Daily Archives: March 12, 2012

The Florida Bar – Daily News Summary

Posted on by

An electronic digest of media coverage of interest to members of The Florida Bar compiled each workday by the Public Information and Bar Services Department. Electronic links are only active in today’s edition. For information on previous articles, please contact the publishing newspaper directly.

March 12, 2012

–Judiciary–

DON’T VIEW JUDICIAL BRANCH AS THE ENEMY– Tallahassee Democrat, letter-to-editor, http://www.tallahassee.com, March 11, 2012 [subscription required]. [Also: JUDGE FOLLOWED THE LAW IN PENSION CASE-- Sun-Sentinel, column, http://www.sun-sentinel.com, March 12, 2012].
The letter and guest column discuss Second Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford’s ruling in the public employees’ pension case. The letter by Tallahassee attorney Kelly Overstreet Johnson, a past Florida Bar president (2004), states: “‘Judicial activism’ is a term that has been used by politicians lately to criticize rulings of our local judiciary with which they do not agree. Unfortunately, most of these people are not lawyers and do not know (or choose not to recognize) the proper role of the judiciary, our third branch of government. I have been a lawyer for 30 years. Our judges are hard-working, ethical and make rulings based upon years of precedent.” The guest column by retired Tallahassee Judge Janet E. Ferris states: “I was stunned by the comments made by Senate President Mike Haridopolos and Gov. Rick Scott about a former colleague, Tallahassee Circuit Judge Jackie Fulford. After receiving her ruling on the public employees’ pension case, they provided Floridians with their opinion that Judge Fulford is an ‘activist judge.’. . . The reality is that . . . Judge Fulford carefully analyzed the issues before her and made a reasoned decision based on the law and the Constitution.”

7 PERCENT BUDGET CUT PUTS HERNANDO COUNTY CLERK OF COURTS IN A BIND– Tampa Bay Times, http://www.tampabay.com, March 10, 2012. [Also: PASCO COUNTY CLERK MULLING LAYOFFS, FURLOUGHS AMID STATE BUDGET CUTS-- Tampa Bay Times, http://www.tampabay.com, March 10, 2012].
Karen Nicolai arrived to work Friday [March 9] with a tough task ahead of her. The budget the state Legislature was expected to pass later in the day included an across-the-board 7 percent cut for county clerk of court operations. It’s now up to Nicolai, preparing her 24th and final annual budget before retiring as Hernando’s clerk, to deal with an increasing case load and fewer resources. Pasco Clerk of Courts Paula O’Neil could lose 19 workers or institute more than two weeks of unpaid furloughs in response to the cuts doled out to Florida’s 67 clerks offices. In last-minute budget negotiations, lawmakers agreed to cut those offices by $31 million. Other court-related groups such as judges, state attorneys and public defenders did not receive budget cuts this year.

–Legislature–

FLORIDA LEGISLATURE: WHAT PASSED, AND WHAT DIDN’T?– Naples Daily News, http://www.naplesnews.com, March 10, 2012. [Also: 2012 FLORIDA LEGISLATIVE SESSION WINNERS AND LOSERS-- The Palm Beach Post, http://www.palmbeachpost.com, March 11, 2012; SINE DIE 2012: THE SESSION THAT WAS-- Florida Current, http://www.thefloridacurrent.com, March 10, 2012].
The articles summarize legislation that passed and failed in this year’s legislative session, which ended Friday [March 9]. Key legislation that passed include PIP reform, a requirement that state officials preserve and make public documents they send between their election and taking office and a requirement that legal notices be posted online but also remain in printed newspapers. Legislation failed that would have created a speedier process for resolving mortgage foreclosure cases, given the governor more control over appointing and removing members from judicial nominating commissions and put on the ballot a state constitutional amendment raising the mandatory retirement age for judges and Supreme Court justices from 70 to 75.

