MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Dozens of lawsuits from former NFL players were on full display in a federal court in Miami Thursday. The lawyers for the league are asking for the cases, which dealt with negligence and other charges, to be combined into one case.
The claims from former players center on whether the NFL knew of potential long-term health risks of repeated head trauma, but just recently started trying to deal with it on the field.
The players claim that repeated concussions and other head trauma leads to long-term problems including depression, migraine headaches, memory loss, and serious diseases like Lou Gehrig’s disease and others.
Just last year, former Chicago Bears safety Dave Duerson committed suicide in his Sunny Isles Beach condo. In his suicide note, he asked for his brain to be given to the NFL’s brain bank for analysis.
Brain researchers said Duerson suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which is a degenerative disease of the brain caused by repeated head trauma, according to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald.
If the league is successful in creating one case for all the players, the list of former players in the suit would be a who’s who of former stars.
The list
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Article source: http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/01/26/ex-nfl-player-lawsuits-hit-miami-court/
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.
Jan. 25, 2012
–Judiciary–
FLORIDA’S COURTS NEED RELIABLE FUNDING– Florida Times-Union, editorial, http://wire.jacksonville.com, Jan. 25, 2012.
The Florida Legislature needs to provide the third branch of government in this state with consistent, reliable funding. Revenue is currently provided from foreclosure filing fees. Even then, the courts receive only two-thirds of the revenue. And the fees, by their nature, tend to go through hills and valleys. Consider these facts: Florida ranks among the lowest in the percentage of state budgets allocated to the judicial branch. For instance, Arkansas and Kentucky devote 3.5 percent, while Florida devotes just .7 percent. Florida has fewer trial judges, on a per capita basis, than many other large states. In 2008, Florida ranked 46th in the ratio of citizens to judges. While Florida courts continue to focus on fiscal accountability, some states have twice as many judges per 100,000 population.
CHIEF JUDGE BELVIN PERRY ANNOUNCES RE-ELECTION BID– Sun-Sentinel,
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Article source: http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/PI/PINewsSummary.nsf/FV/AEA1D6A930ACDCFD8525799000561396
Tyler Weinman, the youth once accused of mutilating 19 cats across South Miami-Dade, is suing the county and a prominent animal rights organization for botching the high-profile investigation that led to his arrest.
Miami-Dade prosecutors dropped felony animal-abuse charges against Weinman in November 2010, an embarrassing conclusion to a highly publicized case.
Relying on the opinions of employees of the county’s animal services department, Miami-Dade detectives had built a circumstantial case that collapsed when a defense expert discovered animal bite marks, probably from a large dog, under the fur of eight preserved cat carcasses.
Named in the lawsuit: Miami-Dade County, including Detective Dominick Columbro and former Animal Services Director Sara Pizano; and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the University of Florida, which employed forensic veterinarian Melinda D. Merck.
The suit alleges that negligence by the county and Merck — chiefly, the failure to detect the dog bite marks on the cat carcasses — led to Weinman’s false arrest.
“This young man was vilified in the media. It became a national and international subject. He became a pariah,” said civil attorney
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Article source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/25/2608185/teen-once-accused-of-cat-killings.html
Soon after the real estate market crashed, hundreds of people from Miami and South America who had trusted Gaston E. Cantens as a friend discovered a painful secret: The prominent businessman had stolen tens of millions of dollars from them in a classic Ponzi scheme.
Today, the prospect of recovering much of that money is bleak. Indeed, Cantens’ victims are receiving only three cents for every dollar they invested with him after the liquidation of his investment and real estate business over the past three years, according to bankruptcy court records.
More than 150 investors — ranging from Belén Jesuit Preparatory School in West Miami-Dade to the parents of Miami U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen — sank $135 million into Cantens’ financial deals between 2003 and 2008.
His investors lost a total of $47 million as Cantens took their money, issued high-interest notes with purported guarantees and poured all of the proceeds into speculative real estate transactions in southwest Florida, a region pounded after the bust.
Only a fraction of their losses have been recovered because Cantens — who is scheduled to plead guilty to
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Article source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/24/2606069/victims-of-miami-ponzi-schemer.html
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.
Jan. 24, 2012
–Legal Profession–
FORECLOSURE CONSULTING COMPANY GROWING FAST– Florida Times-Union, http://wire.jacksonville.com, Jan. 24, 2012.
Business is booming so much for a Northeast Florida company that specializes in helping people resolve home foreclosures and bankruptcies that the company is hiring nearly twice as many workers as it currently employs. Consumer Attorney Services, founded last year, will hire about 150 additional employees. The company already employs 87 people, 20 of them attorneys. Consumer Attorney Services Chief Executive Officer Edward R. Carlton said they can’t keep up with the demand for help by area residents who are having trouble paying mortgages. “With a marketplace with the second-highest foreclosure rate in the country, it’s probably no surprise that we’re growing at the rate that we are,” Carlton said Thursday [Jan. 19]. “Consumers are left with little-to-no options when addressing their secured and unsecured debts.” Carlton said the company specializes in providing consulting services. The
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Article source: http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/PI/PINewsSummary.nsf/FV/65D6835559EAC3978525798F004972CA
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.
Jan. 23, 2012
–The Florida Bar–
DEBORAH WELLS EARNS FLORIDA BAR AWARD– Polk County Democrat, http://yoursun.net, Jan. 21, 2012.
