Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Judge Zloch strikes back

Remember Loring Spolter's wild claims that there was a conspiracy with Judge Zloch and the clerk's office? Well, the DBR reports that it didn't go so well for Mr. Spolter:

District Court Judge William Zloch is considering suspending a Fort Lauderdale employment attorney from practicing in South Florida federal courts for criticizing him in an interview with the Daily Business Review. Fort Lauderdale lawyer Loring Spolter said the former chief judge allows his religious and conservative views to color his decisions. He also commissioned a statistical analysis that Spolter said showed it was impossible for so many of his cases to be randomly assigned to Zloch, only to be dismissed. Cases are assigned in the Southern District through a somewhat weighted wheel system that takes into account where cases are filed and where the action occurred.

***

Zloch asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Robin Rosenbaum to review the matter and make recommendations. She issued a 96-page report July 10, finding Spolter’s accusations were specious after taking testimony on case assignments from Steven Larimore, the district’s clerk of court. “Although a lawyer should be lauded for having the courage to take a stand against any truly biased activity on the part of a court, Mr. Spolter’s actions do not fall into that category,” Rosenbaum wrote. “These statements exceed the bounds of properly raising grounds for recusal or disqualification and instead constitute a personal attack on the presiding judge.” Zloch adopted Rosenbaum’s findings and held a hearing Aug. 20 on whether to sanction Spolter for filing the motions in bad faith. Zloch repeatedly invoked the interview with DBR in the hearing, a transcript shows. “I would like to know how the federal judiciary, the Southern District, gets back its good name after that article,” the judge said. Zloch said he is considering suspending Spolter from practicing in South Florida federal courts for five years. He also is considering a fine, court costs and referring Spolter to The Florida Bar for discipline. The judge told Spolter he could mitigate the sanctions if the lawyer bought a full-page, court-approved advertisement in the Review apologizing for his previous position.

Things that struck me about from the article, which is worth reading in its entirety:
  • 96 pages? That's a long R&R! Judge Marcus would be proud of his former clerk.
  • What happens if the DBR gives Spolter the ad for free?
  • Why can't Spolter keep his mouth shut? (From the article: Zloch said Spolter’s statistical expert recanted his position at Rosenbaum’s hearing. The statistician had said it was nearly impossible for Spolter’s cases to randomly end up with Zloch only to be dismissed. That’s when Spolter stood up and said the judge was wrong. “The expert just called me up last week and spoke to me about this case again, and he said to me that he stood by his testimony,” Spolter said. Zloch retorted to Reinhardt, “He apparently still maintains his position.”) Painful. SFLawyers has a funny post about this.
  • Is Judge Zloch the right judge to be deciding the sanctions? Or should some other judge do it?
  • Should lawyers be permitted to criticize judges without fear of being reprimanded? (More from the DBR: The Spolter case raises the issue of the free speech rights of attorneys who criticize a sitting judge. Last year, The Florida Bar reprimanded Fort Lauderdale attorney Sean Conway for calling Broward Circuit Judge Cheryl Aleman an “evil, unfair witch” in a blog post that appeared around Halloween 2006. Conway maintained his statements were protected opinions but stipulated to the Bar’s disciplinary decision.)

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

1-0

C-A-N-E-S

Okay, now that that's off my chest, back to business.

The Chief has formed a committee to look at building a new Broward courthouse. From the DBR:

With its maze-like corridors, dead ends and multi-level pools, the Fort Lauderdale federal courthouse is outdated in the post 9/11 world. The chief judge says it's high time for a replacement. Chief U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno said the courthouse fails to meet the upcoming — and even the current needs — of the Southern District. There are security issues, the courtrooms are small and undignified, and there is a lot of unused space on the tiered floors. But most importantly, Moreno said there is a need to expand. The district’s caseload is shifting north from Miami, and the next federal judge in South Florida will sit in Fort Lauderdale. Moreno has appointed a 16-member committee including judges, magistrates, mayors and a number of high-profile law firm partners, and they plan to hold their first meeting Sept. 15.

Lots of pithy quotes in the article...

George Platt, a Shutts & Bowen partner in Fort Lauderdale, is the committee chairman. He said the current courthouse was built in the mid-1970s. The front entrance features a sun-worshipping tiered staircase, pools and fountains edged with palm trees. But for security reasons, the public must enter through a narrow, dark rear door walled off by a chain-link fence around a ramp. “I would describe it as sort of going into a gulag. It’s a very unpleasant experience,” Platt said. “I guess it was a wonderful idea in someone’s imagination when it was created originally, but once we got into a situation where a courthouse had to be more secure and more efficient, this building has been a disaster.” In recent years, the most prominent feature at the front of the building, the fountain pools, were drained and left empty.

I agree that the building is a disaster, but the actual courtrooms aren't that bad. I like trying cases there: you are close to the jury and to the judge (unlike the Ferguson building). And the acoustics aren't awful like they are in the Tower building in Miami.

For those that are interested, we had the blog Fantasy Football draft last night. I got saddled with the first pick. Here's my (championship) roster:

Philip Rivers
Anquan Boldin
Brandon Marshall
DeSean Jackson
Adrian Peterson
Steve Slaton
Jeremy Shockey
Willie Parker
Knowshon Moreno
Matt Schaub
Chris Henry
Chris Chambers
James Davis
Justin Gage
Kevin Boss
Patrick Crayton
Darrius Heyward-Bey
Mason Crosby
Tennessee Defense
New York Jets Defense

Friday, September 04, 2009

Justice Stevens to retire?

