Florida

New app lets strangers swap leftover food, but is that legal?

Two former college roommates say they have developed an app that allows individuals to snap a photo of leftover food they don’t intend to eat and offer it to nearby strangers via their smartphones. When they were students at the University of Michigan, this LeftoverSwap solution to a widespread problem…

Aug 9, 2013 12:45 PM CDT

Lawyers in multiple states face inquiry, or worse, over legal fees in mortgage foreclosure matters

Attorneys in multiple states are in the news due to alleged violation of rules concerning the fees they charged clients seeking mortgage modifications or concerns that they may have used questionable billing practices while representing lenders in foreclosure cases. In California, attorney Stephen Siringoringo was ordered by the State Bar…

Aug 9, 2013 10:30 AM CDT

Lawyer’s claimed mid-trial DUI arrest set-up by opposing counsel leads to panel review of many cases

A six-person team including a retired Florida judge and a lawyer from the state attorney general’s office will review all open drunken-driving cases involving two Tampa police officers accused of setting up a lawyer for a driving-under-the-influence arrest with the help of his opposing counsel at a then-ongoing civil trial.…

Aug 8, 2013 9:20 PM CDT

See the video: Inmate in court for hearing makes grab at deputy’s gun

An inmate seated in a Florida courtroom awaiting a hearing Tuesday made a grab for a sheriff deputy’s gun, but was quickly restrained. Robert Lewis Bridges, 24, was in Hillsborough Circuit Court for a hearing in a criminal case in which he faces burglary and grand theft charges. A video…

Jul 31, 2013 9:14 PM CDT

Florida Bar supports undocumented law grad’s effort to win admission

Responding to an unusual attorney petition to the Florida Supreme Court seeking to amend state bar rules to allow the admission of undocumented immigrants, governors of the Florida Bar last week expressed support for the proposal. Organized by Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, a former ABA president and former president of Florida…

Jul 29, 2013 10:20 PM CDT

DUI case dropped against lawyer who claimed he was set up, mid-trial, by opposing counsel

Updated: A drunken-driving prosecution will not be pursued against an attorney who was arrested midway through a high-profile defamation trial after unwittingly having drinks with a paralegal from the law firm representing his client’s opponent. C. Philip Campbell contended that his Jan. 23 arrest, a few blocks away from the…

Jul 29, 2013 9:20 PM CDT

Fired court worker says she saw judge have sex with bailiff; judge calls claim ‘false and baseless’

A fired Florida court worker says she lost her job recently after walking in on a state-court judge having sex on a table in her chambers with a bailiff last year. Alisha Rupp filed a discrimination complaint with the state this week and said in a subsequent news conference at…

Jul 26, 2013 4:20 PM CDT

Trial lawyer Hugo L. Black Jr., son of famous US Supreme Court justice, is dead at 91

Hugo L. Black Jr., a longtime trial lawyer and the son of a famous U.S. Supreme Court justice, died Monday at his Florida home. He was 91 years old. Still a practicing lawyer in Coral Gables, Fla., until shortly before his death, Black is survived by two daughters. He was…

Jul 24, 2013 5:30 PM CDT

Client who lost $6M to pin-up ex-wife sues lawyer for advising him to put money in wife’s name

Facing a $2 million clawback suit by the bankruptcy trustee in the Bernard Madoff case, an Atlanta entrepreneur says, he sought advice from the New York office of Becker & Poliakoff. They referred him to asset protection specialist Richard Cahan in the firm’s Miami, Fla., office, alleges now-former client James…

Jul 17, 2013 9:20 PM CDT

Eric Holder condemns stand-your-ground laws, as DOJ probes Trayvon Martin slaying

In the wake of a controversial not-guilty verdict Saturday in the slaying of an unarmed black teenager by a volunteer neighborhood watch member who said he feared for his life, the nation’s top law enforcement officer has criticized applicable state law that supported a Florida jury in reaching its determination.…

Jul 16, 2013 10:10 PM CDT

George Zimmerman, JD? Some friends say acquitted shooter would like to attend law school

George Zimmerman was once accused of being a wannabe cop, but the neighborhood watch volunteer may have different legal ambitions after his acquittal in the shooting of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman’s lawyer and a friend tell Reuters that Zimmerman may be interested in law school. According to friend Leanne…

Jul 15, 2013 2:37 PM CDT

Zimmerman prosecutor fires IT director who testified about missing exculpatory material

The prosecutor in the George Zimmerman case has fired an information technology director who testified he was concerned that the office had failed to give exculpatory materials to defense lawyers. IT director Ben Kruidbos learned about his dismissal in a letter dispatched by the managing director of the office overseen…

Jul 15, 2013 1:52 PM CDT

Pretrial strategy in Zimmerman case may have been gambit to assert stand-your-ground in civil suits

George Zimmerman’s lawyers may have been thinking about the possibility of a future civil suit when they decided not to pursue a stand-your-ground hearing before their client’s criminal trial. The defense could have asked a judge to dismiss the criminal case based on Florida’s stand-your-ground law, which allows the use…

Jul 15, 2013 12:24 PM CDT

Could George Zimmerman face federal prosecution? Justice Department is examining the case

George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin does not necessarily mean his criminal justice woes are over. The U.S. Justice Department announced on Sunday that its civil rights division has restarted an investigation of the incident, the New York Times reports. The probe had been delayed during…

Jul 15, 2013 11:48 AM CDT

Investors in law firm chief’s $1.2B swindle to get full repayment under OK’d bankruptcy plan

As a bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved a liquidation plan for a South Florida law firm at a hearing attended by some 75 attorneys, those involved said at least some investors in the now-imprisoned former managing partner’s $1.2 billion swindle are expected to be repaid 100 cents on the dollar.…

Jul 12, 2013 3:05 PM CDT