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Florida
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August 02, 2024
Fla.'s Trans Healthcare Ban Violates Title VII, Judge Says
A Florida federal judge has ruled the state's Department of Management Services illegally excluded gender-affirming treatment for transgender employees under state-sponsored health benefits plans, finding the state's exclusion only applies to trans individuals and is facially discriminatory under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
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August 02, 2024
Hospital Says 'Maya' Case Shouldn't Have Gone To Jury
Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital Inc. asked a Florida appeals court on Friday to undo a $208 million judgment for the family of Maya Kowalski, the girl at the heart of the Netflix documentary "Take Care of Maya," arguing that their claims that the hospital's treatment of Maya caused her mother's suicide should never have gone to a jury.
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August 02, 2024
Adviser Wants Fraud Settlement Nixed, Says Fla. Broke Deal
A retirement financial adviser is urging a Florida state court to overturn a settlement with the state's Office of Financial Regulation in an unregistered-securities lawsuit, saying the agency breached the confidential agreement by disclosing why a receiver demanded nearly $800,000 in clawbacks over alleged fraudulent transfers.
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August 02, 2024
Real Estate Recap: Grants Pass, Population Data, CMBS Risk
Catch up on the past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including city and state reactions to the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on homeless encampments, a new proptech venture leveraging population data for investors and developers, and one BigLaw leader's view of which sectors are most sensitive to commercial mortgage-backed securities distress.
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August 02, 2024
HFZ Capital Cops To $86M Fraud Charges, Blames Ex-Chief
Defunct real estate firm HFZ Capital Group pled guilty in an $86 million criminal case Friday, admitting that its former top executive Nir Meir evaded New York City property taxes and stole funds from commercial and residential building projects.
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August 02, 2024
Fla. Atty Cops To Attempted DC Bombing, Explosion In Texas
A Florida criminal defense attorney pled guilty on Friday to federal charges stemming from an attempted bombing outside the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., in 2023 and the bombing of a satirical sculpture of communist leaders in San Antonio, Texas, in 2022.
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August 02, 2024
US Cheerleading Org. Faces Fees Bid After Losing TM Suit
Bush Ross PA and the Underwood Law Firm PC are seeking more than $800,000 in attorney fees after a Florida federal judge handed their clients a summary judgment win in a trademark infringement lawsuit brought by the U.S. All Star Federation against its rivals, saying they deserve to be reimbursed for costs related to the case because it was "exceptional."
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August 02, 2024
Ex-CFO Of Embattled PE Firm Sues In Del. For Legal Fees
The former chief financial officer of 777 Partners LLC has sued the private equity firm in Delaware's Court of Chancery, seeking advancement of his legal fees in connection with a fraud investigation and at least 20 civil lawsuits related to the company's business.
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August 02, 2024
11th Circ. Reopens Emory Suit Over Sex Assault Hearing
Emory University must face a male student's suit claiming he was mistreated during a hearing about sexual assault accusations against him, the Eleventh Circuit ruled, saying he'd provided enough details to suggest the school's sexual misconduct policy created an implied contract between them.
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August 01, 2024
11th Circ. Affirms Zurich Needn't Pay Judgment Against Agent
In a pair of opinions issued Thursday, the Eleventh Circuit revived a copyright claim by Compulife but rejected the software company's bid to force Zurich American Insurance Co. to pay for a judgment against an insurance agent who allegedly helped three others misappropriate the company's trade secrets.
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August 01, 2024
Feds Want Full Sentence Kept In Fla. Illegal Employment Case
The U.S. urged a Florida federal court on Thursday to uphold the three-year prison sentence of a labor staffing company operator convicted in a conspiracy to hire migrants not authorized to work in the U.S., saying he's ineligible for a reduction because of his admitted role in the scheme.
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August 01, 2024
11th Circ. Denies Coverage, Despite Insurer's Missing Comma
In a unanimous published opinion bound to frustrate grammarians, an Eleventh Circuit panel affirmed Thursday that though an insurer's policy might be missing a comma, the lack of punctuation didn't change its clear and unambiguous meaning, thus preventing payment to a food company.
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August 01, 2024
Crypto-Forex Co. Defaults In Fla. Civil Fraud Lawsuits
A purported foreign exchange currency broker based in Hong Kong defaulted Thursday in three Florida state court lawsuits alleging multimillion-dollar frauds due to lack of counsel, although a Miami judge allowed the former CEO to respond to the complaints against him as a self-represented party.
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August 01, 2024
TD Bank's $25M Client Poach Case Hits FINRA Snags
Ex-TD Bank employees accused of siphoning $25 million in business to Raymond James Financial Services Inc. agreed to move a dispute over a restraining order into arbitration to shield themselves from negative press, the bank told a federal judge Thursday after the defendants complained about delays to the proceeding.
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August 01, 2024
Judge Denies Bid For Financial Info Of Miami Official's Wife
A Florida federal judge rejected a bid by two property developers seeking financial records of a Miami commissioner's wife in a garnishment hearing, saying Wednesday their claim isn't supported, although withholding them could work against the official claiming his salary can't be used to pay a $63.5 million judgment.
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August 01, 2024
Fla. Justices Sanction Paralegal For Immigration Practice
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday told a paralegal and the immigration legal services businesses she has operated that she must reimburse clients who were misled into believing they were working with licensed attorneys.
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August 01, 2024
Senate Passes Bill To 'Systematically' Increase Judgeships
The Senate passed a bipartisan bill Thursday by voice vote to create 66 new and temporary judgeships to help federal courts handle increasing workloads.
