims affiliation with Carol City Cartel and other known gang members," Hernandez replied. The cop then directed Zamren to "some literature or video on U-Tube that you can pull up for yourself."

The Tubes as a legitimate basis for referral to a gang task force?

I wouldn't know -- I just watch old Joe Walsh and fitness videos on that site.

Detective, what task force would that qualify me for?

But hey -- it's South Florida, you can be anything you claim to be....

Monday Morning Long Distance Runaround Edition

Thomas J. Rebull assures Herald readers that despite the nationwide search for the Civilian Investigative Panel's executive director, it is quite possible someone from South Florida is somehow competent enough to handle the job:

The search beyond South Florida simply means that the CIP wants to make sure that it finds the best person for this community. That person might very well be from our own back yard.

HAHAHAHA, Tom's always been a joker. Nice line, though.

What else -- the new stadium the taxpayers are building for the Marlins is already a Miami Arena-styled failure:

The city hopes the stadium will eventually attract further commercial development, perhaps including a hotel, to several city-owned parcels on the site's eastern and western flanks that will be left undeveloped for now. Those lots will be occupied temporarily by surface parking and an existing recreational ball field.

But critics of the plan see myriad missed opportunities. Many fear that the stadium will become another sports venue that fans largely evacuate after a game, like the old Miami Arena or the current AmericanAirlines Arena, both of which failed to spur promised redevelopment.

By giving over most of the 42-acre Orange Bowl site to the Marlins stadium and multistory garages, some say, the city has sharply reduced the options for a broader mix of development -- such as retail, offices and housing -- with sufficient economic oomph to revitalize the larger neighborhood around it.

HAHAHAHA, Dave Samson's always been a joker. Nice taxpayer ripoff, though.

In other good news, all you bigfirmers holding your breath for January and February to end, it ain't over yet:

Hinshaw & Culbertson, a Chicago-based firm with about 490 attorneys, cut 11 attorneys and 17 staff members last week in an effort to trim costs amid the economic slowdown.

The firm, which has nine of its 26 offices in Illinois, made the reductions across all offices and the dismissals weren't concentrated in any particular practice areas, said Bill Roberts, Hinshaw's managing partner.

The employee cuts amount to nearly 3% of the former 1,002-worker headcount.

Don't they have -- or didn't they have -- a Miami office? Paging Ron Kammer!

And finally, Willie Ferrer may become our next US Attorney:

Two former colleagues in the Miami prosecutor's office -- attorneys David Buckner and Curt Miner, who attended Harvard University law school with Acosta in the early 1990s -- say they intend to apply for the position. They are among more than a half-dozen potential candidates -- including Miami-Dade County government lawyer Wifredo ''Willy'' Ferrer, a one-time federal prosecutor as well as deputy chief of staff and counsel to former Attorney General Janet Reno.

Hey, wait a minute -- this is actually good news.

And how was your weekend?

SFL Friday -- Last Day for Turtlenecks Edition

Hi kids, well that was a nice event last night for the judges, huh? David writes it up -- sans Barfield -- here.

Choice choices, me I'm heading out early, gonna try to hit Equinox and work up a sweat before I get ready for my weekend. How about you?

We still have one more day of sweater weather, so let's try to enjoy it before summer sets in again.

Have a great weekend everybody!