Florida Bar News articles from June 2001

Florida Bar News archives from June 2001

Court sets Family Division standards.
June 1, 2001... Guidelines for operations in Florida's Family Division courts have been unanimously approved by the Supreme Court. The justices also asked the committee which proposed: the standards, the Family Court Steering Committee, to continue...

Bar, Governor's Office gear up to: make JNC appointments.
June 1, 2001... The Florida Bar is looking for at least 78 good lawyers willing to serve on the state's judicial nominating commissions. And the Board of Governors has adopted an expedited schedule for screening and selecting nominees for a vacant seat on each...

Lawyer warms of scam artist who targets attorneys.
June 1, 2001... If someone calls and claims to be from The Florida Bar and asks for your credit card number to pay Bar membership fees, be careful -- the Bar doesn't yet accept credit cards for annual fee payments and doesn't collect fees via the phone. ...

Letters.
June 1, 2001... American Bar Association I take exception to Martha Barnett's letter regarding federal judges and the role of the ABA in the federal judicial selection process. While the ABA may have been in a perfect position to reach into the legal...

Workers' comp. JNC accepting applications.
June 1, 2001... The Statewide Nominating Commission for Judges of Compensation Claims is now accepting applications for the judge of compensation claims vacancy in District A-West (Pensacola). This vacancy, effective November 14, has been created by the...

Board to make August appointments.
June 1, 2001... The Board of Governors is seeking applicants for the following vacancies to be filled during its August 23 meeting: Lawyer applicants are being sought to fill two vacancies on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. The Board of Governors will...

Klausner petitions for Bar reinstatement.
June 1, 2001... Pursuant to Rule 307.10 (b), Harry Jay Klausner of Ft. Myers has petitioned the Supreme Court for Bar reinstatement. Klausner was suspended from the practice of law for three years by an order of the Supreme Court dated November 25, 1998,...

Bar seeks JNC applicants.
June 1, 2001... The Board of Governors is seeking applicants for the following vacancies for nominations to be submitted to Governor Bush on or before July 1: Judicial Nominating Commissions: One lawyer vacancy for each of the 26 JNCs. The Florida Bar...

Bush seeks JNC applicants.
June 1, 2001... Gov. Jeb Bush is now seeking applicants to fill vacancies in each of the state's 26 judicial nominating commissions. Under legislation passed in May, the governor will directly appoint five members to each JNC on which the appointee will...

UPL panel members needed.
June 1, 2001... The Unlicensed Practice of Law Department is seeking members for the local circuit unlicensed practice of law committees. Local circuit committee members conduct the investigations and make recommendations as to the disposition of cases....

Young lawyers to fill out-of-state seat.
June 1, 2001... The Florida Bar Young Lawyers Division is now accepting applications to fill a vacant out-of-state seat on the YLD Board of Governors. Those interested may send a letter indicating their desire to be appointed to the seat to Austin...

Board of Governors approves Bar budget.
June 1, 2001... Making only two minor changes, including one to continue publishing Bar rules in The Florida Bar Journal directory issue, the Board of Governors has signed off on the 2001-02 budget that increases annual membership fees. Incoming Budget...

2001-02 Executive Committee named.
June 1, 2001... The Board of Governors has elected board members Alan Bookman, Michele Cummings and David Welch to the 2001 2002 Florida Bar Executive Committee. The action, at the board's May meeting, completes the makeup of the committee, which is...

Outgoing board members reflect on their service.
June 1, 2001... It's taken 79 days of work in the past four years to attend Board of Governors meetings and to deal with related Bar work, according to the calculations of outgoing board member Mike McMahon. At his normal billing rates, that's around...

Board looks at voluntary bar participation policy.
June 1, 2001... The Board of Governors is considering a clarification to Standing Board Policies that will allow the Bar president to invite representatives of some voluntary bars to sit with the board, although those representatives will not have a vote. ...

Zack says ABA ethics and MDP work bear watching.
June 1, 2001... ABA activities dealing with ethics and multijurisdictional practices should be closely watched, according to a former Florida Bar president who has served as state delegate to the ABA House of Delegates for the last three years. Steve Zack...

Ethics and advertising appeals discussed.
June 1, 2001... Appeals on proposed ethics opinions should still come to the Bar Board of Governors, but a Bar committee barely recommended that the board continue to be the final arbiter on advertising appeals. Board member Manny Morales, chair of the...

