State Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, has revived a bill that could speed up foreclosures in Florida. Passidomo first filed a foreclosure bill last session in hopes of changing a judicial process that can drag out for years. That bill was never heard. Her new foreclosure bill is more detailed, with more input from various groups, including real estate and foreclosure defense attorneys, realtors and bankers. Work on the 45-page bill began during the summer, starting with a group of real property attorneys she found through The Florida Bar. Her goal is to get the distressed homes back on the market faster. (Read Full Article Here)

Just south of the food court is an unusual mall kiosk staffed, not with vendors hawking holiday wares, but attorneys offering legal advice. The Law Booth at the Boynton Beach Mall was opened Nov. 1 by three Palm Beach County attorneys who said they saw a need for legal counseling outside normal business hours and the traditional office setting. Founded by Melva Rozier, Richard Carey and Paul Burkhart, the stand is typically open from about 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. with “Walmart”-priced advice on legal matters including foreclosure, bankruptcy, estate planning and family law. They were even open at 4 a.m. on Nov. 25 for Black Friday shoppers. (Read Full Article Here)

Flawed roads and drainage systems in a Winter Garden subdivision — and the question of who should be responsible for fixing them — will be considered this week by the Florida Supreme Court. The potholes and pits dotting Lakeview Reserve’s roads and lawns prompted homeowners there to sue the builder/developer in 2007. The case has also drawn the attention of the state’s homebuilders and community associations, which have signed on as interested bystanders. While a lower court concluded that the problems weren’t the developer’s concern, Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeal decided last year that the developer should be held responsible. The state’s high court is now scheduled to take it up Tuesday [Dec. 6].  (Read Full Article Here)

A Collier County judge Thursday [Dec. 1] rejected a request to find the state’s DUI law unconstitutional. Naples defense attorney Donald Day argued that the law should be thrown out because state law doesn’t entitle DUI defendants and their lawyers access to information on how breath-test machines work. However, Collier County Judge Vince Murphy found that the information on how the Intoxilyzer 8000 breath-test machine works can be provided by court order from the manufacturer, CMI Inc., based in Kentucky. Murphy denied Day’s motion without prejudice, meaning that he may refile his request if the breath-test machine information is not forthcoming.
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In the midst of Florida’s housing crisis, some state lawmakers want to move legal notices of foreclosures from newspapers to the Internet, sparking a debate over access to information and charges of favoritism. Newspapers publish hundreds of thousands of small-type legal notices a year, which are required before a lender can foreclose on a home. The revenue is lucrative for business publications that depend heavily on legal ads. Supporters say the change is long overdue, as newspaper readership declines and more and more commerce is transacted electronically. Critics, largely newspapers, say Web-only notices would hurt the poor and elderly, who aren’t computer-savvy.
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With the $42 million federal courthouse opening in downtown Fort Pierce yesterday, court officials say they’ll celebrate the long-awaited day, even though an official ceremony won’t occur until early next year. The new courthouse is for the Fort Pierce Division of the U.S. Southern District of Florida serving St. Lucie, Martin, Indian River, Okeechobee and Highlands counties. (Read Full Article Here)

Stephanie Glass’ voice grew from a whisper to a bark: “Phones turned off. Pants pulled up. Shirts tucked in. Gum spit out. No talking. No laughing. No making faces.” She glared at a 15-year-old boy who was grinning, slumped in a chair outside Courtroom 5 at the Lake County Judicial Center. “No slouching,” Glass growled. The boy straightened his posture, and his grin melted. “This is an opportunity here, a real second chance,”  said Glass, 37, a former youth counselor who received national recognition this year from the U.S. Department of Justice for her work as executive director of Lake County Teen Court, a diversionary program for first-time youthful offenders. Glass and other representatives of Florida’s 50 teen courts will gather this week in Orlando for their annual meeting, a conference where they will discuss new strategies to keep kids out of trouble. (Read Full Article Here)

Before the death of a band student, Florida A&M University band’s history of hazing was largely unknown to its fans, who know the Marching 100 for their show-stealing performances. However, instances of hazing date back decades. (Read Full Article Here)

Levinson said recent government audits have raised concerns about the use of antipsychotics by elderly people with dementia in nursing homes, raising their risk of death and wasting money for the US healthcare system. For instance, more than half of … (Read Full Article Here)

The editorial states: “For several years now, the [bail bond] industry has lobbied lawmakers to place tight restrictions on successful pretrial release programs, only allowing the indigent out of jail for free while awaiting a court date. On Friday [today]. . .  the 12th Judicial Circuit Court will host a symposium with lawmakers, county commissioners, law enforcement and the legal community to highlight the success of pretrial release programs. Proposed legislation would force non-indigent defendants to either pay for a bond or remain behind bars — at great and unnecessary expense to taxpayers. . . . The system is not broken. This legislation should be rejected.” (Read Full Article Here)

Two years to the day that former lawyer Scott Rothstein was swept into federal custody, prosecutors issued on Thursday [Dec. 1] felony charges against his uncle and an office assistant. Rothstein’s uncle, William Boockvor of Deerfield Beach, is accused of taking an active role in deceiving Rothstein’s investors by falsifying bank account information to show his nephew had millions of dollars in his accounts. Boockvor was charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, punishable by up to five years in prison. Marybeth Feiss of Fort Lauderdale was charged with a single felony count of making illegal political contributions, also punishable by up to five years in prison. An administrative assistant for Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, she worked closely with Rothstein, helping him organize fundraisers for John McCain, former Gov. Charlie Crist and other politicians. (Read Full Article Here)

