Florida

Planned Octomom Strip Club Gig Does Not ‘Constitute a Legal Emergency,’ Judge Rules

The woman known as “Octomom” after giving birth to octuplets in 2009 is now at the center of a legal dispute between two South Florida strip clubs who booked her for appearances. Nadya Suleman agreed to dance topless at T’s Lounge in West Palm Beach for eight shows, starting Wednesday,…

Jul 11, 2012 6:28 PM CDT

Client’s Plea in Capital Case Puts Fla. Lawyer Back on Track to Compete in Hemingway Contest

A Florida criminal defense lawyer made headlines a few weeks ago after a federal judge nixed his motion seeking permission to take time off during a client’s capital murder trial to attend an Ernest Hemingway lookalike contest. But Frank Louderback is back on track to compete in the annual contest…

Jul 10, 2012 11:04 PM CDT

3 Men Banned From Stand-Your-Ground Murder Trial After Videotaped Brawl Outside Fla. Courtroom

A brawl outside a Florida judge’s courtroom on Monday resulted not only in criminal misdemeanor charges against three men accused of participating, but in trespass warnings that will prevent them from attending the scheduled October first-degree murder trial in an Osceola County stand-your-ground case. Charged with affray in the 9:40…

Jul 10, 2012 6:07 PM CDT

Attorney Gets 42 Months in Club Fed for Defrauding Law Firm Credit Line Lender

When attorney Mikel D. Jones, obtained a multimillion-dollar credit line from a New York venture capital firm in 2006, he agreed to use the money on legitimate law firm expenses. But instead Jones, 56, and his wife, Dona Nichols Jones, 54, paid off personal credit card debt and purchased tickets…

Jul 10, 2012 4:36 PM CDT

Donations to Legal Defense Fund Help Defendant in Trayvon Martin Murder Case Make $1M Bail

Undisclosed donations to a legal defense fund got George Zimmerman and his wife into trouble and put the 28-year-old defendant in a controversial, high-profile Florida murder case back in jail in lieu of $1 million bail. But donations also helped Zimmerman, who is accused of killing an unarmed teenager, make…

Jul 6, 2012 9:16 PM CDT

Lawyer Says Sheriff’s Office Could Raise Revenue by Selling Him Ad Space on Cop Cars

A Florida criminal defense lawyer is touting an idea to help beef up government revenue in Jacksonville, Fla. Lawyer Randy Reep would like to buy ads for his legal services to be placed on police cars used by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office, the Jacksonville Times-Union reports. He says the ads…

Jul 5, 2012 2:45 PM CDT

Manhunt Is On for Law Grad Sought for Questioning in Girlfriend’s Beating Death

Updated: A little over a year ago, Jason Bohn was mentioned in the New York Times as one of a number of law graduates struggling under a heavy burden of student loan debt as they look for desirable jobs in a down economy. Now the University of Florida law graduate…

Jun 28, 2012 6:59 PM CDT

Imprisoned Ex-Attorney Scott Rothstein: Other Lawyers Had Some Knowledge of State’s Biggest Swindle

A disbarred South Florida attorney who is serving a hefty prison term for masterminding the state’s biggest swindle says some lawyers at his former Fort Lauderdale law firm, but not others, had knowledge of his wrongdoing. In recently released transcripts of his deposition testimony, Scott Rothstein says he himself lied…

Jun 27, 2012 4:25 PM CDT

Nova Law Prof, Fired After Gun Talk, Fights to Regain His Job

A former law professor claims in a lawsuit that school officials improperly fired him because of misguided perceptions that he was “mentally deranged enough to engage in a campus shooting rampage.” The National Law Journal covers the case of Anthony Chase, a former tenured professor at Nova Southeastern University Shepard…

Jun 27, 2012 1:08 PM CDT

Book by Casey Anthony Lawyer Jose Baez Tells of Doubts About His Client’s Mental Health

A new book by Casey Anthony’s lawyer Jose Baez says his client had built a fantasy world and was a habitual liar, but that doesn’t mean she was guilty of killing her daughter. Baez says Casey Anthony’s lying pointed to “serious mental health issues” rather than evidence of guilt, the…

Jun 27, 2012 12:16 PM CDT

Federal Judge Nixes Lawyer’s Plan to Take Day Off from Capital Trial to Attend Hemingway Event

Citing a Dorothy Parker profile of Ernest Hemingway published in the New Yorker, a federal judge in Tampa has denied a Florida lawyer’s request to take a day off during a capital murder-for-hire trial in order to compete in an annual Hemingway lookalike contest held at at Sloppy Joe’s Bar…

Jun 26, 2012 11:01 PM CDT

An Unsettling Online Disclosure for 220 UF Law Students and Applicants Who Sought a Roommate

More than 200 former University of Florida law students and applicants are getting some unsettling news: Until recently, their Social Security numbers were accessible on the Web. The information was revealed for 220 students and applicants who sought a roommate online in the early 2000s through the Levin College of…

Jun 26, 2012 3:30 PM CDT

Fla. Court Clerk Files Fed’l Class Action, Says Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Didn’t Pay Transfer Taxes

A Florida court clerk has filed suit against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, contending that the mortgage-funding giants illegally avoided paying transfer taxes on tens of thousands of properties in the state. Filed on Thursday by Hernando County Clerk of Courts Karen Nicolai in federal court in Tampa, the suit…

Jun 20, 2012 10:00 PM CDT

Defended by Attorney Twitter Pal, Jury Foreman Escapes Court Sanction for Prolific Trial Tweets

A Florida filmmaker admitted that he should have known from watching Law & Order that live-tweeting about his jury service in Miami earlier this year wasn’t a good idea. But while finding that Billy Corben disobeyed a court order against discussing online the case he was hearing, a Miami-Dade circuit…

Jun 13, 2012 7:29 PM CDT

Lawyer Who Claimed Strip Club Duped Him Now Alleges Spiked Drinks and Secret Cameras

A South Florida lawyer who claimed in a lawsuit that a Miami strip club got him drunk and charged him $19,000 has filed an amended complaint with allegations of spiked drinks and secret cameras. The Daily Business Review identifies the plaintiff as “traffic ticket king Mark Gold” and the defendants…

Jun 13, 2012 2:55 PM CDT