Category: Florida BAR article
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Judge-Friendly Briefs in the Electronic Age
The way judges read legal briefs is changing because everything is going digital. To make sure their arguments are understood, lawyers need to make their briefs easy to read and follow. This article talks about how lawyers can change the way they write their briefs so that they are easier to read on a computer…
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The Misapplication Theory of Express and Direct Conflict Jurisdiction: The Florida Supreme Court Expands its View of its Powers
The Florida Supreme Court can only hear certain types of cases. In some of those cases, it has to hear them, while in others, it can choose whether to hear them or not. This article talks about when the court can choose to review decisions from lower courts that conflict with previous decisions. It doesn’t…
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A Wrong Without a Remedy: Can the Erroneous Grant of a Batson Objection Ever Constitute Reversible Error?
In a court case called Batson v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court made a rule to prevent discrimination in jury selection. If the trial court doesn’t follow this rule and allows discrimination, the decision can be reversed. But if the trial court wrongly allows a discrimination claim, there may not be a way to…
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Object Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: Demonstrating Fundamental Error in Civil Appeals
A girl stole her friend’s music and shared it online. The friend sued her, and a court ordered the girl to pay a big fine. The girl hired a lawyer, but the court said she still had to pay. Improper closing arguments can lead to a new trial if objected to at the time of…
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Bankruptcy Appeals: A Stealthy and Different Kind of Appeal
When a bankruptcy order is made, it can be appealed in federal district courts. The appeal needs to be based on a statutory basis, and only final orders can be appealed without court permission. Bankruptcy proceedings can include both the main bankruptcy and adversary proceedings, and different types of orders from these proceedings may be…
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A Tribute to Justice Arthur J. England, Jr.: Father of Florida’s Modern-day Appellate Judicial Structure
Arthur J. England, Jr. passed away on August 1, 2013. He made many important contributions to Florida law, including helping to write important laws and serving as a judge. One of his most significant accomplishments was reforming the Florida appellate judicial structure, which still exists today. This article pays tribute to his important efforts in…
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Protecting Your Injunction on Appeal in Trial Court
An effective lawyer always thinks about the end goal when starting a case. In cases where someone is asking for a court order to stop something (like in a lawsuit), it’s important to ask for both a temporary order and a permanent one. This makes it harder for the other side to appeal and makes…
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Early Appellate Remedies: Partial Final Judgments
In Florida, there’s a rule that says you can only appeal a court decision if it’s a final judgment that ends the case completely. But there are some exceptions, like when a court decides on a part of the case before the whole thing is finished. In state court, you can appeal these “partial final…
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Elimination of Florida Terms of Court and its Effect on Appellate Mandates
A “term of court” is a specific time period on the court’s calendar for handling legal matters. It used to have a strict meaning, but Florida has changed the law to make it more flexible for modern courts. In 1868, Florida divided the state into seven judicial circuits, assigning one judge to each. Each judge…
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Orders on Motions to Dismiss for Failure to State a Cause of Action: When Are They Final for Purposes of Filing Notice of Appeal?
