Florida

  • May 21, 2024

    Earth, Wind & Fire Cover Band Owes $750K In TM Suit

    A Florida federal judge has ordered a concert producer and promoter to pay $750,000 to the entity that owns the music of Earth, Wind & Fire after the band won a summary judgment ruling in March that found the defendants infringed the legendary group's trademarks by organizing concerts featuring their music and name.

  • May 21, 2024

    Conn. Law Firm's Trade Secrets Case Likely Moving To Fla.

    A trade secrets lawsuit brought by a Greenwich, Connecticut, law firm against a former independent contractor is poised to move to the Southern District of Florida after a federal judge in Hartford said Tuesday that a new venue appears to be more appropriate.

  • May 21, 2024

    Strategic Hiring Was The New Normal For BigLaw In 2023

    The 400 largest law firms by headcount in the U.S. grew more slowly in 2023 than in the previous two years, while Kirkland & Ellis LLP surpassed the 3,000-attorney threshold, according to the latest Law360 ranking.

  • May 21, 2024

    The Law360 400: Tracking The Largest US Law Firms

    The legal market expanded more tentatively in 2023 than in previous years amid a slowdown in demand for legal services, especially in transactions, an area that has been sluggish but is expected to quicken in the latter half of the coming year.

  • May 20, 2024

    Fla. Pet Store Wins $53K Atty Fee Award In Explicit Video Suit

    A Florida state court judge has awarded the operators of a pet store nearly $53,000 in attorney fees defending against a lawsuit over sexual harassment and gender discrimination after a manager allegedly showed a video of his genitalia to an underage female employee while on the job.

  • May 20, 2024

    TD Ameritrade Must Face Most Claims In Fraud Abetting Suit

    A Florida federal judge has sustained most of a receiver's lawsuit against TD Ameritrade alleging the broker-dealer was responsible for furthering an alleged $9.8 million commodity pool fraud scheme.

  • May 20, 2024

    Transparency Act Violates Constitution, Groups Tell 11th Circ.

    The Corporate Transparency Act's reporting requirements violate the Fifth Amendment's protection against self-incrimination and other constitutional provisions, libertarian think tank Cato Institute and others said Monday in urging the Eleventh Circuit to uphold an Alabama district court's ruling against the law.

  • May 20, 2024

    Venezuelan Facing 2 Years In Prison For Laundering Scheme

    An ex-Venezuelan National Guard major is facing up to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a count of money laundering conspiracy involving the bribing of foreign officials to help cover up a $1.7 million fake import scheme and then moving the fraud proceeds through U.S. banks.

  • May 20, 2024

    Trial In Blackmail Case Over Judge's Photos Delayed

    A Florida state judge agreed Monday to push back the trial in a Palm Beach County judge's suit accusing an attorney of trying to blackmail her with nude photographs, after the defendant cited discovery delays and an ongoing bellwether trial in multidistrict litigation against Chiquita that is tying up the schedule of two key witnesses.

  • May 20, 2024

    Agricultural Groups Agree To Toss Claim In H-2A Rule Dispute

    Several Florida-based agricultural groups agreed to toss a claim in their suit challenging the U.S. Department of Labor's rule raising the wages of H-2A agricultural workers, saying while they still believe the allegation is viable, trimming the suit will expedite the litigation.

  • May 20, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Delaware was full of drama last week, as proposed changes to the state's corporate law statutes raised eyebrows and a professor's friend-of-the-court brief sparked a very unfriendly public exchange. Delaware's court of equity banged the gavel on pipeline and social media disputes, and shareholders filed new suits alleging insider trading, vote bungling, unfair stock buybacks and merger shenanigans. In case you missed any of it, here's the recap of all the top news last week from Delaware's Chancery Court.

  • May 20, 2024

    DeSantis Signs Bill Adding New Appellate Judge

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed into law a bill that will add a new appellate judge in the First District Court of Appeal, despite the Florida Supreme Court's determination that judges on the appellate court had excess capacity.

  • May 20, 2024

    Fried Frank, K&L Gates Lead $950M Sale Of Transportation Biz

    Transportation and distribution services provider Saltchuk Resources Inc., advised by K&L Gates LLP, on Monday announced plans to acquire energy transportation services provider Overseas Shipholding Group Inc., led by Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP, in a take-private transaction valued at $950 million.

  • May 20, 2024

    Squire Patton Lands Ex-Polsinelli Latin America Head In Miami

    The former head of Polsinelli PC's Latin America practice has joined Squire Patton Boggs LLP as a partner in its financial services practice in Miami after most recently practicing at his own boutique firm, the firm announced Monday.

  • May 20, 2024

    6th Circ. Orders Sanctioned Prison Co. To Pay NLRB Atty Fees

    The Sixth Circuit said a Federal Bureau of Prisons contractor has to pay the U.S. National Labor Relations Board's attorney fees from arguing the contractor should be held in contempt in a dispute over two fired union supporters, with one judge dissenting in part over 0.4 billable hour.

  • May 20, 2024

    Red Lobster Hits Ch. 11 Reeling From Endless Shrimp Deals

    The Red Lobster seafood restaurant chain has filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Florida bankruptcy court with $294 million in debt and sale plans, saying its problems included its equity owner and shrimp supplier possibly pushing it into a disastrous all-you-can-eat shrimp offer.

  • May 20, 2024

    Davis Polk, Wachtell Guide $2B SouthState Banking Deal

    Florida-based SouthState Corp. said Monday it has agreed to purchase Texas-based Independent Bank Group Inc. in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $2 billion, with Davis Polk and Wachtell steering the regional lenders on the deal. 

