News and Events
Daily News Summary
An electronic digest of media coverage of interest to members of The Florida Bar compiled each workday by the Public Information and Bar Services Department. Electronic links are only active in today's edition. For information on previous articles, please contact the publishing newspaper directly.
Sept. 19, 2008
--Legal Profession--
DIVERSITY: WOMEN AT THE TOP-- Daily Business Review, http://www.dailybusinessreview.com, Sept. 18, 2008.
Miami solo practitioner Cynthia Everett was one of three women among the eight voting members who represented Miami-Dade County on The Florida Bar's Board of Governors in the 1990s. Now the count is down to one woman. Minorities, including Everett who is black, hold seven voting seats on the 52-member state board. Women have nine voting seats statewide. Nine percent of Florida attorneys are Hispanic, and 3 percent are black. For years, Bar leaders have emphasized the importance of making the Bar's governing board more closely represent its membership in terms of diversity. A major goal of Jay White's tenure as Bar president is to improve diversity in part by encouraging minorities and women to run for board seats.
ATHENA AWARDS HONOR PALM BEACH PROFESSIONALS-- WPTV Palm Beach, http://www.wptv.com, Sept. 19, 2008.
Local area leaders, businesses and young professionals came together Wednesday [Sept. 17] for the 2008 ATHENA Awards, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches and presented by National City. The awards honor individuals, businesses and young professionals that have achieved professional excellence, actively served the community and helped women to reach their leadership potential. Michelle Diffenderfer, a shareholder in the law firm of Lewis, Longman & Walker, P.A., and immediate past chair of the Executive Council of the Environmental & Land Use Law Section of The Florida Bar, received this year's ATHENA Individual award.
DISTINGUISHED LEADERSHIP AWARDS PRESENTED TO COMMUNITY LEADERS-- Tallahassee Democrat, http://www.tallahassee.com, Sept. 19, 2008.
About 400 people gathered Thursday night [Sept. 18] at the Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center for the 14th Annual Distinguished Leadership Awards. The black-tie dinner helped Leadership Tallahassee, a program of the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce, raise money for Youth Leadership Tallahassee, a training program for high-school juniors. Retired Judge James E. Joanos received the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce 2008 Godfrey Smith Past Chairmen's Award in honor of work on behalf of the chamber and the community. Attorney Steve Uhlfelder received the Servant Leadership Award, which recognizes achievements beyond a single field or endeavor. Uhlfelder has served as chairman of the Florida Children's Coalition and a mentor at Riley Elementary School in Tallahassee.
--Judiciary--
APPEALS BY TWO CANDIDATES COULD DECIDE BROWARD JUDICIAL PRIMARY-- Sun-Sentinel, http://www.sun-sentinel.com, Sept. 19, 2008.
The legal turmoil over a Broward judicial race made its way to an appellate court Thursday [Sept. 18] as election officials faced a Saturday deadline to mail absentee ballots overseas. Bernard Isaac "Bernie" Bober, the top vote-getter in the three-way primary for the Group 3 judicial circuit seat, asked the 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach to overturn a judge's decision allowing the third-place finisher, incumbent Judge Pedro E. Dijols, onto the Nov. 4 ballot. Retired Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Richard Yale Feder put Dijols' name on the ballot after ruling Wednesday [Sept. 17] that second-place finisher Mardi Anne Levey must be dropped from the race because she is not running under her married name. Dijols' attorneys argued that Levey has gone by the name Mardi Levey Cohen personally and professionally, including during an unsuccessful 2006 judicial campaign. If Bober is successful in blocking Dijols from getting on the ballot, he would be the only candidate left in the contest. Meanwhile, Levey will file her own appeal of Feder's ruling today, said one of her attorneys.
--Civil Justice Issues--
FLORIDA SUPREME COURT REVERSES ITSELF ON BOND ISSUE-- Florida Capital News, http://www.floridacapitalnews.com, Sept. 19, 2008. [Also: FLORIDA HIGH COURT RULING CLEARS PATH FOR MIAMI MEGAPLAN-- The Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com, Sept. 19, 2008; LONG-AWAITED RULING COULD ADVANCE MARLINS STADIUM-- South Florida Business Journal, http://bizjournals.southflorida.com, Sept. 19, 2008].
