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. 3, 2010
EX-PARTNERS CLAIM IN SUIT HODGSON RUSS CLOSED BOCA OFFICE WITHOUT NOTICE-- Daily Business Review, http://www.dailybusinessreview.com, Sept. 3, 2010.
Claiming breach of contract and other charges, five former partners from the defunct Boca Raton office of Hodgson Russ are suing top partners of the Buffalo, New York-based law firm. Immediately after an April 2, 2009 meeting when law firm president and chief executive officer Gary M. Schober told the Boca Raton partners they were out, Hodgson Russ circulated a news release stating the office would close to focus on “markets that support its overall strategy” and insisting the move was in the best long-term interests of the firm. The suit names Schober and the rest of the firm’s board of directors, but not the firm. The former Boca Raton partners insist they were blindsided by the announcement, which they claim violated their rights under the firm’s partnership agreement, including a right to vote on whether to leave the firm.
--Legislature--
LEGISLATIVE LEADERS SAY NO TO SPECIAL SESSION-- Florida Tribune, http://fltrib.com, Sept. 2, 2010.
Despite making pledges this summer to convene a special session as early as September to "aid Florida's survival of and recovery from the
oil spill," the top leaders in the Florida Legislature said on Wednesday [Sept. 1] that there was no need to take action any time soon. House Speaker Larry Cretul announced on Wednesday that a special session on oil drilling is unnecessary. That prompted Senate President Jeff Atwater to say that the Senate would now focus on developing proposals for the 2011 session.
--Civil Justice Issues--
EX-LAW PROFESSOR ADDS OXFORD AS DEFENDANT-- Daily Business Review, http://www.dailybusinessreview.com, Sept. 3, 2010.
A former assistant professor has filed an employment discrimination against the University of Florida Levin College of Law — her third against the law school. Sherrie Russell-Brown alleges the law school colluded with administrators at the University of Oxford to get her booted from her doctoral studies. She claims UF administrators retaliated against her because she accused them of racial discrimination. Russell-Brown, who is black, filed her latest lawsuit Aug. 5 and amended it Tuesday [Aug. 31] in New Jersey federal court. She lives in Plainfield, New Jersey.
LEE COUNTY ERASES BAN ON GUNS-- Ft. Myers News-Press, http://www.news-press.com, Sept. 3, 2010.
Hundreds of signs across Lee County that proclaim guns are banned at parks, beaches, along canals and at other areas are being changed to comply with state law. The state allows guns at these locations if the gun owner has a concealed-carry permit. Fort Myers attorney J. Patrick Buckley filed suit against the county and the East Coast Water Control District over the issue Monday [Aug. 30]. The signs will likely be modified to include a reference to the state statute, Barbara Manzo, director of Parks & Recreation said, but county attorneys still are working out the language. A county ordinance that bans guns at the locations will also be changed, she said. That change will have to be approved by county commissioners.
--Criminal Justice Issues--
FLORIDA HIGH COURT UPHOLDS DECISION TO LIFT DEATH SENTENCE-- The Lakeland Ledger, http://www.theledger.com, Sept. 3, 2010.
In January, the state's highest court released an opinion saying misconduct by the original prosecutor in Paul Beasley Johnson's case means a new penalty phase must be held to decide whether Johnson should be executed or given life in prison. The state Attorney General's Office filed a motion seeking a rehearing on the opinion. The Florida Supreme Court's order Thursday [Sept. 2] denied that request. Johnson, 61, of Eagle Lake has been on Florida's death row for more than 20 years. He has twice been found guilty of a drug-fueled rampage that began on the evening of Jan. 8, 1981, and left three people fatally shot, including Deputy Theron A. Burnham, 27.
GUILTY VERDICT REVERSED-- The Lakeland Ledger, http://www.theledger.com, Sept. 3, 2010.
Circuit Judge Beth Harlan ruled there was insufficient evidence to refute Joseph Nobles' "reasonable hypothesis of innocence." She found Nobles, 56, not guilty of leaving the scene of a crash involving death. The judge's decision is in stark contrast to a jury's verdict in July. Charles Rose, a professor at Stetson University College of Law, said overriding a jury's guilty verdict is uncommon, but clearly within a judge's power. At the end of a trial, a judge concludes no reasonable jury could find the defendant guilty based on the evidence and applicable law, he said.
[Revised: 09-07-2010]
© 2005 The Florida Bar | Disclaimer | Top of page | 