Deborah Wells is a little embarrassed by the honor she’s receiving from The Florida Bar. She will be among 21 lawyers honored with the President’s Pro Bono Service Award for their work on behalf of poor and indigent clients at a Jan. 26 ceremony at the Supreme Court of Florida in Tallahassee. Honored to be chosen, she says modestly, “A lot of people do more than I do.” But Guardian ad Litem Senior Program Director Forrest Young says Wells “does a lot of what we call ‘relentless advocacy.’ When she works a case, she really works a case. She helps make things happen; she’s just incredible.”
–Legal Profession–
PALM BEACH COUNTY STATE ATTORNEY WON’T COMPLETE TERM– WPBF Palm Beach Gardens, http://www.wpbf.com, Jan. 21, 2012. [Also: JUDGE SINGHAL OFFICIALLY SWORN IN-- Daily
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Article source: http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/PI/PINewsSummary.nsf/FV/6A5A5486DF27EC8C8525798E005706BB
A Broward County couple was charged Monday with cashing millions of dollars of income-tax refund checks issued by the U.S. government to people under investigation for stealing others’ identities to file alleged fake tax returns.
Wilson Lau and Kate Yuee Lau of Coral Springs were charged with bilking the government in the first of a series of tax-fraud cases expected to be filed in federal court. The husband was also charged with aggravated identity theft.
The Laus, who operated American Quick Cash Depot in Oakland Park, are accused of conspiring to “enrich themselves by charging a fee for fraudulently obtained …tax-refund checks’’ bearing forged endorsements, according to the charges. The 75-year-old husband and his 54-year-old wife will be arraigned in Fort Lauderdale federal court Tuesday.
Investigators, led by the Internal Revenue Service and Secret Service, cited two instances last year when the Laus cashed checks — one for $5,415 and another for $9,391 — that “were stolen and bore falsely made and forged endorsements and signatures.”
The forfeiture filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed the magnitude of the couple’s alleged crime: The Laus processed a
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Article source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/23/2604051/broward-couple-charged-in-tax.html
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.
Jan. 18, 2012
–The Florida Bar–
ATTORNEY ROSEMARY E. ARMSTRONG TO RECEIVE TOBIAS SIMON PRO BONO SERVICE AWARD ON 30 YEAR ANNIVERSARY– The Florida Bar, press release, http://www.floridabar.org, Jan. 17, 2012. [Also: 21 FLORIDA LAWYERS TO RECEIVE PRO BONO AWARDS-- The Florida Bar, press release, http://www.floridabar.org, Jan. 17, 2012].
Tampa attorney Rosemary E. Armstrong is the recipient of the 2012 Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award, the highest statewide pro bono award. The award will be presented by Chief Justice Charles T. Canady at a Jan. 26 ceremony at the Supreme Court of Florida in Tallahassee. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Tobias Simon Pro Bono Service Award. The Florida Bar will also recognize 21 other lawyers with the President’s Pro Bono Award for their work on behalf of poor and indigent clients. In addition, the St. Lucie County Bar Association is the recipient of
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Article source: http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/PI/PINewsSummary.nsf/FV/77A6118647595276852579890055482E
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.
Jan. 19, 2012
–The Florida Bar–
FLORIDA BAR HONORS BARTON, ARMSTRONG FOR PRO BONO SERVICE– Tampa Bay Business Journal, http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay, Jan. 19, 2012. [Also: FLORIDA BAR TO HONOR THREE LOCAL ATTORNEYS AND A GAINESVILLE LAW FIRM-- The Gainesville Sun, Jan. 18, 2012; FLORIDA BAR HONORS BARTOW WOMAN WORKING AS PRO BONO LAWYER-- The Ledger, http://www.theledger.com, Jan. 18, 2012; FLORIDA BAR HONORS BAXA, WELLS, TORRES FOR PRO BONO SERVICE-- Orlando Business Journal, http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando, Jan. 19, 2012; TWO JACKSONVILLE ATTORNEYS HONORED FOR PRO BONO WORK-- Jacksonville Business Journal, http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville, Jan. 19, 2012; LOCAL BRIEFS: ATTORNEY RECOGNIZED FOR WORK WITH POOR-- The Bradenton Herald, http://www.bradenton.com, Jan. 19, 2012].
The articles highlight local attorneys who will receive awards from The Florida Bar in recognition of their pro bono service. The Pro Bono awards will be presented at
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Article source: http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/PI/PINewsSummary.nsf/FV/0ADF3E2A32ABAB6B8525798A00538472
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.
Jan. 20, 2012
–Legislature–
AN INJUSTICE– The Miami Herald, editorial, http://www.miamiherald.com, Jan. 20, 2012.
The editorial states: “In Florida, one of the three co-equal branches of government is a lot less equal when it comes to funding. The court system is at the mercy of an unpredictable source of revenue. . . . According to Scott Hawkins, president of The Florida Bar, the courthouse in Palm Beach County came within a hair’s breadth of shutting down its civil side because there was not enough money to continue operation. Both the state court system and the clerks of the court had to take a loan from the executive branch to fill out their 2010-11 budgets. That’s absurd. . . . A panel of judges and court clerks, the Revenue Stabilization Workgroup, recommends that the courts and court-related functions — court reporters and interpreters, in addition to judges, be funded consistently from general revenue
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Article source: http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/PI/PINewsSummary.nsf/FV/9E6399B004E86F658525798B005117D5