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August 01, 2024
Schumer And Senate Dem Bill Would Reverse Trump Immunity
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and more than 30 of his Democratic colleagues introduced a bill on Thursday to undo the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that former President Donald Trump has immunity for official acts.
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August 01, 2024
Biotech Co. Biedermann Motech Hits Ch. 11 With $34M Debt
Biedermann Motech, a maker of implants for spinal and extremity surgery, filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware bankruptcy court with $34 million in debt.
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July 31, 2024
11th Circ. Affirms Trim Of Ex-Ala. Judge's Defamation Suit
The Eleventh Circuit held Wednesday that an Alabama federal court was correct to toss some of the claims in a defamation suit from Roy Moore, the embattled former Alabama Supreme Court leader, ruling that the court lacked jurisdiction over some claims and others were conclusory.
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July 31, 2024
Fla. Jury Awards $8.3M In Spat Over Sale Of Pro Player Brand
A Florida jury has awarded Perry Ellis $8.3 million after finding that United Legwear Co. purposely depressed the value of Perry Ellis' Pro Player brand under a licensing agreement to avoid paying fair market value when it purchased the brand later.
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July 31, 2024
11th Circ. Revives Suit Over Ga. City's Ouster Of White Manager
A white ex-city manager of a small Georgia city who was fired after a new administration allegedly vowed to replace him with a Black person will get another shot at pressing his racial discrimination claims as the Eleventh Circuit gave the case new life Wednesday.
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July 31, 2024
Trade Secrets Cases To Watch In 2024: A Midyear Report
A Virginia appellate court reversed a historic $2 billion trade secrets verdict in a closely watched case, and the Seventh Circuit emphasized that the federal trade secrets law applies to conduct abroad, expanding the damages landscape. Here are some of the most notable trade secrets cases to watch for the rest of 2024.
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July 31, 2024
GAO Says Navy Tactical Radio Contract Protest Is Untimely
The U.S. Government Accountability Office rejected a Las Vegas-based contractor's challenge to U.S. Navy deals awarded to L3Harris Technologies Inc. and Data Link Solutions, finding that the protest was four months too late.
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July 31, 2024
Fla. Electric Co. Ex-CEO Gets 4 Years For Privatization Plot
A Jacksonville, Florida, federal judge sentenced a former CEO of the city's electric company to four years in prison after a jury convicted him of fraud conspiracy charges in a multimillion-dollar embezzlement scheme connected to a process to privatize the public utility, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Expert Analysis
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The Clock Is Ticking For Fla. Construction Defect Claims
Ahead of the fast-approaching July 1 deadline for filing construction defect claims in Florida, Sean Ravenel at Foran Glennon discusses how the state's new statute of repose has changed the timeline, and highlights several related issues that property owners should be aware of.
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Takeaways From Nat'l Security Division's Historic Declination
The Justice Department National Security Division's recent decision not to prosecute a biochemical company for an employee's export control violation marks its first declination under a new corporate enforcement policy, sending a clear message to companies that self-disclosure of misconduct may confer material benefits, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Deciphering SEC Disgorgement 4 Years After Liu
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to preserve SEC disgorgement with limits, courts have continued to rule largely in the agency’s favor, but a recent circuit split over the National Defense Authorization Act's import may create hurdles for the SEC, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Wiretap Use In Cartel Probes Likely To Remain An Exception
Although the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division has recently signaled interest in wiretaps, the use of this technology to capture evidence of antitrust conspiracies and pursue monopolization as a criminal matter has been rare historically, and is likely to remain so, say Carsten Reichel and Will Conway at DLA Piper.
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Where Anti-Discrimination Law Stands 4 Years After Bostock
On the fourth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Bostock ruling, Evan Parness and Abby Rickeman at Covington take stock of how the decision, which held that Title VII protects employees from discrimination because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, has affected anti-discrimination law at the state and federal levels.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Updated Federal Rules Can Improve Product Liability MDLs
The recent amendment of a federal evidence rule regarding expert testimony and the proposal of a civil rule on managing early discovery in multidistrict legislation hold great promise for promoting the uniform and efficient processes that high-stakes product liability cases particularly need, say Alan Klein and William Heaston at Duane Morris.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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9th Circ. Ruling Shows Lies Must Go To Nature Of Bargain
The Ninth Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Milheiser decision, vacating six mail fraud convictions, clarifies that the key question in federal fraud cases is not whether lies were told, but what they were told about — thus requiring defense counsel to rethink their strategies, say Charles Kreindler and Krista Landis at Sheppard Mullin.
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The Uncertain Scope Of The First Financial Fair Access Laws
With Florida and Tennessee soon to roll out laws banning financial institutions from making decisions based on customer traits like political affiliation, national financial services providers should consider how broadly worded “fair access” laws from these and other conservative-leaning states may place new obligations on their business operations, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.
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Live Nation May Shake It Off In A Long Game With The DOJ
Don't expect a swift resolution in the U.S. Department of Justice's case against Live Nation, but a long litigation, with the company likely to represent itself as the creator of a competitive ecosystem, and the government faced with explaining how the ticketing giant formed under its watch, say Thomas Kliebhan and Taylor Hixon at GRSM50.
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Opinion
The FTC And DOJ Should Backtrack On RealPage
The antitrust agencies ought to reverse course on their enforcement actions against RealPage, which are based on a faulty legal premise, risk further property shortages and threaten the use of algorithms that are central to the U.S. economy, says Thomas Stratmann at George Mason University.
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.