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.
October 14, 2025
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The Florida Bar
ROUSON RENEWS EFFORT TO SHIELD JQC STAFF FROM THREATS AND HARASSMENT
The Florida Bar | Article | October 14, 2025
A Southwest Florida lawmaker is renewing his attempt to protect Judicial Qualifications Commission staff from death threats and stalking. Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg and an attorney, filed SB 144 on Oct. 8. The bill would exempt from public records laws the personal identifying information of current and former JQC employees, including their dates of birth, home addresses, phone numbers, and photographs. The bill would also shield the personal identifying information of the employees’ spouses and children, including places of employment and the names and locations of their children’s schools and daycares. In a statement of public necessity, SB 144 notes that the JQC investigates complaints against judges that are sometimes filed by litigants dissatisfied with an adverse ruling. When the JQC fails to find probable cause, the dissatisfied litigants “sometimes turn their ire toward commission employees as part of their campaign,” against the judge, the statement claims.
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Legal Profession
$59 MILLION SECOND DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL COURTHOUSE SET TO OPEN IN DECEMBER IN DOWNTOWN ST. PETE
St. Pete Rising | Article | October 13, 2025
A major milestone for Florida’s judicial system is nearing completion as the new $59 million Second District Court of Appeal Courthouse prepares to open its doors in downtown St. Petersburg in December. Located at 525 Mirror Lake Drive North, the three-story, 59,516-square-foot facility sits just one block from City Hall, near the Pinellas County Clerk of Court and other key government buildings. The courthouse will serve the Sixth Judicial Circuit (Pinellas and Pasco counties), the 12th Circuit (Sarasota, Manatee, and DeSoto counties), and the 13th Circuit (Hillsborough County). The court reviews appeals of trial court decisions from across its district, serving as an intermediary between local circuit courts and the Florida Supreme Court. It is named the Bernie McCabe Second District Court of Appeal Courthouse, honoring the late State Attorney for Florida’s Sixth Judicial Circuit.
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Criminal Justice
DONNA ADELSON SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON AFTER RAILING AGAINST TRIAL, JURY AND VERDICT
Tallahassee Democrat | Article | October 13, 2025
Donna Adelson, who hoped to spend her golden years doting on her grandchildren, will instead spend her remaining days on earth in a prison cell in the murder-for-hire of her former son-in-law, Dan Markel. After Adelson blasted the case against her in a lengthy statement that Leon Circuit Judge Stephen Everett warned showed “an utter lack of remorse,” he sentenced Adelson to life in prison — a punishment that was never in doubt given the fact that the state didn’t pursue the death penalty, leaving a mandatory life sentence as the only other option. Adelson, the matriarch of a once-prominent South Florida family, was found guilty Sept. 4 of first-degree murder, conspiracy and solicitation. Judge Everett told Adelson that she can choose to deny her involvement and maintain her innocence. But he suggested he was unmoved by her denials. When the sentence was finally handed down, Donna Adelson showed little if any emotion.
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Criminal Justice
COPS FACING MANSLAUGHTER CHARGES IN UPS HOSTAGE SHOOTOUT PUSH FOR ‘STAND-YOUR-GROUND’ DEFENSE
South Florida Sun Sentinel | Article | October 13, 2025
The three remaining defendants in the 2019 deaths of a UPS driver and an innocent bystander — Rodolfo Mirabal, Richard Santiesteban and Leslie Lee — are now arguing that they should be immune from prosecution under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, the same law invoked last month by Jose Mateo, a fourth Miami-Dade officer, whose charge was dismissed. Broward Circuit Judge Ernest Kollra ruled last month that Mateo should not be subject to prosecution because he was acting lawfully in the belief that his use of force was necessary to end a threat caused by two robber-kidnappers. The four Miami-Dade police officers were charged with manslaughter in Ordonez’s death. Now lawyers for Mirabal, Santiesteban and Lee are making the same argument. The case appears to be the first time the law has been invoked by a police officer to block a prosecution when the victim is not the intended target of the shooting.
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Legislative
WHAT IS THE FLORIDA HALO LAW? WHAT TO KNOW AFTER FIRST ARRESTS
USA Today Network - Florida | Article | October 13, 2025
Jacksonville police made its first arrests enforcing Florida’s new HALO Law (Honoring and Listening to Our Officers) after an officer got into a scuffle with a parent on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at a charter school after she parked her car in an intersection and left it running unattended. The woman, who was described as a habitual traffic offender with a revoked license, refused to comply and began exchanging blows with the officer. After the officer held her down in a choke hold, a crowd gathered. He began ordering the crowd back and to give him 25 feet. Two women in the crowd were charged with interfering with a first responder on duty. Under the law, if a first responder asks you to back off in the course of their duties, you must move 25 feet away or face a second-degree misdemeanor charge punishable by up to 60 days in jail or a $500 fine.
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Civil Justice
GEICO SUES FLORIDA CLINIC, CLAIMS $4.6 MILLION PIP FRAUD SCHEME
Insurance Business America | Article | October 13, 2025
GEICO and its affiliated companies have filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, against A J Therapy Center Inc., its owner Ramon Jimenez, and physician Jose Luis Cruz, M.D to recover more than $4.6 million, alleging a sweeping PIP fraud scheme by the Florida clinic and its operators. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants wrongfully obtained more than $4,600,000.00 from GEICO by submitting thousands of fraudulent and unlawful no-fault (PIP) insurance charges through AJ Therapy. These charges, according to the complaint, related to medically unnecessary, illusory, unlawful, and non-reimbursable health care services and goods—including initial and follow-up examinations, physical therapy, home medical equipment, and related services—purportedly provided to Florida automobile accident victims eligible for coverage under GEICO PIP insurance policies.
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Civil Justice
FLORIDA JUDGE FAULTS DEFENDANT’S ‘INCREDIBLE’ TESTIMONY IN $17M BENCH RULING
Daily Business Review | Article | October 13, 2025
Pinellas Circuit Judge Michael F. Andrews entered an opinion Friday [Oct. 10], finding that Randy Nolte and his company, EFT Services LLC, consistently underpaid Indian River Merchant Services LLC. Judge Andrews ruled that the South Florida businessman—whose “lack of credibility” was “incredible”— must pay roughly $17 million for breaching a personal identification processing deal. Zachary Hyman and Anthony Bruno II of Millennial Law in Fort Lauderdale and Andrew Wit and David Jennis of Jennis Morris represented Indian River. Indian River operated as a sponsored independent sales organization, providing independent sales representatives with access to the financial networks required to facilitate consumers’ cash withdrawals. EFT acted as a subcontractor of Indian River and was required to meet certain conditions to maintain that access. The ruling marked at least the third time the two parties have litigated against each other.
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Obituary
PENSACOLA’S FIERCEST DEFENDER OF 1ST AMENDMENT HAS DIED. BILL CLARK WON’T BE FORGOTTEN
Pensacola News-Journal | Article | October 14, 2025
Legend around the Clark Partington law firm has it that one day in 1975 Bill Clark walked into the office of former schoolmate Don Partington and announced, “I just told Joe Harrell we quit, let’s go look for offices.” And with that impulsive move, Clark and Partington cut ties with the firm of Harrell, Wiltshire, Bozeman, Clark & Stone and formed a Pensacola law firm that to this day stands as one of Northwest Florida’s most respected. On Oct. 10, the law firm announced that Bill Clark, a founding member and the instigator of the now 50-year-old split, had passed away that morning. Clark will be remembered for his sense of humor, his cringe worthy jokes, his fierce stance in defense of the freedom of speech and, of course, that day in 1975.