From Florida Capital News: From billion-dollar stadium projects to sprucing up small-town business districts, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday [Sept. 18] gave local governments the authority to bypass voters and borrow money for such projects without referendums. Thursday's decision is a stark reversal from a unanimous ruling a year ago, one that at the time sent waves of panic through school boards, counties, cities and community redevelopment agencies who rely on bond financing. Five justices now say tax-increment financing plans — schemes to borrow money now and pay it off with the increased property taxes brought about by improved values — can be approved without a public vote. Those representing local governments rejoiced. Community redevelopment agencies use tax-increment financing to pay for projects to revitalize blighted areas.
BAY COURT CASE LEADS TO STATE RULE CHANGE-- Panama City News Herald, http://www.newsherald.com, Sept. 19, 2008. [Also: COURTS SHOULD WARN FLORIDA TRAFFIC OFFENDERS, SUPREME COURT SAYS-- The Bradenton Herald, http://www.bradenton.com, Sept. 19, 2008].
The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday [Sept. 18] in a Bay County case that a driver's license suspension resulting from a plea agreement is not punishment, even if it is a hardship. However, the justices directed that the rules be changed so defendants are informed about possible license suspensions as a consequence of pleading to a criminal charge. Demello Bolware pleaded no contest in 2001 to driving with a suspended license and was ordered to pay a $253 fine. About six months later, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles suspended his license for five years after determining Bolware was a habitual traffic offender. In November 2001, Bolware asked a county judge to let him withdraw from his plea, saying it was not voluntarily entered into because he was not informed of the potential license suspension.
--Other--
FLORIDA WOMAN DIES, ENDING SCHIAVO-LIKE LEGAL BATTLE-- The Tampa Tribune, http://www.tbo.com, Sept. 19, 2008.
Karen Weber, kept alive by a feeding tube since a stroke, has died, effectively ending a legal battle between her husband and mother in a case similar to that of Terri Schiavo, whose fate became the subject of national political debate in 2005. Weber was 57. She had been in and out of a nursing home and Okeechobee hospital since having a stroke in December. She had been on a feeding tube and was suffering from meningitis, according to her family. Weber's husband, Raymond, sought earlier this year to have the feeding tube removed and his wife transferred to a hospice ward, where she would likely die. He claimed she was in a vegetative state and would not want to live this way. However, Weber's mother, Martha Tatro, was fighting to keep her alive, arguing she had been alert and responsive at times and wouldn't want to die. A judge had issued an injunction prohibiting the feeding tube's removal as the case worked through the courts.
MCCOLLUM SAYS $37-MILLION FRAUD CASE FLORIDA'S MOST DRAMATIC YET-- St. Petersburg Times, http://tamapbay.com, Sept. 19, 2008. [Also: STATE: FRAUDULENT MORTGAGE SCHEME USED 'STRAW BUYERS'-- Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com, Sept. 19, 2008; STATE FILES SUIT IN MORTGAGE CASE-- The Tampa Tribune, http://www.tbo.com, Sept. 19, 2008; FLORIDA GOES AFTER 10 COMPANIES, 15 PEOPLE FOR REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS-- The Lakeland Ledger, http://www.theledger.com, Sept. 19, 2008].
From the St. Petersburg Times: Banks that loaned $37 million in 2006 without verifying borrowers' income are partly to blame for what "probably is the most dramatic mortgage fraud case that we have filed so far," Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum said Thursday [Sept. 18]. McCollum's office sued 10 companies and 15 individuals, including several in the Tampa Bay area, for allegedly bilking lenders in 61 home sales. The suit, filed under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, alleges that lawyer Allen Boyarsky and two other "ringleaders" conspired with real estate agents Lori Polin, Heather Showalter and Dawn St. Hillaire to artificially inflate prices on home sales so Boyarsky and his co-defendants could get bigger loan amounts. Boyarsky is not a member of The Florida Bar.
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[Revised:
07-01-2005
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