  • May 17, 2024

    Real Estate Authority: Loan Doctors, CFIUS, Mixed-Use Boom

    Catch up on the week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including potential conflicts of interest in special servicing, a data center buy stymied by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, and one hospitality pro's prediction for more mixed-use residential and hotel demand.

  • May 17, 2024

    $440M Cruise Line Ruling Over Cuba Dock May Be In Jeopardy

    An Eleventh Circuit panel appeared reluctant Friday to affirm a nearly half-billion-dollar judgment against four major cruise lines for "trafficking" in property seized by the communist Cuban government, as the underlying concession for a port facility in Havana expired in 2004.

  • May 17, 2024

    OB-GYN Enough Like GYN Oncologist For Expert Witness Law

    A Florida state appeals court on Friday revived a suit accusing a gynecological oncologist of performing an unnecessary surgery, saying the credentials of the patient's medical expert — an OB-GYN — satisfied the state's "same specialty" requirement.

  • May 17, 2024

    Off The Bench: Golf Star Arrest, Fla. Gambling, Gruden V. NFL

    In this week's Off the Bench, the world's top-ranked golfer is arrested after a traffic incident outside the PGA Championship, the federal government urges the U.S. Supreme Court to stay out of Florida's sports gambling dispute and Jon Gruden's defamation brawl with the NFL heads to arbitration.

  • May 17, 2024

    Fla. Investor Says Mining Co. Froze His Shares In Costly Error

    An investor and former employee of a Canadian mining company alleged breach of fiduciary duty and negligence against the business, saying in a lawsuit in Florida federal court that he was wrongfully prevented from selling his shares and lost money when the stock price dropped following an unfavorable arbitration ruling.

  • May 17, 2024

    Koch-Tied Group Says Transparency Law Offends Federalism

    The Corporate Transparency Act is unconstitutional because it does not regulate interstate commerce yet mandates that state-registered entities disclose personal information, a conservative group affiliated with the billionaire Koch brothers told the Eleventh Circuit on Friday.

  • May 17, 2024

    Fla. Appeals Court Nixes Condo Tax Sale After Address Mix-Up

    A Florida state appeals panel authored a split decision ordering a lower district court to reverse a tax deed sale after a property owner in Miami-Dade claimed the county's clerk of court failed to provide notice that his condo was being put up for sale due to a delinquent tax bill.

  • May 17, 2024

    DC Circ. Won't Immediately Block EPA Power Plant GHG Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is clear to implement its new greenhouse gas emissions rule for power plants — at least for now — after the D.C. Circuit on Friday rejected an effort to temporarily block it.

Expert Analysis

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • Devil's In The Details On FDCPA, Article III Standing

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    The Third Circuit’s recent decision in Barclift v. Keystone Credit Services concerning the alleged harm needed to support a class action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is in line with other circuits' interpretations of Article III of the Constitution, notwithstanding disagreement over the minutiae of a proper Article III analysis, says Nick Agnello at Burr & Forman.

  • 11th Circ. Ruling May Foreshadow Ch. 15 Clashes

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in In re: Talal Qais Abdulmunem Al Zawawi has introduced a split from the Second Circuit regarding whether debtors in foreign proceedings must have a domicile, calling attention to the understudied nature of Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • What The Justices' Copyright Damages Ruling Didn't Address

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Warner Chappell v. Nealy clarified when a copyright owner may recover damages in jurisdictions that apply the so-called discovery rule, it did not settle the overriding question of whether the Copyright Act even permits applying the rule, say Ivy Estoesta and William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

  • Bankruptcy Courts Have Contempt Power, Del. Case Reminds

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    A Delaware bankruptcy court recently held Camshaft Capital and its principal in contempt, serving as a reminder to bankruptcy practitioners and anyone else that appears before a bankruptcy judge that there are serious consequences for failing to comply with court orders, say Daniel Lowenthal and Kimberly Black at Patterson Belknap.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • 8 Fla. Statutes That Construction Cos. Should Prepare For

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    In this article, Jason Lambert at Hill Ward discusses a number of recent bills out of the Florida Legislature targeting construction companies in the Sunshine State that have been sent to the governor for signature, at least some of which will have broad impacts that affected companies should prepare for ahead of the July 1 effective date.

  • Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    Mark Johnson and Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler discuss notable insurance class action decisions from the first quarter of the year ranging from salvage vehicle titling to rate discrimination based on premium-setting software.

  • Opinion

    Viral Deepfakes Of Taylor Swift Highlight Need For Regulation

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    As the nation grapples with addressing risk from artificial intelligence use, the recent circulation of AI-generated pornographic images of Taylor Swift on the social platform X highlights the need for federal legislation to protect nonconsenting subjects of deepfake pornography, say Nicole Brenner and Susie Ruiz-Lichter at Squire Patton.

  • As Arbitrator Bias Claims Rise, Disclosure Standards Evolve

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    The growth in post-award challenges based on arbitrators' alleged conflicts of interest has led to the release of new guidance and new case law on the topic — both supporting the view that professional familiarity alone does not translate to a lack of impartiality, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Social Media Free Speech Issues Are Trending At High Court

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision examining what constitutes state action on social media can be viewed in conjunction with oral arguments in two other cases to indicate that the court sees a need for more clarity regarding how social media usage implicates the First Amendment, say attorneys at Kean Miller.

  • Navigating Harassment Complaints From Trans Employees

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in Copeland v. Georgia Department of Corrections, concerning the harassment of a transgender employee, should serve as a cautionary tale for employers, but there are steps that companies can take to create a more inclusive workplace and mitigate the risks of claims from transgender and nonbinary employees, say Patricia Konopka and Ann Thomas at Stinson.

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