Thursday, August 21, 2008

Tough times

From AboveTheLaw (which has a new editor):

* It looks like 2008 will be the worst year for law firms since 2001. The American Lawyer says the "silver lining" is that firms can "winnow out unproductive lawyers and apply greater discipline to expense control." In other words: more layoffs, less perks. [American Lawyer]

* Law firms are not the only ones suffering. Florida courts will cut 250 positions by October 1. [Daily Business Review]

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Random questions from the last two days

Did you work on Monday and Tuesday this week?
Yes, I went to the office both days
Yes, I worked from home
No, I played Guitar Hero at home
Free polls from Pollhost.com



And for the comments:

How many billable hours were lost in the rain?

Did BigLaw make their secretaries work?

Should the federal courts track the school closures?

If the court is closed, should you be able to e-file motions?

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Federal court in Miami closed Monday & Tuesday

UPDATE -- because the SDFLA tracks Dade County Schools, Miami federal court will be closed Tuesday.

Here's the notice from the court website:

AUGUST 17, 2008, 7:30 p.m.Federal District Court Operations and Tropical Storm Fay
The U.S. District Courthouses in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe Counties will be closed on Monday, August 18, in accordance with Administrative Order 2007-44. This administrative order mandates that, in the event of hazardous weather that causes the local public schools in a particular county to close, the U.S. District Courthouse in that county will also close. The U.S. District Court closures include the U.S. Bankruptcy Courts.
Jurors have been instructed to call in for further reporting instructions.
At this time, the U.S. District Courthouses in West Palm Beach and Fort Pierce will remain open on August 18 unless the public schools in those locations also close.
Any change to the scheduled closures will be made via media announcements. Changes will also be posted on the Court's website at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Rain

That was some storm this afternoon, no?

It wasn't this bad:

But apparently there was an F-1 tornado. Pics here.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

"I didn't want to go in the life raft. He made me go. He had my gun."

That was Joe Cool defendant Guillermo Zarabozo talking about co-defendant Kirby Archer, who has already pleaded guilty. Zarabozo was testifying today at a motion to suppress.

More from Curt Anderon's AP article:

"What was going through your mind?" asked defense attorney Anthony Natale.
"That I would get shot. He had just shot four people," Zarabozo said.
The hearing Tuesday concerned whether statements Zarabozo made to the Coast Guard and FBI after he and Archer were rescued from the life raft will be allowed at trial. U.S. District Judge Paul Huck ruled those statements could be used because Zarabozo was not under arrest or being interrogated, but simply answering routine search-and-rescue questions.
"That would be a normal Coast Guard procedure and not a nefarious, underhanded attempt by the Coast Guard to obtain criminal information," Huck said.


His trial is scheduled for September.