Florida

Mom Considers Suit After Class Voted to Expel Her Autistic Son

Updated: A Florida woman is considering a lawsuit after a teacher allowed students to take a vote on whether her misbehaving autistic son should remain in class. Melissa Barton said the teacher made her 5-year-old son, Alex, stand in the front of her classroom after he returned from the principal’s…

May 27, 2008 6:01 PM CDT

Rare Chance to Change Florida Supreme Court: 4 Vacancies Expected

The chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court announced today that he is resigning for family reasons, giving the state’s governor a rare chance to reconfigure it. That’s because Chief Justice Kenneth Bell, 52, is one of four judges on the seven-member court who will be leaving within the next…

May 23, 2008 8:15 PM CDT

Suit Seeks to Force Democrats to Count Florida Delegates

A federal lawsuit filed yesterday claims the Democratic Party is required to count all of Florida’s delegates because of the state’s history of discrimination. The suit notes that Section Five of the Voting Rights Act requires the Justice Department to approve any significant voting change in Florida to make sure…

May 23, 2008 12:35 PM CDT

Fla. Judge’s Dilemma: How to Sentence Teen in Traffic Death?

For the past two weeks, a Florida judge has been thinking about the Ryan Cornett case every day as he drove to work. Although the state highway patrol determined that Cornett, then 17, wasn’t responsible for the death of Duke Gray, 37, in April 2007, the teen was charged with…

May 22, 2008 10:00 PM CDT

Referee Says Outspoken Fla. Lawyer Disparaged Litigants, Lawyers

A referee has scheduled a sanctions hearing against outspoken Florida lawyer Jack Thompson after concluding he disparaged and humiliated litigants and other lawyers. The referee, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dava Tunis, also found that Thompson made false statements to tribunals and improperly practiced law outside the state, the Daily Business Review…

May 21, 2008 11:12 AM CDT

Holland & Knight Lays Off 70 Legal Secretaries

Holland & Knight is laying off 70 legal secretaries, about 5 percent of its support staff. The move comes after a small decline in the firm’s gross revenue last year, the Daily Business Review reports. Firm spokeswoman Susan Bass told the publication the layoffs were a result of a review…

May 21, 2008 10:51 AM CDT

University Says Privilege Limits Ex-GC’s Right to Sue for Discrimination

The former general counsel of Florida Gulf Coast University sued her former client in federal court in April, alleging systemic employment discrimination and violation of Title IX. However, in a responding counterclaim, the university says Wendy Morris is barred by attorney-client privilege from pursuing at least some of her claims…

May 20, 2008 7:21 PM CDT

Real Estate Firm Cuts Lawyer Pay by 12 Percent

A South Florida law firm hit hard by the real estate downturn has cut its lawyers’ pay by 12 percent. If its financial situation improves, Becker & Poliakoff will make up for the salary cuts with retroactive pay for lawyers who stick with the firm, the Daily Business Review reports.…

May 20, 2008 11:20 AM CDT

Akerman to Merge With WolfBlock?

Two well-known law firms based in Florida and Philadelphia are reportedly getting serious about a proposal to combine forces to create a national platform and join the BigLaw ranks. Akerman Senterfitt and WolfBlock are in advanced merger discussions, according to unnamed sources. And the talks have already resolved the issue…

May 16, 2008 6:17 PM CDT

Eatery’s Dancing Dumpling Busted; Human Sign Cited for Code Violation

A costumed dancing dumpling who attracted attention to a Clearwater, Fla., restaurant by waving a saute pan at passing motorists has reportedly disappeared from the premises after the eatery’s owner was cited for a code violation. Officials say the human sign violates the city’s code and could distract motorists, reports…

May 15, 2008 4:50 PM CDT

Revised Reporting Law Could Mean Big Penalties for U.S. Clients of UBS

Prosecutors are expected to issue a subpoena seeking the names of wealthy U.S. clients using the services of Swiss bank UBS AG to avoid income taxes. Ultimately the probe could result in big fines for U.S. clients who failed to report offshore trust accounts. The subpoena would follow the indictments…

May 15, 2008 1:23 PM CDT

‘Steep Mountain’ for FAMU to Climb to Full Accreditation, ABA Report Says

A fledgling law school at Florida A&M University reportedly is facing a tough accreditation battle, after a negative report by the American Bar Association earlier this year. But it’s a battle that can still be won, the law school’s new dean says. A seven-member ABA accreditation team that visited the…

May 14, 2008 8:33 PM CDT

Wife Sues Husband for Share of Secret $600K Lottery Win

It was a secret that surely could not be kept for long. But Arnim Ramdass allegedly tried. The airline mechanic, 52, disconnected the phone line at home and forbade his stay-at-home wife, Donna Campbell, 48, to watch television, Campbell claims in a lawsuit. Eventually, however, she learned the truth: Ramdass,…

May 12, 2008 7:29 PM CDT

Man Opens Fire in Fla. Courthouse, is Killed By Sheriff’s Deputies

An unidentified man brought a semiautomatic weapon into a St. Petersburg, Fla., courthouse lobby today and opened fire before being shot and killed by two Pinellas County sheriff’s deputies. One deputy was wounded when a bullet hit his radio microphone and grazed his shoulder, Jim Bordner, a sheriff’s department spokesman,…

May 7, 2008 9:59 PM CDT

Fla. Tree Owners Win Citrus Comp Class Action, But Get Only $11.5M

Plaintiffs’ counsel had hoped for $50 million or so. But a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., jury effectively awarded less than $5 million to 58,000 Broward County homeowners who had sought additional state compensation for more than 130,000 trees destroyed during a failed campaign to eradicate citrus canker. The total verdict was…

May 7, 2008 5:42 PM CDT