Florida

  • September 23, 2024

    Calif. Schools To Limit Or Ban Cellphones Under New Law

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed into law a bill requiring Golden State school districts to limit or ban students from using smartphones during school hours in a bid to address mental health issues among the state's youth.

  • September 23, 2024

    Judge Grants Ex-Admiral, Contractors Separate Bribery Trials

    The Washington, D.C., federal court agreed on Monday to sever a retired Navy admiral's bribery trial from that of the defense contractors he is accused of steering federal contracts toward.

  • September 23, 2024

    Smartmatic Can't Seek Punitive Damages In Newsmax Suit

    A Delaware Superior Court judge on Monday ruled that Smartmatic USA Corp. can't seek punitive damages in the defamation trial over unsubstantiated claims from Newsmax Media Inc. that the company's voting systems rigged the 2020 election, saying Smartmatic couldn't meet its burden to prove express malice.

  • September 23, 2024

    'Ghost Candidate' Testifies In Trial Against Ex-Fla. Sen.

    Attorneys for former Florida Senator Frank Artiles tried to poke holes Monday in witness Alex Rodriguez's credibility, painting him as a liar who was trying to scam Artiles instead of an unwitting participant in Artiles' scheme to prop him up as a "ghost candidate" to swing a state senate election to a Republican candidate.

  • September 23, 2024

    Court Sinks Antitrust Claims Against Suns Owner

    A Florida federal court adopted the recommendations of a magistrate judge and tossed a mortgage broker's antitrust case against the owner of the NBA's Phoenix Suns and his company, United Wholesale Mortgage, over an alleged boycott.

  • September 23, 2024

    Wash. Agency No Longer Seeking Names In 3M Earplug Case

    The Washington state agency that handles child support claims seems no longer interested in seeking information on service members who are expected to receive payments from the 6 billion settlement from 3M Co. over injuries stemming from its Combat Arms Earplugs.

  • September 23, 2024

    DOL Says It Can Set Higher Wages For H-2A Workers

    The U.S. Department of Labor told a Florida federal court that its final rule increasing foreign agricultural workers' salaries ensures that H-2A visa holders don't adversely affect the wages of other workers, rejecting farm groups' arguments that the department lacked the authority to do so.

  • September 23, 2024

    US Can't Pin Clean Water Act Violation On Fla. Farmer

    A Florida federal judge recommended that a court rule in favor of a landowner sued by the government for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act after polluting wetlands to build a farm, saying a man-made ditch bordering the property isn't technically connected to navigable waters of the United States.

  • September 23, 2024

    Lack Of Evidence Dooms H-2B Administrative Assistant Bid

    A U.S. Department of Labor appeals board ruled that a Florida-based company's application for five administrative assistants through the H-2B temporary visa program was rightly denied for its failure to provide supporting evidence to substantiate its request.

  • September 23, 2024

    Raymond James Pushes Ex-VP's Sex Bias Suit Into Arbitration

    A Florida federal judge kicked a fired Raymond James and Associates executive's sex bias suit to arbitration Monday, concluding that a federal law prohibiting mandatory arbitration of sex misconduct claims didn't apply because her harassment allegations lacked "plausibility."

  • September 20, 2024

    Real Estate Recap: Infrastructure Rally, Insurance Reckoning

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including revived interest in infrastructure-focused funds and the next installment in a new series exploring the effects of extreme weather on the property insurance market.

  • September 20, 2024

    AGs Push To Can Google Privacy Deal With No Class Payout

    Nearly two dozen Republican state attorneys general are urging the Ninth Circuit to scrap a data privacy deal that requires Google to pay $62 million to plaintiffs' counsel and third-party organizations but gives no money to individual class members, arguing that consumers aren't adequately benefiting from the settlement.

  • September 20, 2024

    Fla. Judge Trims Health Co. Data Breach MDL

    The Florida federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation of a health benefits administration company impacted by a data breach dismissed several state consumer law claims but said those who brought lawsuits can sue, saying they've plausibly alleged injuries after their personal information was allegedly stolen by a cybercriminal group.

  • September 20, 2024

    Enviro Group Threatens Suit To Protect Newt In Fla., Ga.

    The Center for Biological Diversity has notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service it plans to sue over the denial of Endangered Species Act protections to a newt species that lives in threatened pine forests and wetlands in southeastern Georgia and north-central Florida.

  • September 20, 2024

    Judge Won't Toss Fraud Suit Against Crypto-Forex Co. Execs

    A Florida judge decided that the CEO and a founding shareholder of purported foreign exchange currency broker FxWinning Ltd. have sufficient ties to Florida to keep them among the defendants of a suit alleging the business and its operators perpetrated a multimillion-dollar fraud.