–Legal Profession–

ADVOCATES: STATES SHOULD GIVE FOSTER KIDS LAWYERS– Polk County Democrat, http://www.polkcountydemocrat.com, March 11, 2012.
The article is by The Associated Press. When Lauren entered foster care at age 16, she was too scared to go to the court hearings that were deciding her future. However, Lauren’s attorney eventually persuaded her to attend, convincing her of how important it was for the judge to hear about Lauren’s experiences in her own words. Having legal help like that is uncommon for the nation’s more than 400,000 foster children. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and more than a dozen other states require that foster children have appointed attorneys. Compliance, however, is sporadic because of shrinking budgets. Florida has a pilot program that advocates are pushing other states to try. Lauren was appointed an attorney a few years ago after a federal court judge ruled that foster children in two metropolitan Atlanta counties are entitled to be represented. It’s a ruling that supporters, including the American Bar Association, are using to build a national campaign for children to have legal counsel.

DON’T DENY LAW SCHOOL GRADUATE FRUITS OF HIS LABOR– Tampa Bay Times, editorial, http://www.tampabay.com, March 10, 2012.
The editorial states: “He contributed to civic life as an Eagle Scout, high school valedictorian and graduate of New College and Florida State University’s College of Law. But to the credentialing arm of Florida’s legal profession, Jose Godinez-Samperio is little more than the grown-up version of a 9-year-old whose Mexican parents overstayed their visas after entering the United States. His fight for admission to The Florida Bar captures the senselessness of America’s immigration policy, and he should not be punished for the choices made by his parents. The Board of Bar Examiners blocked Godinez-Samperio’s bid to become a lawyer in Florida, ruling the 25-year-old was not qualified because of his status as an undocumented immigrant.”

Divorce Retirement: Financial Advisers Face Challenges When Couples Split Later

Posted on by

By Jessica Toonkel
NEW YORK, March 12 (Reuters) – As part of the retirement planning process, financial advisers often help married couples prepare for the eventuality of one dying before the other.
What few people talk about is what happens if the couple divorces as they are approaching retirement.
Unfortunately, this is becoming more and more common. Over the past 20 years, the divorce rate among people between the ages of 48 and 66 has increased by more than 50 percent, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
“We always talk about the risks people face in retirement, like inflation risk and health care costs risks, but very rarely does anyone mention the risks of being single in retirement,” said Tina Di Vito, head of Bank of Montreal’s BMO Retirement Institute.
For financial advisers, a divorce by clients can be a minefield of strong emotions and conflicting interests, not to mention their shock at seeing their assets get cut in half.
But advisers say they can get their clients through this trying time with a significant amount of hand-holding and expectation-setting. In some cases, they may even refer them to other financial advisers who do not have a previous relationship with either of the clients.

PLANNING FOR THE UNPLANNABLE
While advisers agree that there is no way to plan long-term for divorce, they can take steps to be more prepared for it.
A growing number of advisers are becoming “certified divorce financial analysts” by taking a four-part, self-paced course covering such issues as tax ramifications, property division and budgeting matters.
The number of advisers who get certified annually has doubled since 2002, according to the Institute of Certified Divorce Financial Analysts. There are now 1,500 CDFAs in the United States and Canada.
Having this designation can help advisers get to clients before they have been hit by the emotional toll and financial distress that a divorce causes because clients are likely to come to them early in the process after seeing they are certified divorce financial analysts.
“I was meeting so many people post-divorce who came to me with their settlement checks asking, ‘What should I do now?’” said Lauren Klein, a Newport Beach, California-based adviser who got the certification. “I thought if I could get to them sooner, I could help them avoid the litigation process.”
Often, once a couple starts thinking about divorce, the husband, wife or both will ask the adviser what to do. This presents a tricky situation.
If only one spouse is coming for help, advisers have to be sure to include the other in the conversations, or else they are opening themselves up to lawsuits down the road.
“I might help them understand what their assets are and what the tax consequences would be if they sell certain assets, but then I refer them on to someone else during the actual divorce process,” said Wendy Spencer, a certified divorce financial analyst and family law mediator.
Some advisers feel that there is too much potential for a conflict of interest if they continue to work with a couple during a divorce. In these cases, they often refer their clients to another adviser just to help them through that process.
The danger with referring clients, however, is that the adviser risks losing them.
“I would rather risk losing a (client) than the possibility of a lawsuit from a client claiming I sided with the other party,” Spencer said.
And lawsuits are something to be concerned about. “Most clients coming through a divorce want to blame someone,” said Lili Vasileff, an adviser with Divorce and Money Matters LLC and president of the International Association of Divorce Financial Planners. “Advisers need to make sure they have liability insurance.”

