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Daily News Summary

The purpose of this summary provided by the Communications Department of The Florida Bar is to present media coverage that may be of interest to members. Opinions expressed in the articles are attributable solely to the authors. The Florida Bar does not adopt or endorse any opinions expressed below. For information on previous articles, please contact the publishing newspaper directly.

July 17, 2024

  1. The Florida Bar

    Navigating the Ethical Landscape: Requirements for Establishing an Interstate Law Firm in Florida

    The Florida Bar | Article | July 17, 2024

    Florida lawyers are commonly approached by out-of-state lawyers looking to establish a presence in the Florida market. While interstate law firms may provide a multitude of career opportunities for Florida attorneys, creating such a firm involves more than simply opening offices in multiple states. Florida Bar members are governed by rules designed to ensure ethical conduct and safeguard client interests. A thorough understanding and careful navigation of The Florida Bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct is fundamental. So where do lawyers even begin? What are key factors to consider before embarking on this journey?

  2. Judiciary

    Florida Supreme Court to weigh punishment for Central Florida judge

    WESH | Article | July 16, 2024

    A Central Florida judge is still waiting to see how he will be disciplined after being accused of acting inappropriately on the bench. Some new videos from inside the courtroom were filed Monday [July 15] with the judicial qualifications commission looking into the case. It will be up to the Florida Supreme Court to decide what kind of discipline Seminole County Judge Wayne Culver could face. A judicial qualifications investigative panel had recommended a 60-day suspension without pay and a public reprimand. He’s accused of cursing at defendants in his courtroom, sarcastically addressing them and threatening to lock people up without proper process. In other filings to the Florida Supreme Court, Judge Wayne Culver said he has “voluntarily taken an anger management class and has also arranged to take counseling sessions with a mental health professional.”

  3. Criminal Justice Issues

    Westlake passes law making it harder for sexual offenders to live near children

    WPBF | Article | July 16, 2024

    Westlake — Palm Beach County’s fastest-growing city — passed a new law Tuesday [July 16] limiting where sexual offenders and predators can live. The city council voted unanimously to extend the distance between offenders’ homes and places where children congregate to 2,500 feet. Current state law restricts sexual offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools, playgrounds and the like. This change will make it effectively very hard for any sexual offender to live within the city limits. The city attorney told the council the decision should hold up in court – that Westlake is not the first city in Florida to pass such a law.

  4. Civil Justice

    City votes to ‘fight’ decision in prayer vigil lawsuit with hopes of possibly reaching Supreme Court again

    Ocala News | Article | July 17, 2024

    The Ocala City Council voted unanimously Tuesday [July 17] to appeal a judge’s decision that a 2014 prayer vigil was an “unconstitutional government endorsement of religion,” with the city’s legal representation advising that it might take another 12 to 24 months and tens of thousands of dollars more to win the case. The matter came before the council during its regular meeting Tuesday. During a presentation by Abigail A. Southerland of the American Center for Law and Justice, the city’s legal representation in the case, the attorney suggested that Ocala had “strong grounds” to appeal a 50-page decision issued in favor of the plaintiffs, Art Rojas and Lucinda Hale, in the Middle District of Florida by United States District Judge Timothy J. Corrigan last month. Southerland said the ACLJ believes that the city was “arguably less involved” in the prayer vigil than other cities and counties had been in the past and that the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution was never intended to “prohibit” a prayer vigil. As a result, she said the ACLJ believes the court erred in its decision and indicated that the case, if appealed, could possibly be heard by the Supreme Court again.

  5. Civil Justice

    A hearing has been set between AG Ashley Moody and the ACC over media-rights contracts

    WFSU News | Article | July 16, 2024

    Another hearing has been set in the ongoing legal battle over Florida State University’s efforts to leave the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey will hear from Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Monday, July 22, about a public records complaint filed in April and will decide whether the ACC should have to turn over its media-rights contracts to Moody. The attorney general believes certain contracts such as media-rights agreements should be easily accessible under Florida’s public records law.

  6. Civil Justice

    After Florida Bridge Collapse, Judge Rejects Companies’ Suit

    Daily Business Review | Article | July 16, 2024

    A U.S. district judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Tallahassee-based companies that could be prevented from working on federally funded projects after being affiliated with an engineering firm that designed a collapsed Florida International University pedestrian bridge. Judge Allen Winsor last week issued a 10-page decision that sided with the Federal Highway Administration in the lawsuit filed in March by nine companies and their owner, Linda Figg. While he dismissed the lawsuit, Winsor left open the possibility that the companies could file a revised version. The companies are affiliated with FIGG Bridge Engineers Inc., which designed the Miami-Dade County pedestrian bridge that collapsed in 2018, crushing cars and killing five motorists and one construction worker. FIGG Bridge Engineers was blocked in 2021 from working on federally funded projects until 2029. The lawsuit sought to block a proposal by the Federal Highway Administration that could keep the affiliated companies off federally funded projects, or what is known as “debarment.”

  7. Judicial Issues

    ‘They help you’: An inside look into Teen Court

    WCJB | Article | July 17, 2024

    Teen Court is a national program used in Alachua County to mitigate juvenile delinquency and recidivism by offering nonviolent first-time offenders under 18, a second chance. The State Attorney refers minor cases, such as third-degree felonies, to Teen Court where the young offenders are seen by a jury of other teenagers. “Those will come to us as criminal cases,” Gregory Pelham, a case manager shared. “But once they are disposed through the teen court process and they meet all our requirements for successful completion then they have the opportunity to have those things removed under what we call the expungement process.” Pelham says the recidivism rate has been as low as 2%. Each child tried in Teen Court is mandated to come back and serve on the jury to ensure justice remains in the hands of their peers.

  8. Civil Justice

    Boynton Beach to appeal arbitrator’s decision to give job back to officer fired after deadly pursuit

    Sun Sentinel | Article | July 16, 2024

    Boynton Beach commissioners decided Tuesday night [July 16] to appeal an arbitrator’s recent decision that Mark Sohn, a nearly 20-year officer with Boynton Beach Police, should get his job back. The veteran officer was fired in 2022 after chasing a 13-year-old boy, who crashed and died on his dirt bike. Sohn’s pursuit “clearly and unequivocally” violated the department’s policy, then-Interim City Manager James Stables wrote in Sohn’s termination letter in 2022. The policy says officers are only allowed to chase for forcible felonies. An Internal Affairs investigation suggested that Sohn, who had a history of engaging in multiple pursuits that ended in deaths, “attempted to conceal” that he was chasing Davis that afternoon. Arbitrator James W. Mastriani wrote in a 43-page opinion dated May 20 that though Sohn did violate the pursuit policy, the city did not have just cause to fire him. Mastriani determined Sohn should get his job back without back pay and that any future violations of the policy would be grounds for him to immediately be fired.

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