  • September 20, 2024

    SpaceX, Musk Attack FAA Following Proposed Fines

    SpaceX is lashing out at the Federal Aviation Administration's "inability to keep pace with the commercial spaceflight industry" days after the agency said it planned to slap the company with $633,000 in fines, prompting founder and majority owner Elon Musk to threaten a lawsuit.

  • September 20, 2024

    NFT Buyers Bring Securities Suit Against Crypto Co. OpenSea

    Two Florida users of OpenSea hit the nonfungible token marketplace with a proposed securities class action claiming the assets the users bought on the platform are unregistered investment contracts in light of recent court decisions and regulatory scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

  • September 20, 2024

    Insurer Settles Conn. Suit Over Theft From Theater Group

    Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co. has settled a dispute with a Florida couple who the insurer says bilked its policyholder, a theater education group, out of nearly $588,000 for their own personal use.

  • September 20, 2024

    Morgan Law, Morgan & Morgan Ad Spat Breaks Open Again

    National personal injury firm Morgan & Morgan PA is back in court with a rival Florida-based firm with a similar name, alleging that Morgan Law Group PA is once again poaching its search engine keywords in violation of a 2020 settlement between the two firms.

  • September 20, 2024

    Taxation With Representation: Gibson Dunn, Holland & Knight

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, CACI International buys Azure Summit Technology, Hotel Engine lands a valuation led by Permira, and Knowles Corp. sells its microphone business to Syntiant Corp.

  • September 20, 2024

    Florida Powerhouse: Bilzin Sumberg

    Miami's Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod LLP has had a significant impact on Florida's infrastructure over the past year, representing the leaders of housing, transportation, education and infrastructure projects that total more than $10 billion in value.

  • September 20, 2024

    Steel Biz Investors Sue Atty Over 'Father-Son'-Like Conflict

    A Pennsylvania couple have filed a malpractice suit accusing a lawyer of helping a steel distribution company induce them into investing about $800,000 and defrauding them, saying the attorney didn't disclose his relationship with the company's owners and "father-son"-like bond with one of them.

  • September 19, 2024

    Fla. Tourism Co. Agrees To Settle PPP Qui Tam For $2.3M

    A Sunshine State tourism company has agreed to pay nearly $2.3 million to resolve qui tam lawsuit allegations that it improperly received loan forgiveness under the Paycheck Protection Program after falsely certifying it didn't have to register as a foreign agent, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office representative in Florida.

  • September 19, 2024

    Ex-GrayRobinson Leader Departs Firm To Form Boutique

    Former GrayRobinson PA President Mayanne Downs announced Thursday she is leaving the Florida firm to form a litigation boutique with fellow shareholder Jeffrey Aaron and eight other GrayRobinson litigators in Orlando and Tallahassee.

  • September 19, 2024

    Newsmax Appeals Quash Of Smartmatic Atty Subpoenas

    Newsmax Media Inc. is appealing a Florida judge's decision to quash its attempt to subpoena a slew of criminal defense attorneys — representing Smartmatic USA Corp. executives in a criminal case over a Philippines elections contract — in Smartmatic's defamation suit over Newsmax reports tying the voting tech company to alleged conspiracies to steal the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Expert Analysis

  • 1st Gender Care Ban Provides Context For High Court Case

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    The history of Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming medical care — the first such legislation in the U.S. — provides important insight into the far-reaching ramifications that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti next term will have on transgender healthcare, says Tyler Saenz at Baker Donelson.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • Why High Court Social Media Ruling Will Be Hotly Debated

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    In deciding the NetChoice cases that challenged Florida and Texas content moderation laws, what the U.S. Supreme Court justices said about social media platforms — and the First Amendment — will have implications and raise questions for nearly all online operators, say Jacob Canter and Joanna Rosen Forster at Crowell & Moring.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • What Fla. Ruling Means For Insurer Managed Repair Programs

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    A recent Florida state court ruling in Fraga v. Citizens Property Insurance, holding that the insurer could not seek to add additional terms in its managed repair program consent form, should promote clear written contract terms that clarify the relationship between insurers, policyholders and contractors, says Chip Merlin at Merlin Law Group.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For Nationwide Race-Based Hair Protections

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    While 24 states have passed laws that prohibit race-based hair discrimination, this type of bias persists in workplaces and schools, so a robust federal law is necessary to ensure widespread protection, says Samone Ijoma and Erica Roberts at Sanford Heisler.

  • Series

    Florida Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter of 2024 brought two notable bills that will affect Florida's banking and finance community across many issues, including virtual currency abandonment, cancellation of financial services on the basis of political opinions, and the exemption amount of motor vehicles, say Joshua Prever and Andrew Balthazor at Holland & Knight.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Opinion

    A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Various Paths For Labor And Employment Law

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    Labor and employment law leans heavily on federal agency guidance, so the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to toss out Chevron deference will ripple through this area, with future workplace policies possibly taking shape through strategic litigation, informal guidance, state-level regulation and more, says Alexander MacDonald at Littler.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 36 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

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