DECISION TIME
Once clients have decided to divorce, advisers can do several things to help them — as a couple or as individuals.
But when emotions run high, the challenge for advisers is helping clients understand when to let go. In particular, many clients insist on keeping the house no matter what it means for them.
“There is this idea that winning the house means you have won, and that is just not the case,” said Columbus, Indiana-based adviser Warren Ward.
Judith McGee, a Raymond James Financial Services adviser in Portland, Oregon, had clients who were divorcing; the wife was leaving the husband for another man.
The husband “did not want to finance his house to pay her off because he was angry,” she said. “But all he had was an IRA and his house and some income because he was semi-retired.”
McGee convinced the client to take a loan out on the house, rather than dip into his IRA, to pay his wife.
Advisers are instrumental in helping clients divide their assets.
Splitting up a pension plan when the employee is still working, for example, is not so simple, said Diane Pearson, an adviser with Pittsburgh-based Legend Financial Advisors Inc, which has $350 million in assets under management.
The adviser needs to determine the present value of the pension. Then the adviser must confer with the nonworking spouse to see if it makes better sense to receive the pension amount now or upon the working spouse’s retirement.
Similarly, splitting up stocks requires figuring out what the couple paid for the shares.
“Even in a collaborative divorce that is amicable, splitting everything 50/50 can be tricky,” Pearson said.

POST-DIVORCE
An important, yet challenging priority is helping to set the client’s expectations about his or her post-divorce lifestyle.
This can be particularly challenging if the client did not manage the finances in the family. For these clients, who tend to be the wives, advisers may need to do extra hand-holding, they said.
A lot of this work has to do with knowing when a client just needs empathy rather than advice.
“Advisers need to understand the stages of grief and that this is a slow process,” McGee said. “Don’t give a lot of advice too soon.”

“;
var coords = [-5, -72];
// display fb-bubble
FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, ‘top’, {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: ‘clear-overlay’});
});

Trial For Teen In Matthew Brewer Case Could Be Delayed

Posted on by

FT. LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Jury selection for the trial of Matthew Bent, one of three teens charged with setting Michael Brewer on fire in October 2009, has been delayed.

“I really don’t want to talk right now, I’m sorry,” said Michael Brewer outside the courtroom.

Lent’s attorney filed a motion to move the case back to juvenile court. He argued Bent, who was only 15 years old at the time of the attack, does not have the maturity level to understand the consequences of a jury trial.

The Brewer family doesn’t buy that.

“If we don’t put something out there that says ‘This can not happen anymore’, that there has to be respect for each human being, that you can not inflict harm on somebody else and not have any repercussions is ridiculous,” said Michael’s aunt Reenie Brewer.

On Monday Broward Circuit Judge Michael Robinson delayed the start of jury selection and ordered that Bent undergo a mental competency exam. Robinson also denied the motion to transfer the case to juvenile court.

Last month, two other teens who were charged in the case, 19-year old Jesus Mendez and 18-year old Denver Jarvis, pled no contest to attempted second degree murder.

Bent, who was the alleged ringleader of the trio, was also expected to enter a new plea but he changed his mind at the last-minute and opted for a jury trial based on advise from his family.

Mendez, Jarvis and Bent are accused of pouring rubbing alcohol on then 15-year-old Brewer before setting him on fire. The trio reportedly set Brewer on fire after an argument over a video game and a stolen bike.

He survived by jumping into a nearby swimming pool. He suffered burns over 60-percent of his body. He spent months rehabilitating at Jackson memorial Hospital Burn Center in Miami.

The state sought 15 years for Mendez and 10 years to both Bent and Jarvis.

