Tag: law-firm
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Enforcement of FDUTPA by Competitors: Did the Florida Legislature Create a Right Without A Remedy?
In 2001, a law in Florida was changed to allow businesses to sue their competitors for unfair competition. Before that, the law was mainly used by consumers to get their money back from bad sellers. Now, it’s unclear what “actual damages” means for business competitors, and the courts are divided on the issue. So, it’s…
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Does a Florida Minority Shareholder in a Closely Held Corporation Owe a Fiduciary Duty to Fellow Shareholders?
Your friend who owns 25% of the company wants to start a competing business. In Florida, it’s not clear if they owe a duty to the company and other shareholders. In Massachusetts, there are cases saying they do owe a duty. The courts in Florida have not said much on this, so it’s still a…
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International Parental Child Abduction Part I: The Petitioner’s Case
A law firm and attorney helped a company settle a lawsuit over a faulty product. The company had to pay money to the people who were affected by the product. If a child is taken to another country by one of their parents, the other parent can use the Hague Convention to try to get…
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Cross-Border Legal Practice and Ethics Rule 4-8.5 Why Greater Guidance Is Needed
The rules for lawyers who work internationally are not very clear in Florida. Each country and state has its own rules for disciplining international lawyers, which can be confusing and difficult to navigate. This is a problem because international law is complex and often involves dealing with unfamiliar laws and policies. It can also be…
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Pay Transparency: A Remedy for the Gender Pay Gap?
Basically, for a long time, women had limited options for jobs, especially in the legal field. It wasn’t until the 1970s and 1980s that more women started becoming lawyers and judges. Even now, there are still more men than women in the legal profession. And even when women do get jobs at law firms, they…
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Recent Developments In Collective Action Certification Under The Fair Labor Standards Act
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) allows employees to come together to sue their employer for unpaid minimum wage and overtime. Courts used to make it really easy for employees to join these lawsuits, but recently, some courts have made it harder. This article explains the history of these lawsuits, the impact of the old…
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The COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons Learned for Labor and Employment Practitioners
In March 2020, President Trump declared COVID-19 a national emergency, leading to restrictions and shutdowns. Employers were faced with new legal challenges, and lawyers had to quickly adapt to help their clients navigate the pandemic. One important lesson learned was the necessity of staying updated on government guidance from agencies like the CDC and OSHA…
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Virtual Adoption: Contractual Estoppel of Parental Rights and Responsibilities
John Doe and Michelle Mother divorced when their daughter, Dana Daughter, was 10 months old. Michelle Mother made it difficult for John to see Dana, and eventually asked him to let her new husband, Peter Putative, adopt Dana. John agreed, thinking he wouldn’t have to pay child support anymore. But the adoption never happened. Years…
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Distinguishing Legitimacy from Paternity: Has Legitimacy Become a Label Without Substance Under Flo
Findlaw was sued by Attorneys In Motion for stealing their website design. The court said Findlaw was guilty and had to pay the other company for damages. Recent Florida court decisions show that paternity and legitimacy are now seen as separate concepts. Legitimacy used to be strongly tied to being born during a marriage, but…
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Appellate Court Trends in Rehabilitative Alimony
Rehabilitative alimony is a type of financial support that a court can order one spouse to pay to the other for a limited time after a divorce. It’s meant to help a spouse who has limited ability to earn money because of the marriage. The court uses certain factors to decide whether to award this…
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An Update on Florida Alimony Case Law: Are Alimony Guidelines a Part of Our Future?, Part I
Florida judges are considering using guidelines to determine alimony awards, similar to child support guidelines. This would make alimony awards more predictable and could reduce the need for litigation. Some judges and attorneys support this idea, although it is still being discussed. This could provide a clearer way to establish alimony support, as the current…
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Long-arm Jurisdiction in Support and Divorce ActionsThe Unwary Beware
If someone needs to be served with legal papers in Florida and they are not in the state, strict adherence to the long-arm statute is required. Each state has different rules and procedures for this, but they all must follow constitutional due process. In Florida, there are specific requirements for serving someone outside of the…