Prompted by proposed state regulations it says are inadequate, a coalition of environmental groups on Thursday [Dec. 1] filed an administrative challenge to the new rules set up to determine acceptable pollution levels in Florida waters. Earthjustice attorney David Guest said the group filed the challenge at the Division of Administrative Hearings in response to recently proposed state clean water standards that the lawsuit contends fall far short of Federal Clean Water Act requirements imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Joining Earthjustice in the challenge is the Florida Wildlife Federation, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Sierra Club, the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida and St. Johns Riverkeepers. (Read Full Article Here)

The article is by The Associated Press. A Florida appeals court has upheld the right of cities to use cameras to catch and fine motorists who run red lights. The Miami-based Third District Court of Appeal ruling Wednesday [Nov. 30] affects only about two dozen cities that had red light camera ordinances in place before July 2010. That’s when a new state law went into effect allowing all cities to use cameras. The appeals court’s ruling could still be reviewed by the Florida Supreme Court. (Read Full Article Here)

A Naples defense attorney who contends Collier County DUI defendants don’t have the same rights as drivers in other counties was given the go-ahead Thursday to seek a subpoena so he can prove the state’s alcohol-testing machines are unreliable. Whether Donald Day and other Florida defense attorneys are entitled to computer source codes for the Intoxilyzer 8000 breath tester may ultimately end up in the state Supreme Court, affecting hundreds of DUI cases statewide. (Read Full Article Here)

On the last day Eloise Mudway was alive, she still worried about being mistreated. Mudway died at age 94 Wednesday [Nov. 30], broke and still mired in a legal battle with the couple convicted of stealing her home and draining her bank accounts. Joseph and Cynthia Clancy were arrested in 2005 on charges of tricking Mudway into signing over the deed to her New Port Richey home. Mudway also told investigators the Clancys, then her live-in caregivers, stole her dead husband’s diamond ring, fed her only bologna and pickle loaf sandwiches and made her do laundry for them.  The Clancys were convicted of grand theft of a person 65 or older and sentenced to 10 years in prison. A judge ordered the house be returned to Mudway, but the property is still tied up in a civil lawsuit winding its way through the court system. That prevented Mudway from living in the house or selling it to recoup some of her lost funds. (Read Full Article Here)

When Bobby Davis sent an anonymous e-mail to Syracuse University in 2005, saying that the associate men’s basketball coach Bernie Fine had molested him, the university asked its legal counsel to start an investigation. The subsequent decision by the university and its counsel — Bond, Schoeneck & King — not to contact the Onondaga County district attorney’s office and the Syracuse police department during its four-month investigation has drawn criticism from experts who handle sexual abuse cases. (Read Full Article Here)

Truth sits on the lips of dying men.

Matthew Arnold

Casey Anthony initially claimed 2-year-old Caylee Marie was kidnapped by a baby-sitter named Zenaida. However, at her murder trial, defense attorney Jose Baez claimed that was a lie and that the toddler drowned in the family pool. Although a jury found her not guilty of murder earlier this month, the contradicting stories may cost her financially. Anthony has been slapped with several civil lawsuits. Last week, there were more developments in the defamation case brought by Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, a Kissimmee mother who claimed Anthony ruined her reputation. Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University, said the lawsuits raise an interesting question: When is a client bound by his or her lawyer’s opening statement? Jarvis said that in the civil cases, Anthony could argue she cannot be held responsible for everything Baez said at her murder trial. Orlando defense attorney Mark NeJame, on the other hand, said Fernandez-Gonzalez, for one, may now be able to seek greater damages because Baez admitted at trial that Casey fabricated the existence of “Zanny the nanny.” (Read Full Article Here)

A new court fine to help finance Jacksonville Area Legal Aid is being targeted for repeal just weeks after the City Council approved it. Councilman Richard Clark’s repeal bill (2011-488) will be introduced at Tuesday’s [July 26] council meeting. The council voted June 28 to help Legal Aid by creating a new $50 fine that would be collected from defendants convicted of any of a number of crimes, from felonies to some traffic violations. Although council members rarely fight bills once they’ve passed, Clark said Legal Aid receives hundreds of thousands of dollars of government aid yearly that council members weren’t told about, and that difference could have affected their decision. Legal Aid’s executive director, Michael Figgins, said the nonprofit acknowledged it gets about $275,000 in city money from a public service grant and another program, and an existing system of court fines allots about $300,000 to Legal Aid from defendants. Beyond that, he said, there are federal grants that are distributed by the city. However, all of the city and federal and court money together don’t add up to the $1 million a year Clark said Legal Aid receives. (Read Full Article Here)

David E. Ramba is a Tallahassee lobbyist and lawyer who has prospered representing well-heeled clients such as AT&T, the Seminole Tribe and the Florida Chiropractic Association. But these days, he flies his six-seat Piper Malibu around Florida championing the cause of the little guy. Ramba, 40, has joined forces with a California attorney and opened offices in Pinellas Park and Boca Raton where employees ask struggling homeowners to join an innovative legal action against their lenders. Prospective plaintiffs are told that nearly 6,000 people have joined the effort and six lawsuits have been filed so far. There are several hitches. It costs $5,000 to join. Winning a quick settlement is a long shot. Efforts to solicit plaintiffs through cold calls, unapproved mail pieces and commissioned workers also may violate Florida Bar rules, according to experts in legal ethics. (Read Full Article Here)