Mendez, 18, accused of the flicking the lighter, was the first to be sentenced. He was given 11 years in prison, one year of community control and 18 years probation.

Jarvis, who was accused of pouring the liquid on Brewer, was sentenced to eight years in prison, one year of community of control and 21 years of probation.

Bent, who is charged with attempted second degree murder, could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Monday’s Daily Pulse

Posted on by

Lobbying pays off big for business in Florida’s 2012 session

From shop owners, who know little about Tallahassee politics, to the powerful business lobby that thought up many carefully crafted tax breaks, the Legislature this year proved a friendly place.

The total package of business tax relief approved during the 60-day legislative session that ended Friday totaled about $750 million this year, and more than $2.5 billion over the next three years.

Everyday consumers received a much smaller package of direct tax relief — another back-to-school tax holiday, small homestead exemptions and no tax increases.

[Source: Times/Herald]

Related:
» The 2012 Legislative Session: Who are the winners, losers?
» Gov. Rick Scott: The outsider turns insider

Like Florida, the US posts record international tourism in 2011

It’s not just Florida that set a record for international tourists last year: The United States hosted more visitors from abroad than ever before, the U..S. Commerce Department announced.

A record 62 million tourists came to the United States from other countries last year, up 4 percent from 2010 levels.

New York, Miami and Los Angeles were the three biggest entry points, Commerce officials said.

[Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel]

Getting the cruise industry back on course

Could the timing have been any worse for the cruise industry?

Just as cruise companies were hoping for a stellar year after the recent economic slump depressed prices — and hardly two weeks into the peak booking season — the deadly shipwreck of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy cast a pall over an industry that touts its safety record.

[Source: Miami Herald]

Facing the financial facts of getting a divorce

Divorce is a life-changing event. It puts everything in turmoil, including your financial future. Although it’s a time when emotions run high, it’s vital for you to keep a clear head, so you can make good decisions. An objective financial advisor can help you through this difficult time, just as a good attorney can guide you through the legal process.

Here are some of the important financial and investment issues to consider in a divorce.

[Source: Miami Herald]

UF helps put state on map for blueberries

BlueYouth Berries owner Carleen Gunter was a third-generation citrus farmer, but pressures on her Odessa orange groves from pests and disease proved to be too much. In searching for a replacement crop, Gunter found that blueberries faced fewer problems and allowed for a quick turnaround between planting and production.

She credits the University of Florida for developing varieties of blueberries that thrive in the state, which historically hadn’t been a hotbed for the fruit.

[Source: Gainesville Sun]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› Sinking feeling might be over for First Coast’s boating industry [Florida Times-Union]
While the automobile industry appears to be on the rebound from a stubborn recession, there is no advertisement with Clint Eastwood declaring it’s “Halftime in America” for the boating industry.

But watercraft retailers on the First Coast say there are early indications that the boating industry is experiencing a possible rebound from what has been a dismal half-decade of sales.

› RNC may be a mixed bag for Tampa Bay restaurants [Tampa Bay Times]
“There will be winners and there will be losers.” Bill Morrissey of Morrissey Hospitality Cos. in St. Paul, Minn., is not talking about candidates, but rather how local businesses might fare during the 2012 Republican National Convention this August in Tampa. He knows a thing or two about collateral successes and failures at the Republican Party’s biggest shindig. His hotels and restaurants were at the epicenter of the Twin Cities convention in 2008, where many reaped handsome payoffs. Others, not so much.

› South Florida’s highest paid CEOs [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
The highest paid leaders of publicly traded companies based in South Florida range from the well-known — Carnival’s Micky Arison — to those known mainly within their industries, such as Wellington entrepreneur Amin Khoury who turned B/E Aerospace into a leading manufacturer of airplane seats and other cabin supplies.

› Money in the beanbag [Gainesville Sun]
Business for Gainesville-based Corda-Roy’s Beanbags has done nothing but go up since the recession started. Owner Byron Young is not exactly sure why.

“It must be a lot of word of mouth because we haven’t done a lot of advertising,” he said from his showroom and office building.

Go to page 2 for more stories …

1 2   [ next ]