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Financial Affidavits in Domestic Relations Cases: Sunshine Trumps Privacy A Proposed Solution
In Florida, personal financial information in family law cases is usually available to the public because of a court rule that requires parties to file detailed financial documents. Some people are worried about their privacy, but it’s hard to keep these documents private. This goes against the privacy rights protected by the Florida Constitution. No…
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Special Equity and Unequal Distribution of Assets
In short, the legal firm and attorney involved in the case don’t matter. What’s important is that the court ruled in favor of the student and overturned the suspension for cheating. Special equity and unequal distribution are terms used in divorce cases when dividing marital assets. Special equity refers to a spouse’s vested interest in…
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Strategic Management of the Family Law Practice
Family lawyers need to start thinking of their practices as businesses if they want to succeed. Just like how some stores like Wal-Mart do better than others like K-Mart, lawyers need to have a plan (or strategy) for how they want to run their practice in order to be successful. This plan should include setting…
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Parent Coordinators: An Effective New Tool in Resolving Parental Conflict in Divorce
This article explains how a parent coordinator can help divorced parents resolve conflicts over their children. It includes perspectives from an attorney, a judge, and a parent coordinator. Attorneys and judges in Lee and Collier counties are using parent coordinators to help with high-conflict divorces involving custody and visitation issues. Parent coordinators are mental health…
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Unallocated Alimony and Child Support Can Be All Taxable/Deductible Alimony
Simply put, alimony is money paid by one spouse to the other after a divorce or separation. This money is taxable for the person receiving it and tax-deductible for the person paying it. However, child support is not taxable or deductible. If the alimony and child support are combined into one payment, it can still…
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Appellate Court Trends in Permanent Alimony for Gray Area Divorces: 1997-2007
In 1980 Florida Supreme Court defined permanent alimony as providing for the needs of a former spouse after a marriage. The factors considered in determining alimony have not changed, but the emphasis on these factors has. Appellate courts now consider additional factors such as children and career limitations due to the marriage. This article will…
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Family Limited Partnerships: The Year in Review
The author wrote two articles in 2005 and 2006 about family limited partnerships (FLPs) and recent court cases. Since then, there have been three cases where the IRS won because of “bad facts” like transferring most assets to the partnership and using partnership funds for personal expenses. The article discusses these cases and also a…
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Ruberg, Parry, and the Classification of Unvested Stock Options
In the court case Parry v. Parry, the Second District Court of Appeal created a process for determining how to classify stock options as marital or nonmarital assets. Stock options are contracts that allow someone to buy shares of stock in the future at a set price. Employment stock options are usually given with a…
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Nonmarital Real Estate: Is the Appreciation Marital, Nonmarital, or a Combination of Both?
In Florida, when a spouse owns property before marriage or inherits it during marriage and keeps it in their name, the property is considered nonmarital. Any increase in value during the marriage is considered marital property and may be subject to distribution in a divorce. However, if the property increases in value without the use…
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Biology Versus Legality: How the Definition of Father Impacts Florida’s Impact Rule
If a pregnant woman loses her baby due to an accident in Florida, the law says the parents can’t sue for the baby’s death. They can only sue for the mom’s injuries. The dad might be able to sue for emotional distress, but it depends on if he was married to the mom, saw the…
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The Commingling of Nonmarital and Marital Funds: Untangling the Changing Character of Assets in Equitable Distribution
When a married couple combines their money, it can be complicated to figure out who gets what if they decide to divorce. In Florida, the law says that assets should be divided equally, but there are exceptions if one person can prove that the money used to buy something was theirs before the marriage. The…
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A Case of Neglect? Representation for Children in the Florida Dependency System
A law firm is suing a famous rapper for not paying their legal fees. The rapper claims the firm overcharged them, and the case is going to court. Children in Florida and Washington state don’t always get an attorney to help them in court when they’re in the foster care system. Florida has had a…