Judicial Attire: Black Is the New Black – Florida Supreme Court Emphasizes Solemnity of Judicial Office

In Re: Amendments to The Florida Rules of Judicial Administration - New Rule 2.340, Case No. SC15-497 (Fla. Sept. 10, 2015) Have you ever wondered why judges and justices wear robes, especially black robes? The tradition of wearing judicial robes dates back to the judges of the King’s Bench in 15th century England. Some courts...

Florida Supreme Court Clarifies Procedure for Seeking Attorney’s Fees for Original Proceedings

Florida Supreme Court Clarifies Procedure for Seeking Attorney’s Fees for Original Proceedings There has been some confusion about when and how a party must seek prevailing-party attorney’s fees for an original proceeding in an appellate court under Rule 9.100, including petitions for writs of certiorari, mandamus, prohibition, habeas corpus, quo warranto, and “all writs.” Until...

Florida Supreme Court Curtails Medical Malpractice Defense

Florida Supreme Court Curtails Medical Malpractice Defense Saunders v. Dickens, 39 Fla. L. Weekly S 494 (Fla. July 10, 2014)* In several medical malpractice cases, defendants have argued that the defendant doctor’s misdiagnosis did not really cause the injury if a subsequent treating physician has testified that the eventual treatment would have been the same even...

Florida Supreme Court: State Law Prohibits Discrimination on the Basis of Pregnancy

Florida Supreme Court: State Law Prohibits Discrimination on the Basis of Pregnancy On April 17, 2014, the Florida Supreme Court decided that “discrimination because of sex” under the Florida Civil Rights Act (“FCRA”) includes discrimination based on pregnancy, which is a “natural condition and primary characteristic unique to the female sex.” Delva v. Continental Group,...

Florida Supreme Court Clarifies Standards for Enforcement of Arbitration Clauses

Florida Supreme Court Clarifies Standards for Enforcement of Arbitration Clauses On March 20, 2014, the Florida Supreme Court decided Basulto v. Hialeah Automotive, 39 Fla. L. Weekly S 140, concerning whether a buyer was required to arbitrate a dispute with a seller. The Supreme Court clarified that courts, when asked to enforce an arbitration provision,...

Bresky Law Is Ready to Handle Appeals of Issues under the New Electronic Discovery Rules

Bresky Law Is Ready to Handle Appeals of Issues under the New Electronic Discovery Rules On July 5, 2012, the Florida Supreme Court made several changes to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure that will take effect on September 1, 2012 regarding discovery of electronically stored information (“ESI”). See In Re: Amendments to the Florida...

Bresky Law Successfully Defends Appellate Win In Favor Of Former Wife Against Motion For Rehearing

Hallac v. Hallac Case No. 4D10-4450 We represented a former wife in an appeal from the trial court’s order on opposing motions for attorney’s fees following trial. On appeal, our firm argued that it was legal error for the trial court to have used our client’s refusal of a settlement offer and the fact that she...

Is Expert Testimony Necessary for Attorney’s Fees Charging Lien?

The issue of whether the trial court erred in denying our client’s motion for attorney’s fees based on a charging lien merely because our client did not call an independent expert witness to testify concerning the reasonableness of the fees has been certified to the Florida Supreme Court. Our client, an attorney, represented the Former...

Taking the Pathway of Discretionary Review Toward Florida’s Highest Court

by Diana L. Martin and Robin I. Bresky Florida Bar Journal - Page 55 Your client is on the losing end of an opinion issued by one of Florida’s five district courts of appeal and wants to know whether there is hope of having that opinion overturned by the state’s highest court. Given that the Florida...