March 13, 2023

1. The Florida Bar

   LAWYERS AND AI: HOW LAWYERS’ USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE COULD IMPLICATE THE RULES OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT

   The Florida Bar | Article | March 13, 2023

   Developments in AI have the potential to irrevocably change numerous industries and the practice of law is no exception. Stories regarding these new A.I. programs naturally lead lawyers to additional questions about copyright issues and whether they can rely on AI programs to draft briefs. Though The Florida Bar has not published an opinion addressing the ethical implications of lawyers using AI to assist in the practice of law, the adoption of other new technologies offers helpful guidance. Existing opinions regarding e-filing, cloud computing, online research tools, metadata, and more, provide useful context. With that in mind, here are a few points to consider before you let an A.I. program draft your next brief.

   Also in The Florida Bar News:

   • PROPOSED BOARD ACTION

   • REVAMPED ALIMONY REFORM BILL RECEIVES COMMITTEE REFERENCES

   • MEASURE WOULD SHIELD PRIVATE SPACEFLIGHT COMPANIES FROM LIABILITY RELATED TO IN-FLIGHT ACCIDENTS

2. Legal Discipline

   BEN BUCK, THE LAWYER WHO NO-SHOWED CLIENTS, WANTS TO CONTINUE PRACTICING LAW

   First Coast News | Article | March 10, 2023

   Attorney Ben Buck, whose conduct was deemed “simply reprehensible” by a Jacksonville judge, has backed out of an agreement to voluntarily relinquish his law license. Buck, who has been under investigation by The Florida Bar and has more than 30 pending disciplinary complaints, reversed his earlier decision to surrender his license for at least five years. Instead, the attorney who’s repeatedly ghosted clients and defied judges’ direct orders, “no longer wishes to continue with the disciplinary revocation process,” according to a notice filed Thursday [March 9], one day after the Bar had signed off on the deal. “The Florida Bar finds the timing of the Notice of Withdrawal to be questionable at best, and, at worst, to be a blatant abuse of the legal process and misrepresentation to this court,” the Bar wrote in its response.

3. Legal Profession

   OVERWORKED, UNDERPAID AND BACKS AGAINST THE WALL: AREA PUBLIC DEFENDERS FACE UPHILL BATTLE

   Sarasota Herald-Tribune | Article | March 13, 2023

   Public defender offices across Florida and the country are plagued with challenges like low pay, high caseloads, and a growing number of vacancies that seem harder to fill. If these issues continue to fester, experts warn, the entire judicial system could come into question about its ability to deliver justice. In late January, Florida Public Defender Association President and Miami-Dade Public Defender Carlos J. Martinez appeared before the House Criminal Justice subcommittee to ask for another across-the-board pay increase from the Legislature. Martinez argued that high rent and cost-of-living is making it difficult to attract and keep attorneys in his office.  During the last legislative session, the subcommittee approved a $10,000 across-the-board pay increase, but Martinez says another pay increase is vital to attract and keep assistant public defenders among the growing rent prices and competitive pay from private firms.

4. Civil Justice

   JUDGE REJECTS CHALLENGE TO WORKERS’ COMP PROPOSAL

   News Service of Florida | Article | March 12, 2023

   Administrative Law Judge Darren Schwartz, on Thursday [March 9], rejected a challenge by workers’ compensation insurance companies to a state proposal that would set payment amounts for inpatient care at hospitals. Judge Schwartz turned down arguments that a proposed rule issued last year by the Department of Financial Services’ Division of Workers’ Compensation was invalid. The case centered, at least in part, on what are known as “maximum reimbursement allowances,” or MRAs, that would help determine how much workers’ compensation insurers pay to hospitals for inpatient care. Among other things, the workers’ compensation insurers argued that the proposal was “arbitrary and capricious,” but Schwartz wrote that the proposed rule was “supported by logic, the necessary facts, was adopted with thought and reason and is rational.”

5. Civil Justice

   REGINA HILL’S FORMER AIDE SUES ORLANDO, ALLEGING HER FIRING WAS RETALIATION

   Orlando Sentinel | Article | March 10, 2023

   A former aide to Commissioner Regina Hill is suing the city of Orlando for an alleged violation of the state’s Whistleblower Act, and claiming that the commissioner “tormented” her on the job. The former aide, Jacqueline Cockerham, was terminated after she complained in a memo to Mayor Buddy Dyer that Hill fostered a hostile work environment, that she should be paid overtime for working long hours on nights and weekends and that Hill frequently lost her security badge and devices, which made her a security threat. A month later, in a letter terminating Cockerham’s employment, Orlando’s chief negotiator said an outside investigator looked into the claims and cleared Hill of wrongdoing. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday [March 7] in Orange County Circuit Court, seeking damages in excess of $50,000. The Florida Whistleblower’s Act protects public employees from retaliation if they report violations of the law by their employer.

6. Judiciary

   CHIEF JUDGE: PLANS FOR RIVERFRONT SHOULD INCLUDE SUPPORT FOR MENTAL HEALTH OFFENDER PROGRAM

   Florida Times-Union | Column | March 12, 2023

   Chief Judge Mark H. Mahon of Florida’s 4th Judicial Circuit writes: “There has been a great deal of discussion lately about the future of downtown [Jacksonville], specifically . . . a recognition of the need to relocate the jail facility away from the downtown riverfront. . . I would like to point out a positive in this otherwise expensive and unpleasant situation. Approximately two years ago, a diverse group came together to create a local Mental Health Offender Program here in Jacksonville. Known as MHOP, this is the area’s first concerted effort to get individuals with significant mental illness who are chronically arrested out of the jails and into treatment. . . With continued support of this program. . . Jacksonville could also realize the benefits . . . [including] a significantly smaller jail footprint, fewer individuals arrested, increased safety to law enforcement and a huge step forward for downtown to become a vibrant part of our city.

7. Legal Profession

   MEET THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO EVER LEAD THE CENTRAL FLORIDA ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN LAWYERS

   Click Orlando | Article | March 10, 2023

   This Women’s History Month, News 6 is highlighting female trailblazers and women who continue to break barriers in different arenas throughout Central Florida. It includes Nequosha Anderson, was recently elected president-elect of the Central Florida Association for Women Lawyers (CFAWL), which means that when she takes office in July she will make history as the first Black woman president of CFAWL. Anderson is a business and intellectual property attorney who owns Anderson Law Firm, based in Winter Park. Anderson says that during her one-year term as president, she plans to focus on retaining and recruiting more female lawyers, including women of color.

8. Obituary

   ST. PETERSBURG LAWYER LED THE FIGHT FOR WILDLIFE AND WILD PLACES

   Tampa Bay Times | Article | March 11, 2023

   Environmental Lawyer Tom Reese, who died Feb. 4 due to multiple health issues, was a pioneer in environmental law and land use. “Tom was a pioneer in representing public interest groups,” said Clay Henderson, an environmental lawyer, educator and author of “Forces of Nature: A History of Land Conservation.” “We sort of take that for granted now. That wasn’t automatic. It took people like Tom to figure out how to do that and do it effectively.” In 1980, Reese started his own practice as one of a very few lawyers practicing public interest environmental and land use law. Before 1970, it was almost impossible for the public to fight big industry and business on behalf of the environment, said Henderson, because they had to prove actual physical injury. “That was a bridge too far,” Henderson said. “He was one of the guys that built that bridge.”