Florida Bar Journal articles from May 2006

Florida Bar Journal archives from May 2006

We the people.(right to trial by jury)(Florida)(President's page)
May 1, 2006... The American Revolution was sparked, in part, because the right to trial by jury had been snatched away. As founding father John Adams declared more than two centuries ago: "Representative government and trial by jury are the heart and...

Understanding and applying Florida's flexibility theory of damages.
May 1, 2006... Florida courts have led the nation with the so-called "flexibility theory of damages," which means that plaintiffs in contract and tort may seek reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses, or reasonable future lost profits, but not both. The...

Florida's public duty doctrine.
May 1, 2006... In June 2004, the Florida Supreme Court issued a long-awaited (1) and significant opinion in the area of governmental tort law when it decided Pollock v. Florida Highway Patrol, 882 So. 2d 928 (Fla. 2004). Factually, Pollock involved a wrongful...

Law office disaster preparedness: the liability and ethics of attorneys.
May 1, 2006... Dateline: Wednesday, October 19, 2005. Hurricane Wilma churns in the western Caribbean as the strongest Atlantic-based storm in recorded history. The projected path brings this category five hurricane, the third of the season, on a collision...

Would you be prepared in the event of a disaster?
May 1, 2006... I'll get around to it... someday! As we all watched in total disbelief the horrific collapse of the World Trade Center in New York, how many of us thought, again, that we really do need to prepare our firm's disaster preparedness and recovery...

Legacy of Hurricane Katrina takes toll on Mississippi attorneys.
May 1, 2006... It had been 36 years and 10 days and some Mississippians had actually forgotten the extent of the destruction Camille had caused, while others remembered it vividly. No one, however, will likely forget the effects of Hurricane Katrina. ...

Contractual waiver of personal jurisdiction under F.S. [section] 685.102: the long-arm statute's little-known cousin.
May 1, 2006... To most practitioners in Florida, F.S. [section] 48.193, more commonly known as the "long-arm statute," is second nature. After all, conventional wisdom says that [section] 48.193 is the only way for out-of-state persons and corporations to be...

Judicial notice on appeal: why all the fuss?
May 1, 2006... One of the most fundamental principles of appellate law is=preservation below." The basic rule is evidence cannot be presented for the first time on appeal. After all, appellate courts are not fact-finding tribunals. They evaluate and correct...

Diffenderfer revisited - is the double-dipping quagmire still alive?
May 1, 2006... In December 2005, the entire New York City transportation system was shut down as a result of a strike by transit workers. One of the key issues of that strike was an attempt by workers to protect their entitlement to retirement benefits. The...

Gallagher v. Manatee County: the sovereign immunity cap for FCRA claims includes attorneys' fees and costs.(Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992)
May 1, 2006... The Second District Court of Appeal recently issued a decision which is likely to significantly impact practitioners in the area of employment law regarding the application of the $100,000 cap in F.S. [section] 768.28(5). In Gallagher v....