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.
June 30, 2009
--The Florida Bar--
LAWYER HONORED FOR 50 YEARS OF SERVICE-- Citrus County Chronicle, http://www.chronicleonline.com, June 28, 2009. [Also: EIGHT LOCAL ATTORNEYS AMONG 50-YEAR MEMBERS HONORED BY FLORIDA BAR-- Jacksonville Daily Record, http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com, June 29, 2009; FLORIDA BAR HONORS TWO LOCAL 50-YEAR MEMBERS-- Cape Coral Daily Breeze, http://www.breezenewspapers.com, June 26, 2009; FLORIDA BAR HONORS 50-YEAR MEMBERS-- Fort Meade Leader, http://www.fortmeadeleader.com, June 27, 2009].
At The Florida Bar Annual Convention 124 attorneys were recognized Friday [June 26] for 50 years of dedication to the practice of law. The articles acknowledge some of those honorees.
--Legal Profession--
VETERAN DADE PROSECUTOR RESIGNS-- The Miami Herald, http://www.miamiherald.com, June 30, 2009.
A Miami-Dade prosecutor who unsuccessfully sued his own office, and was later suspended after being arrested for allegedly striking a woman, has resigned. David Ranck, 54, e-mailed his resignation Sunday [June 28] to State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle. Ranck sued Rundle last fall, saying she wrongfully suspended him after he posted his own internal memo airing misgivings about a fatal police shooting. A federal judge ruled against him this month, ending the suit. His lawyer, Allan Kaiser, said Ranck will go into private practice.
LAWYERS ANSWER THE BELL AT LOCAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL-- Jacksonville Daily Record, http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com, June 29, 2009.
It was the day before former Florida Bar President Hank Coxe was to present a Justice Teaching class at Hyde Park Elementary School in Jacksonville when the school's principal called to confirm the arrangements. While Coxe was prepared for his single assignment, the school had prepared for 10 lawyers to show up the next day to teach in each of the 10 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade classes. "Within three hours — 10 Jacksonville lawyers agreed to do it on a half day's notice with all the Justice Teaching initiative materials," Coxe wrote to Florida Supreme Court Justice Fred Lewis, who launched the Justice Teaching program in 2006.
--Judiciary--
LIVE OAK'S FINA NAMED CHIEF JUDGE OF 3RD CIRCUIT-- Suwannee Democrat, http://www.suwanneedemocrat.com, June 29, 2009.
Circuit Judge David W. Fina of Live Oak has been picked as the next chief judge of the Third Judicial Circuit. He was elected to the post by his fellow Third Circuit judges, and will replace the current chief judge, Circuit Judge E. Vernon Douglas, when Douglas' 2-year term expires Tuesday [July 7]. This will be Fina's first term as chief judge.
--Legislature--
NEW STATE LAWS TAKE EFFECT JULY 1-- Sun-Sentinel, http://www.sun-sentinel.com, June 27, 2009. [Also: HOST OF NEW FLORIDA LAWS TAKE EFFECT WEDNESDAY-- Tallahassee Democrat,http://www.tallahassee.com, June 30, 2009].
From the Sun-Sentinel: On July 1, a yearly ritual takes place in Florida: a crop of new laws passed by legislators and signed by the governor takes effect. The article gives a run-down of the new laws, which include a $1-per pack increase in the cigarette tax and seat-belt enforcement.
CRIST SIGNS BILL TO BATTLE SECURITIES FRAUD-- Jacksonville Business Journal, http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com, June 30, 2009.
On the same day Bernard Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for his involvement in a Ponzi scheme that left thousands financially devastated, Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law a bill that gives Florida’s top law enforcement officer new tools in the battle against securities fraud. During a ceremonial bill singing Monday [June 29] at the Miami-Dade County Courthouse, Crist, with Attorney General Bill McCollum and some of the bill’s sponsors at his side, signed the Investor Protection Act (HB 483). It gives the attorney general’s office, with approval from the Office of Financial Regulation, the authority to investigate and prosecute large-scale securities scams under the state's securities law.
--Criminal Justice Issues--
WHERE'S THE MONEY? LOCALS STILL SORE AT MADOFF-- The Palm Beach Post, http://www.palmbeachpost.com, June 30, 2009. [Also: MADOFF SENTENCE A START-- Orlando Sentinel, editorial, http://www.orlandosentinel.com, June 30, 2009].
From The Palm Beach Post: Iris Werber was on the golf course Monday [June 29] when she learned that Bernard Madoff - the disgraced financier who stole her $1.3 million retirement nest egg - had been sentenced to 150 years in prison. Like many who lost their life savings in Madoff's decades-long $65 billion Ponzi scheme, Werber said she was glad U.S. District Judge Denny Chin gave the 71-year-old part-time Palm Beach resident the maximum sentence for stealing so much from so many. The vast majority of victims have received nothing from the Securities Investor Protection Corp., which can pay up to $500,000 each to victims of financial fraud. Most galling to some is that Madoff's wife, his sons, his brother and others allegedly involved in his phony investment house have not been charged with crimes.
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[Revised:
07-01-2005
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