Recently added articles from Florida Bar Journal:
The new frontier in property tax challenges.
Jul 01, 2009; Bailey, Stephen A. ... Tony Beeny embarked upon uncharted territory when he filed a recent petition to challenge his property tax bill. (1) While taxpayers have been challenging tax bills as long as property has been taxed, Beeny's position is unique in that he is alleging what few have until recently: that his ...
Time is on my side: four steps to applying the correct law.(Florida)
Jul 01, 2009; Christian, Brandon R. ... Reliance on Florida's statutes presents a recurring dilemma: What year of the Florida Statutes applies to the dispute? In Florida, the legislature repeals and then amends and readopts the Florida Statutes each year. The process produces a general effective date for statutes that were not ...
The successor developer conundrum in distressed condominium projects.(Florida)
Jul 01, 2009; Schwartz, Martin A. ... "To be or not to be, that is the question." This issue was raised by a famous playwright centuries ago, although it is doubtful he had distressed condominiums in mind. A foreclosing lender or bulk purchaser acquiring unsold units in an unsuccessful condominium project (the acquirer) often ...
Creditor's rights under private annuities and grantor-retained annuity trusts in Florida.
Jul 01, 2009; Gassman, Alan S. ... The second part of a recent two-part Florida Bar Journal article titled "Unraveling the Mysteries of the Florida Exemptions for Life Insurance and Annuity Contracts, Part Two" discusses the creditor protection elements of annuity contracts. (1) The article discusses inter alia the ...
Murphy deed right-of-way reservations: a 1930s taxpayer bailout yields right-of-way cost savings.(Florida)
Jul 01, 2009; Brown, Henry M. ... In 2008, global recession gripped the economy. A nationwide collapse of the residential and commercial real estate markets led to the tanking of the financial system, prompting a credit freeze. As a result of the collapse, foreclosure rates ran rampant; world stock markets plummeted in ...
Employment law for law firms: do the shoemaker's children need new shoes?(part 1)
Jul 01, 2009; Schwarzberg, Steven L. ... You love that your secretary Betty plows through lunch to get your letters done and out to the client, taking bites of her turkey on rye in between keystrokes. You empathize with summer associate Joe, working until midnight, zealously getting your research done, and think back to your own ...
Nanotechnology and the dilemmas facing business and government.
Jul 01, 2009; Brindell, James R. ... Human beings have been obsessed over the course of history with building larger and larger structures: for example, Stonehenge, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the Empire State Building, the Sears Tower. Today, that obsession continues worldwide. In December 1959, however, Dr. Richard ...
The bursting bubble - dealing with the marital home during a real estate recession.
Jul 01, 2009; Schwartz, Robert M. ... Once upon a time, in the not so distant past, I would receive a phone call from a client who would tell me on a Friday that he or she had listed their marital home for sale. On Monday, I would often receive another call informing me that a contract for the sale of the home had been signed ....
Jesse H. Diner: president of the Florida Bar: a respected and listened to voice of reason.(Testimonial)
Jul 01, 2009; Pudlow, Jan ... When Jesse Diner was seven years old, he and his parents boarded a train to travel from their Hollywood home to visit relatives in New York City. His frugal folks noticed children six and younger rode free, so they coached little Jesse to say he was six. Small and ...
Directors' fiduciary duties: increasing focus on good faith and independence.(Florida)
Jul 01, 2009; Davis, Gardner ... The corporate board of directors has well-established fiduciary duties to the corporation and its shareholders. Recent cases against directors for breach of fiduciary duty increasingly focus on allegations of failure to act in good faith predicated on inaction and lack of oversight and ...
Restrictions on lawyers communicating with witnesses during testimony: law, lore, opinions, and the rule.(Florida)
Jul 01, 2009; Barber, Tom ... Witnesses are typically permitted to meet and communicate with lawyers before and after they testify. But a difficult situation may arise when a witness talks with a lawyer at some point during his or her testimony, that is, before all direct and cross examination has been completed. To ...
Efficient e-filing: let's do it!(Florida)(President's page)
Jul 01, 2009; Diner, Jesse H. ... When my paralegal, Nancy Cubeta, files a document for me in federal court, she logs into the computerized PACER program, enters a case number, selects the type of pleading, and attaches the scanned pleading. After receiving a prompt asking her if she is sure, she pushes a little ...
Preserving our state's legal heritage: restoration of the historic Miami Courtroom 6-1.
Jul 01, 2009; Johnson, Maria S. ... The Dade County Courthouse is a well-known Miami landmark with over 80 years of history, and Courtroom 6-1 is the grandest courtroom in the Dade County Courthouse. Often referred to as the "ceremonial courtroom," it is used for trials, meetings, investitures, educational seminars, chief ...