Panel looks at unbundled services-.
June 1, 2001... A special Bar committee is collecting information and opinions on whether lawyers should be allowed to "unbundle" legal services in family law matters. Board of Governors member Sharon Langer chairs the committee and she told the Board of...

Reno to speak at Annual Meeting.
June 1, 2001... Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno will be the featured speaker at two luncheons at the Bar's Annual Meeting in Orlando. Reno will address the Criminal Law Section's Selig I. Goldin Awards Luncheon and the Young Lawyers Division's...

MDP panel works on disclosure form for ancillary businesses.
June 1, 2001... A special committee may soon have ready a proposed disclosure form for lawyers to give clients when referring them to another business partially or entirely owned by the law firm. And the form may be needed. The Special Commission on...

Law provides FLA immunity.
June 1, 2001... The Florida Legislature recently passed a law granting Florida Lawyers Assistance's staff and volunteers immunity, and providing confidentiality of records and information received by the lawyer assistance program. "The whole idea was to...

Stress management seminar slated for Bar Annual Meeting.
June 1, 2001... Topics such as "stress management techniques" and "emotional intelligence and law practice management" will be discussed during the "Stress Management for Lawyers: Achieving Personal & Professional Satisfaction in the Practice of Law" seminar...

FLREA conducts Law Week events in Tallahassee.
June 1, 2001... Sean Pence, Jose Alfonso, and Haley Pitts won their first case before the Supreme Court of Florida recently. However, all three "attorneys" were elementary school students. The students were visiting the Supreme Court as part of a Law Week...

Bar investments on the rise.
June 1, 2001... Bar investments have staged a recovery from first quarter losses, but were still slightly down for the year, as of early May. Investment Committee Chair David Bianchi told the Board of Governors last month that with most stock indices...

League of Women Voters to survey Florida's judges.
June 1, 2001... The Tallahassee League of WomenVoters is asking all of Florida's judges - from county court to the Supreme Court-to tell it like it is about the day-to-day realities of the threat to judicial independence. By the time this News hits your...

Russomanno, Zack, and Coker named to House of Delegates.
June 1, 2001... Outgoing Bar President Herman Russomanno and former Bar Presidents Steve Zack and Howard Coker have all been named to the ABA House of Delegates, following action by the Bar Board of Governors. A fourth seat automatically went to incoming...

Russell names FBBE screening committee.
June 1, 2001... President-elect Terry Russell has named seven Board of Governors members to a screening committee for applicants for two lawyer positions on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. The board, at its August meeting, will nominate six applicants...

ABA finds women lawyers still lag behind male colleagues.
June 1, 2001... As the name of the latest ABA report implies - "The Unfinished Agenda" - equal numbers still don't add up to equal opportunity for many women lawyers. Even though women make up 30 per cent of all lawyers and now fill the majority of seats...

Bar's judicial poll overhauled.
June 1, 2001... The Florida Bar's Judicial Evaluation Committee has overhauled its model poll that local bars can use when they con duct bar polls of their local judiciary, JEC Chair Jennifer Coberly told the Bar Board of Governors in May that the poll...

Board briefed on this year's legislative session.
June 1, 2001... A bruising legislative session generally ended well for The Florida Bar, according to Florida Bar President Herman Russomanno, legislative counsel Steve Metz, and Legislation Committee Chair Richard Gilbert. The three reported to the Board...

Children's Commission to meet.
June 1, 2001... The Florida Bar Commission on the Legal Needs of Children will meet June 21 in Orlando in conjunction with the Bar's Annual Meeting at the Orlando World Center Marriott from 9 am. to 5 p.m. During the morning portion of this meeting,...

Seats still available for 'Jet Break to Scotland'.
June 1, 2001... The Orange County Bar Association is still taking reservations for its Sixth Annual Jet Break to Scotland set for October 9 - 22. The cost is $3,040 for 14 days and 13 nights and includes airfare from Orlando or Miami, hotel rooms, some...

St. Thomas' Monissey named Gonzaga's dean.
June 1, 2001... Dan Morrissey, dean at St. Thomas University School of Law from 1994-99, has been appointed dean of the school of law at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Morrissey, who has remained on the faculty at St. Thomas since he stepped down...