We're a little late on this story, but it's starting to get a lot of traction, so here goes... It looks like Justice Stevens might be on the retirement track as indicated by his lack of hiring law clerks. From the NY Times:

Justice David H. Souter’s failure to hire clerks this spring accurately signaled his decision to step down. On Wednesday, the court confirmed that Justice John Paul Stevens, who is 89, has hired only one clerk, instead of the usual four, for the term starting in October 2010. That ignited speculation that Justice Stevens may be planning to step down next summer.
Or it could merely mean that he is keeping his options open. There is, of course, nothing to prevent Justice Stevens from hiring additional clerks later on. The newest member of the court, Justice
Sonia Sotomayor, hired four clerks in short order after her confirmation last month.
The alternative is to hire clerks now for a job that might evaporate later, something Justice Stevens would not do lightly, people who know him said.
“Justice Stevens is a man who cares deeply about treating people with respect,” said Christopher L. Eisgruber, the provost of
Princeton University, the author of “The Next Justice: Repairing the Supreme Court Appointment Process” and a former clerk to Justice Stevens.

If Stevens does retire, maybe we'll finally get a Floridian to the Supreme Court... Those will be huge shoes to fill.

In other news, the Padilla oral argument will take place on November 17 in Atlanta.

Have a nice long holiday weekend. Sorry for the short post today.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

News & Notes

1. The big interviews are today with Senators Nelson and Martinez. They've flown down here and the interviews will be held at the federal courthouse. But they are closed to the public. (They should be open, shouldn't they?) If anyone hears anything about them, please email me.

2. Holland & Knight got sued. Julie Kay has the details:

The receiver in an alleged $347 million Ponzi scheme has filed a malpractice lawsuit against Holland & Knight and partner Scott MacLeod, claiming they failed to provide investors with crucial information about the disbarred attorney behind the investments. The suit filed Monday in Sarasota Circuit Court accuses the law firm and its attorney of preparing disclosure documents for investors that failed to mention Arthur Nadel, who headed the hedge funds, was a disbarred New York attorney who had drained a client’s escrow account. The suit also accuses Holland & Knight of conflicts of interest by representing Nadel and his investment funds simultaneously. The suit seeks in excess of $50 million in punitive damages, receiver Burt Wiand said. Karen McBride, a spokeswoman for Holland & Knight, said, “the firm’s position remains unchanged. We’ve done nothing wrong and we intend to vigorously defend this.”

3. Guy Lewis & Mike Tein keep growing their firm. Five new associates from UM Law School. Business is good!

4. The University of Miami will honor Steve Chaykin:

The University of Miami School of Law Center for Ethics and Public Service has established a fellowship in memory of the late Steve Chaykin, an Akerman Senterfitt shareholder and criminal defense attorney who died on vacation last year. Chaykin slipped in rapids while trying to rescue his wife, Melissa, who fell into the Colorado river. His wife survived, but Chaykin was knocked unconscious and drowned. The Chaykin fellowship has been established for third-year law students who served in one of the center’s programs or community service clinics. The recipient must display leadership and mentoring skills and a strong sense of ethical judgment, professional responsibility and professionalism. “The fellowship honors the significant, historic contribution that Chaykin made to the South Florida legal profession and to the law school, university community and the civic community,” said Tony Alfieri, a UM professor of ethics and public service and the center’s director.

5. Steve Zack broke his ankle in Napa... Was wine to blame? From Joan Fleischman:

Miami attorney Steve Zack, the American Bar Association's president-elect, won't be traveling for awhile. Zack, 61, broke his right fibula, the smaller of the two main bones near the ankle.
He's to blame, he says, for last week's midday slip-and-fall. Happened in Napa, Calif., but he swears he wasn't tipsy from wine. ``Had gone to tastings the day before.''
So how did it happen? ``Silliest thing. There was loose gravel over a road. My left leg slipped. I tried to catch myself with the right leg and I fell on it. When I heard the pop, I knew it wasn't a good day.'' He's using a wheelchair and crutches, and expects to have a plate put in to help the bone heal straight and stabilize the ankle.
``Last time I broke an ankle was 40 years ago, playing tennis. It seemed to hurt a lot less.''

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

That's hot -- Paris wins again...

...this time in the Court of Appeals (the 9th Circuit -- here's the opinion). From Reuters:

The celebrity and heiress Paris Hilton may pursue her lawsuit against Hallmark Cards over its use of her picture and catchphrase "That's hot" on a greeting card, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday.
Hilton had contended that Hallmark violated her privacy and right of publicity by ripping off a scene from her reality TV show "The Simple Life" on a birthday card captioned "Paris's First Day as a Waitress."
A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Hallmark's argument that its depiction of the Hilton Hotels heiress was protected speech as a matter of law.
It sent the case back to a lower court, which had turned aside Hilton's claim of trademark infringement but rejected other Hallmark defenses.


Paris is now 2-0 in federal court... That's huge:



Hat tip: my commentors and WSJ Law Blog.