It’s important to know when you can appeal a court decision in Florida. Sometimes it can be confusing because the language used in the order can be tricky. For example, a dismissal order might say the case is dismissed with or without prejudice, or with or without the option to fix the problem. This can…
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The Impact of a Bankruptcy Filing on a Pending Appellate Proceeding
This article is a guide for lawyers who have questions about what happens when someone in a court case files for bankruptcy. It’s important for appellate lawyers to understand how bankruptcy can affect ongoing cases. When someone files for bankruptcy during an ongoing court case, it may stop the case from continuing. But if the…
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Fee Simple: A Procedural Primer on Appellate Attorneys’ Fees and Costs
If an attorney wants to ask for money for their work on an appeal, they have to follow specific rules and make a separate request to the court. They need to give a good reason for why they should get paid, like a contract or a law that says they can. They also need to…
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What Are My Chances? Federal Courts of Appeal by the Numbers
This article gives lawyers and their clients some statistics about the chances of success in the 11th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. It shows how often appeals are successful and compares these courts to others. It also looks at how often the Supreme Court agrees to hear cases and how the justices tend to…
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Appellate Stays in Civil Cases: Florida and Federal Courts Offer More Security Flexibility than Believed, But Stay Violations Still Have Teeth
When a party is hit with a really big judgment and wants to appeal it, they may not be able to afford the bond needed to put the judgment on hold while they appeal. This means they have to start paying the judgment right away, even though they’re still trying to fight it. However, in…
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Florida Appellate Rules Should Allow for Interlocutory Appeal of Decisions to Deny Jury Trial
A legal firm is a company that provides legal services like advising, representing clients in court, and drafting legal documents. An attorney is a lawyer who works for a legal firm. The right to a trial by jury is protected by the U.S. and Florida constitutions, but in some cases, courts have denied this right…
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New Appellate Rule for Probate and Guardianship Proceedings
Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.170, which started in 2012, clarifies when you can appeal a decision in probate or guardianship cases. It lists 24 types of orders that can be appealed. The process of determining whether an order is final and can be appealed in probate and guardianship cases has been confusing in the…
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An Appellate Lawyer’s Top 10 Land Mines in Civil Litigation
To make sure your hard-earned verdict is protected, it’s important to do the right things in court. Avoid potential issues that could come up and know how to handle them if they do. One big issue is making sure any motions for rehearing or reconsideration are filed correctly. These motions don’t stop the time for…
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The Chasm in Florida Appellate Law: Intra-Circuit Conflicting Appellate Decisions
The Florida Office of the State Courts Administrator has data on court cases in Florida. Some cases have been important in shaping how laws are understood. Courts have also made decisions on cases involving insurance companies and medical providers. These decisions have caused debates and disagreements among different courts in the state. This passage discusses…
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Unpreserved Errors Are All the Same, Right? Not Exactly
If you want to appeal a decision in court, you have to raise any issues or mistakes during the trial. This gives the judge a chance to fix them and prevents unnecessary delays in the appeals process. There are some exceptions to this rule, but generally, if you don’t speak up about a mistake during…
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Appellate Mediation: The Art of Settling After the Trial Court Has Ruled
If you lost the trial, think about whether you have a good reason to appeal and if you can afford it. If you won, consider if the other side might appeal and if you want to go through that. Appellate mediation can be a way to end the case without the costs and risks of…
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Can It Be Done? Evaluating Judicial Authority to Expand the PFS Acceptance Period
When negotiating a settlement in a case, timing is really important. If one party makes a settlement offer and the other party doesn’t accept it within 30 days, they might have to pay the other party’s legal fees if the court case ends with a judgment that’s a lot worse than the original offer. There’s…
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Too Little, Too Late? Trial Court Motions for Rehearing and Their Appellate Implications
The rule for asking for a rehearing in a Florida court can be tricky. You can bring up new things in a rehearing, but it’s not always guaranteed that they will be considered. It also depends on your specific case and which court it will be appealed to. Over time, there have been conflicts in…
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Shifting Requirements for Preservation of Error: Retreat from Reviewability Under Kozel v. Ostendorf
In 1993, the Florida Supreme Court made a ruling in Kozel v. Ostendorf, which said that before dismissing a case, the judge should consider other options first. Since then, the courts have been clarifying when this ruling applies. Recently, the appeals courts have been asking people to show evidence that they brought up Kozel issues…
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Jurisdiction, That Is the Question: Keeping Your Case in Federal Court After the 11th Circuit Issues a Jurisdictional Question That Stalls Your Appeal
You won a big case in federal court after working on it for years, but now the other side is appealing the decision. However, the appeal might not be able to go forward because of a problem with the court’s authority to hear the case. You have to go back and check if the documents…