Trial Lawyer Section seminar spiced with international flavor.
June 1, 2001... While it has always been the mission of the Trial Lawyers Section to improve the trial advocacy skills of Florida lawyers, the section's Advanced Trial Advocacy seminar is increasingly becoming an international affair. For years now the...

Miami's Judge Milian now presides on television.
June 1, 2001... Wearing a black robe and a perfectly lipsticked smile, Judge Marilyn Milian gets in a dig at a young man fumbling the facts, embroiled in a contract dispute with his uncle: "If I went to jail, I'd re member what I'd gone to jail for. I'm...

Knowing when it's time to move on.
June 1, 2001... When is it time to quit? Ending something when encountering diminishing returns all too frequently places us in a quandary, whether it involves little decisions about relatively minor issues or major decisions involving turning points. ...

Taylor honored for professionalism.
June 1, 2001... Jennifer Opel Taylor, a family law lawyer and certified mediator, was honored by the Brevard County Bar Association for professionalism. Taylor was recognized as being "the most professional of all the attorneys in private practice." ...

News and Notes.
June 1, 2001... Jerald D. August of August & Kulunas, P.A., in West Palm Beach has been named a council director for the tax section of the American Bar Association. John Germany of Holland & Knight, LLP, in Tampa was recently awarded the Herbert G....

On the Move.
June 1, 2001... Rebecca L. Henderson, formerly of Edwards & Angell, and Alan L. Quiles and Lorraine O'Hanlon Rogers have joined Elk, Bankier & Christu, with offices at 4800 N. Federal Hwy, Boca Raton 33431, telephone (561)368-8800. The firm was previously...

Nova receives $1 million gift.
June 1, 2001... Nova Southeastern University's law school recently received a $1 million gift from the C. William Trout Charitable Trust. The money will be used to create the John B. Anderson Distinguished Visiting Chair in Public Interest Law, a special...

Tallahassee Bar sets seminars.
June 1, 2001... The Tallahassee Bar Association invites lawyers to attend three Ethics CLE Seminar Luncheons, for one ethics hour per class, to be held at The Florida BarCenter for Professionalism in the Bar Annex. The seminars will begin at noon on...

Hernando County Bar recognizes volunteers.
June 1, 2001... The Hernando County Bar Association recently recognized a number of lawyers for their contributions to support the pro bono program in the Fifth Judicial Circuit, which operates in conjunction with the Withlacoochee Area Legal Services office...

HCBA bestows trial awards.
June 1, 2001... The Hillsborough County Bar Association Trial Lawyers' Section recently handed out a number of awards. The section presented John Germany with the Herbert G. Goldburg Award, the highest award given by the HCBA Trial Lawyers' Section. The...

Firm launches clothing drive.
June 1, 2001... Fowler White, Ernst & Young, and Sykes Enterprises Incorporated have teamed up for the Spring Fling Clothing Drive. Clothing will be collected by employees of the three companies for The Spring of Tampa Bay, a shelter for domestic violence...

Court approves Bar's requested fee hike.
June 15, 2001... The Florida Supreme Court has approved an annual fee increase for active and inactive members of The Florida Bar. The new fees will be $265, up from $190, for active members, and $175, up from $140, for inactive members. No one...

Fee statements hit the mail.
June 15, 2001... Florida Bar members soon will receive their 2001-02 annual fee statements reflecting an increase in fees and only minor modifications to the form. Bar finance director Allen Martin said the statements have changed little from last year,...

Manatee launches e-filing system.
June 15, 2001... Four years after the Florida Supreme Court gave its official blessing to electronic filing of court documents, Manatee County is now poised to become the first clerk's office in Florida to finally make it happen. As Manatee Clerk of the...

IOTA rule amendment debated.
June 15, 2001... Opening the IOTA program to financial institutions other than banks and requiring those holding the trust accounts to pay interest rates or dividends commensurate with those offered to their non-IOTA depositors will go a long way toward...

Criminal Law Section to distribute handbook on closing arguments.
June 15, 2001... The Criminal Law Section will soon begin distributing a handbook to every prosecutor and public defender in the state on how to avoid mistakes in closing arguments that lead to reversals by appellate courts. Aside from public defenders and...

