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NEW in Florida Ethics . . .
The Florida Bar Ethics Committee approves one proposed rule and rejects another, and considers medical lien negotiations and contacts with represented government agency employees . . . (more)  7/2/09   A trial court did not err in awarding attorney's fees to a party that did not plead entitlement to fees incurred during a court-ordered, nonbinding arbitration . . . (more)  7/2/09
It was error to summarily deny a claim that defense counsel was ineffective for not moving to disqualify the trial judge, who had previously prosecuted the defendant . . . (more)  6/30/09   The Justice Administrative Commission is not responsible for the fees of a lawyer appointed to represent an indigent grandmother in a dependency proceeding . . . (more)  6/30/09
A trial judge erred by forcing a criminal defendant to choose between testifying further or giving up his lawyer . . . (more)  6/28/09   Plaintiffs who chose not to pursue the case when foreign arbitration was ordered must pay prevailing party fees to defendants . . . (more)  6/28/09
A party's possession of another's allegedly privileged documents does not require disqualification, where the documents were voluntarily disclosed to others in a different case . . . (more)  6/23/09   A court may individually assess a personal representative for attorney's fees resulting from frivolous litigation, even absent a bad faith finding . . .  (more)  6/21/09
In insurance cases the Fifth DCA wlll not award attorney's fees to an insured who unsuccessfully petitions for certiorari, regardless of whether the insured ultimately prevails . . .  (more)  6/21/09   Even with the parties' consent, a senior judge may not preside over a civil trial when the judge provides mediation services in the same circuit in the same type of cases . . . (more)  6/19/09
The Fourth DCA urges the Florida Supreme Court to impose a page limit on postconviction motions . . . (more)  6/16/09   A criminal defendant's conviction is reversed due to the prosecution's improper closing argument . . . (more)  6/16/09
A trial court erred by failing to hold an evidentiary hearing before concluding that no attorney-client relationship had been established. . . (more)  6/12/09 A general magistrate may not preside over a civil jury trial, even with the consent of the parties . . . (more)  6/12/09
A trial court erred in imposing a lien on homestead property for attorney's fees incurred in an estate matter . . . (more)  6/9/09 A judge recently appointed to the bench may receive a contingent fee for legal work performed before taking office . . . (more)  6/8/09
The Florida Supreme Court rejects the Bar's proposed changes to the advertising rules governing lawyers' websites . . . (more)  3/2/08 The Florida Bar files multiple rule change requests with the Florida Supreme Court covering fees, conflicts, advertising, trust accounting and more . . . (more)  10/22/08

After being posted here for a few weeks these summaries are moved to our archives, which are organized by topic for your research convenience.

 

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