June 2020
NEW HOTEL IN MIAMI BEACH SUBJECT OF $25M FORECLOSURE LAWSUIT
By Brian Bandell, South Florida Business Journal | June 11th, 2020 The new Variety Hotel in Miami Beach is the city's first hospitality property to face a foreclosure lawsuit amid economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. BI 44 LLC, an affiliate of Miami-based BridgeInvest, filed the suit June 8 against AC [...]
KEEP IT VIRTUAL: SOME HOPE REMOTE DEPOSITIONS, COURT HEARINGS CONTINUE POST-COVID
While remote depositions, hearings and court arguments can make it difficult to read a client or judge's reactions, the long-term savings such technology affords may keep law firms and their customers engaged long after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. By Frank Ready, Legaltech News | June 2, 2020 With many courts [...]
ON THE MOVE: ARON RASKAS JOINS GUNSTER
Legal industry hiring in South Florida. By ALM Staff, The Daily Business Review | May 29, 2020 Aron U. Raskas has joined Gunster in Miami as a shareholder. Raskas’ practice focuses on business, criminal, regulatory and other litigation and arbitration matters. Daniel Maland and Jordan Nadel have joined Mark Migdal & Hayden in Miami as [...]
May 2020
FLORIDA CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS EYEING CIVIL WORK? HOW COVID-19 IS AFFECTING ATTORNEY INCOME
Lawyers across the U.S. responded to questions about how their income, client and case intake has changed since the pandemic. Here's what Floridians reported. By Raychel Lean, The Daily Business Review | May 26, 2020 COVID-19 has already taken money from the pockets of Florida lawyers, who, according to an anonymous [...]
FLATTENING THE HOUSING CURVE IN A PANDEMIC
By Josh Migdal & Kevin Gale for South Florida Business & Wealth| May 21, 2020 In the classic film Groundhog Day (and yes, it is a classic), Bill Murray’s character wakes up over and over again in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, reliving the same day for (presumably) eternity, And every morning, the alarm goes [...]
WHY SOME LAW FIRMS WON’T MAKE IT THROUGH COVID-19
By Brian Bandell, South Florida Business Journal | May 20, 2020 Many law firms in South Florida have lost significant business due to Covid-19, which could threaten some of the companies' survival, experts say. Layoffs, furloughs and significant reductions in compensation for attorneys have been the most recent effects resulting from [...]
EVERYONE WINS WITH ZOOM MOTION CALENDAR (EXCEPT THE LOSER)
There is no better place to start than the unceremonious elimination of in-person state court motion calendar. It is rare that we are presented with such an elegant solution to such a pervasive problem. Commentary by Etan Mark for The Daily Business Review | May 7, 2020 Well, it took [...]
TRANSPARENCY IS KEY FOR INSURANCE AGENTS HANDLING CORONAVIRUS CLAIMS
By Elizabeth Blosfield, Insurance Journal | May 6, 2020 Business interruption insurance has been a much-debated topic during the coronavirus crisis, with some businesses already pushing back against virus-related claim denials. In several cities, groups of businesses have filed lawsuits challenging virus exclusions in their business interruption policies, such as [...]
April 2020
HOW SOME BOUTIQUES ARE AVOIDING BIGLAW’S VIRUS CUTS
By Xiumei Dong, Law360 | April 30th, 2020 While many BigLaw firms are tightening their belts during the COVID-19 outbreak, several boutique firms are offering additional benefits to keep their teams together, even if that means firm leaders will take "a personal hit." In contrast to larger firms that have [...]
MORE STATES INTRODUCE COVID-19 BUSINESS-INTERRUPTION BILLS
By Elizabeth Blosfield, Claims Journal | April 16th, 2020 New Jersey was the first state to propose a bill that would mandate insurers cover COVID-19-related losses under their business interruption policies, and the insurance industry was quick to express its concern. But that hasn’t stopped some states from rolling out [...]
SOFLA PREPARES FOR FLOOD OF FORECLOSURES AND EVICTIONS AFTER GOVERNOR’S FREEZE
Lawyers say there will be a flood of foreclosures and evictions after the order is lifted By Katherine Kallergis and Keith Larsen, The Real Deal| April 6th, 2020 With hundreds of Floridians losing their jobs on a daily basis and the economy on crutches, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended evictions [...]
“A LANDLORD WAIVING RENT AND NOT GETTING ANYTHING IN RETURN IS JUST NOT A REALITY:” EXPERTS SOUND OFF ON PANDEMIC’S EFFECT ON SOUTH FLORIDA’S RETAIL MARKET“A LANDLORD WAIVING RENT AND NOT GETTING ANYTHING IN RETURN IS JUST NOT A REALITY:” EXPERTS SOUND OFF ON PANDEMIC’S EFFECT ON SOUTH FLORIDA’S RETAIL MARKET
“A LANDLORD WAIVING RENT AND NOT GETTING ANYTHING IN RETURN IS JUST NOT A REALITY:” EXPERTS SOUND OFF ON PANDEMIC’S EFFECT ON SOUTH FLORIDA’S RETAIL MARKET
The pandemic could change the way commercial leases and insurance policies are structured By Katherine Kallergis, The Real Deal| April 3rd, 2020 Pebb Enterprises, like many commercial landlords in South Florida, is working with tenants to offer rent deferments or discounts, as retailers and small businesses struggle to pay this [...]
CORONAVIRUS CANCELLATIONS MEAN REVENUE LOSS, POTENTIAL LIABILITY
By Cynthia L. Cooper, ABA Journal | April 2nd, 2020 Litigation lawyer Vanessa L. Miller first took notice of the coronavirus spread in Wuhan, China, in early January. A partner at Foley & Lardner in Detroit, Miller knew that many automotive clients relied on that region for parts manufacturing. “We [...]
March 2020
U. OF MIAMI CAN’T DODGE EX-STUDENT’S SEXUAL HARASSMENT SUIT
By Nathan Hale, Law360 | March 31st, 2020 Law360 (March 31, 2020, 7:23 PM EDT) -- A Florida federal judge on Monday threw out an ex-graduate student's claims that the University of Miami negligently handled her allegations of sexual harassment by a former professor, but left a path for [...]
U. OF MIAMI CALLS EX-STUDENT’S HARASSMENT SUIT ‘FRIVOLOUS’
By Nathan Hale, Law360 | March 26th, 2020 Law360 (March 26, 2020, 9:19 PM EDT) -- The University of Miami asked a federal judge Thursday to sanction a former marketing graduate student and her counsel for filing and maintaining “frivolous” claims that the institution failed to address a former [...]
POLL WORKERS DIDN’T SHOW UP AT SOME PRIMARY ELECTION PRECINCTS ON TUESDAY BECAUSE OF COVID-19 CONCERNS, LIMITING PEOPLE’S ABILITY TO VOTE
A voter wears a protective mask while exiting a polling station after casting a ballot in Miami, Florida, on March 17, 2020. Jayme Gershen—Bloomberg/Getty Images By Madeline Carlisle, TIME Magazine | March 17th, 2020 When Julie Snyder of Delray Beach, Fla., first tried to cast her vote Tuesday [...]