Letters.
June 15, 2001... Doctors of Law Recent letters in the News took opposite positions on whether the J.D. degree is in fact a "doctoral" degree and whether it is unethical, or even indictable, to use the title "Doctor." What I was taught in law school in...

Bush to sign JNC bill.
June 15, 2001... It's official. In a press release seeking applicants to Florida's judicial nominating commissions, Gov. Jeb Bush announced on May 25 that he would sign HB 367, which increases his power over appointments to JNCs, when it reaches his desk....

UPL panel members needed.
June 15, 2001... The Unlicensed Practice of Law Department is seeking members for the local circuit unlicensed practice of law committees. Local circuit committee members conduct the investigations and make recommendations as to the disposition of cases....

Frank Johnson petitions for Bar reinstatement.
June 15, 2001... Frank T. Johnson has petitioned the Supreme Court for Bar reinstatement. Johnson was suspended from the practice of law for 91 days, effective January 21, by a December 21 Supreme Court order. Johnson was suspended for violating Bar...

Mental health education will serve lawyers well.
June 15, 2001... Following action by the Florida Supreme Court; Bar members can now count mental health awareness education as part of their required CLE courses on professionalism, ethics, and substance abuse. The court made that change recently when, it...

Dade county Bar works to help the mentally ill.
June 15, 2001... All the beauty and wealth in Miami-Dade County hides a growing population of people with untreated and often unknown mental illness, at a ratethree times the national average. The county has the highest percentage of people with mental...

Foundation seeks Bar fee statement contributions.
June 15, 2001... The Florida Bar Foundation is asking members make a $25 tax deductible contribution to its Lawyers Challenge for Children campaign when they fill out their 2001-2002 fee, statement to help bring the benefits of the law and of lawyers to the...

Andringa applies for readmission.
June 15, 2001... Robert J. Andringa of Clearwater has submitted an application for readmission to The Florida Bar' Andringa resigned from the Bar in 1990 under allegations that he filed a voluntary dismissal in a lawsuit without the consent or knowledge of...

Hill applies for Bar readmission.
June 15, 2001... Anderson Hill II of Orlando has submitted an application for readmission to The Florida Bar. Hill was disbarred in 1991 as a result of a grand theft charge for stealing a $16,000 check from one of his associate's estate files and...

Website to link court clerks.
June 15, 2001... Not only is Manatee County Clerk of Court Chips Shore busy working on his own local e-filing project, he is project chairman of a massive undertaking by the Florida Association of Court Clerks to offer one statewide website, where people can...

Foundation places law students with legal aid groups.
June 15, 2001... The Florida Bar Foundation, through its Summer Fellowship Program, is placing 20 law students with 16 legal aid organizations throughout the state. The fellowships, which began in May, give students an up-close and personal look at legal issues...

Ethics Seminar set for Orlando Annual Meeting.
June 15, 2001... The judicial view of lawyer ethics, attorneys' own perspective on their actions, and a look at the growing defamation cases arising out of lawyers' comments about opposing parties or counsel will be highlighted topics at this year's Masters...

Bar leaders workshop set.
June 15, 2001... Designed especially for attorneys who have recently been elected or will soon become an officer in a local bar association, the 2001 Annual Voluntary Bar Leaders Conference will be held August 17-18. The Manatee and Sarasota County Bar...

Business Law Section enjoys 'extremely successful' session.
June 15, 2001... Improvements in the state's post-judgment collections procedures and a revision to Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code were among the highlights of a successful legislative session for the Business Law Section. "We had an extremely...

Jacksonville's Milton honored by voluntary bar presidents group.
June 15, 2001... The Florida Council of Bar Association Presidents has selected Joseph P. Milton of the Jacksonville Bar Association to receive the Outstanding Past President Award. The statewide award recognizes former voluntary bar association presidents...

The problem of professionalism in legal education.
June 15, 2001... "In America, where the stability of courts and of all departments of government rests upon the approval of the people, it is peculiarly essential that the system for establishing and dispensing justice be developed to a high point of efficiency...

Receivership study group formed.
June 15, 2001... The Florida Bar Business Law Section's Bankruptchy/UCC Committee recently established a Receivership Study Group to provide a forum for discussion and exchange of ideas on receivership law. The panel will look at developments and improvements...

National leaders meet to discuss bias in the courts.
June 15, 2001... In 1988, only four states had commissions on racial and ethnic bias in the courts -- New York, New Jersey, Washington, and Michigan. In 2001, the number of states with such commissions is nearly seven times that. Twenty states with...

Can Florida's courts reflect the diversity of the state?
June 15, 2001... How can Florida's judiciary reflect the diversity in its communities? This was the question asked during the "Increasing Diversity on the Bench: Issues Relating to the Appointment and Election of Judges" program at the May annual meeting of the...

Judges can make a difference in a young person's life.
June 15, 2001... Carmesha and Lourdes grew up in impoverished, abusive families. They had no hope for happiness and were so concerned with surviving day-to-day that they never thought about their futures. Fabia and Dayna grew up in difficult circumstances, as...

Bar website to be highlighted at Annual Meeting in Orlando.
June 15, 2001... It will be show-and-tell time at the Annual Meeting when Amy Hand, the Bar's computer training guru, demonstrates improvements to The Florida Bar's website. The Online Member Services @FLABAR.org seminar -- offered in four one-hour...

Judges have an ethical duty to report UPL.
June 15, 2001... Judges have a duty to inform the Bar if they suspect a suspended lawyer is engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, and a judge who is married to the elected public defender is better off in the civil division, according to the Judicial...

Florida students compete nationally.
June 15, 2001... Students from J.M. Tate High School in Pensacola recently finished sixth at the 2001 National High School Mock Trial Championships in Omaha, Nebraska. The team from Tate took top honors earlier this year at the state competition held in...

News and Notes.
June 15, 2001... John M. Welch, Jr., of Foley & Lardner in Jacksonville has received the firm's Lynford Lardner Community Service Award in recognition of his volunteer work and civic involvement. Wendy Girardin and Robert Long of Legal, Corporate and...

On the Move.
June 15, 2001... Jeffrey M. Oshinsky, formerly of Revelex Corporation, has joined White & Case, LLP, with offices at 200 S. Biscayne Blvd., Ste. 4900, Miami 33131, telephone (305)371-2700. He concentrates in the area of corporate transactions. Bruce A....

Benchmarks.
June 15, 2001... Judge John R. Blue of the Second District Court of Appeal in Lakeland has been elected by his fellow judges to serve as their chief judge for a two-year term. Judge Lucy Chernow Brown of the 15th Judicial Circuit Court in West Palm Beach...

50-year members of The Florida Bar 1951-2001.
June 15, 2001... THE FLORIDA BAR Congratulations to The Florida Bar's 50-Year Members--Class of 1951! Of the 189 lawyers marking their 50th year as a Florida Bar member, 136 of you have chosen to celebrate the occasion and, in your own words, share your...

Smith wins professionalism award.
June 15, 2001... Wm. Reece Smith, Jr., recently received the American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the 11th Circuit, U. S. Court of Appeals, at the 2001 11th Circuit Judicial Conference held May 10-12 in Savannah, Georgia. The American Inns of...

Nova honors Legal Aid of Broward County.
June 15, 2001... The Legal Aid Society of Broward County recently gave its highest award to the Children and Family Law Clinic of Nova Southeastern University Law Center. In conjunction with the Broward County Bar Association's Law Day Celebration, Nova...

Juvenile Court celebrates Law Day.
June 15, 2001... As part of 11th Judicial Circuit's Law Month activities, the Juvenile Court hosted its annual "Wall of Honor" presentation May 11 in the north lobby of the Juvenile Justice Center. The Juvenile Court Wall of Honor was created to honor...

Schiltz to lead Clearwater Bar.
June 15, 2001... Scott E. Schiltz was recently inducted as Clearwater Bar Association president at the organizations's 40th annual Law Day Luncheon. John Loftus, president of the Florida Holocaust Museum, provided the keynote address. Other officers and...

Law firm awards art scholarships.
June 15, 2001... Henderson, Franklin, Stames & Halt recently awarded $2,000 in college scholarships to Edison Community College students as part of the 10th Annual Celebration of the Arts. The visual arts competition is open to all fine arts students at...

UF Juvenile Mediation Clinic honored with Community Award.
June 15, 2001... The Juvenile Mediation Clinic at the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law is one of 26 organizations recently honored by the National Council on Crime and Delinquency for its work with area youth. The Fifth Annual New...