Florida Lawyer News Services | Robbins Equitas

(Attorney in tampa) Stearn v. County San Bernardino

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(Cal. App., Civil Procedure, Government Law, Property Law & Real Estate) In plaintiff’s challenge to defendant-county for its approval of 14 conditional use permits sought by respondent-real party interest to erect billboards, judgment of dismissal in favor of defendant-county is reversed where: 1) the trial court erred in dismissing the fourth cause of action for administrative mandamus under Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5; 2) the expedited judicial review provided by section 1094.8 was available only when the license applicant or the issuing public agency filed an action challenging the grant or denial of a license for expressive conduct, not when a third party did so; and 3) the court disagreed with respondent’s main alternate ground for dismissal that plaintiff must wait to challenge the Board’s rezoning actions and permitting of the billboards.

Thomas
&
Wong Gen. Contractor v. The Lake Bank, N.A.

(U.S. 8th Cir., Banking Law, Civil Procedure) In a suit for failure to perform under a collateral transfer agreement, summary judgment for defendant is reversed and remanded where the suit is not barred by Minnesota’s credit-agreement statute of frauds since, although the collateral transfer agreement was an agreement to make a financial accommodation and therefore a credit agreement, plaintiff was not a debtor with respect to the agreement.

Abraham v. Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst.

(U.S. 1st Cir., Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law) In an employment discrimination action brought by former employee, a researcher on the biological aspect of zebrafish, who was terminated after he stated he did not believe in the theory of evolution, denial of plaintiff’s motion for leave to file an amended complaint, as well as a decision not to apply equitable tolling principles in granting defendant’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, are affirmed where: 1) the request to amend was futile; and 2) the doctrine of equitable tolling could not apply as plaintiff failed to exercise diligence in meeting any of the filing deadlines for his employment discrimination claim.

Telco Group, Inc. v. Ameritrade, Inc.

(U.S. 8th Cir., Civil Procedure, Class Actions, Per Curiam) Dismissal of a claim for failure to prosecute is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff did not challenge this dismissal on the merits; 2) because plaintiff’s claims have been dismissed with prejudice, reversing the denial of class certification would afford plaintiff no relief; and 3) as its claims have been dismissed, plaintiff is no longer a member of and therefore cannot represent the putative but uncertified class.

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Becoming a Florida Lawyer – Not an Easy Process

Becoming a Florida lawyer is very similar to becoming a lawyer in any other state and includes obtaining a four year degree from an accredited college (in the state of Florida these include Florida State University, Florida Technical College, and St. Thomas University to name just a few), gain acceptance into a law school that is recognized and accredited by the American Bar Association, graduate from the law school, and finally to pass the Florida Bar exam. This is not an easy process and only thirty percent of those individuals who begin the process actually complete it and become a practicing lawyer or attorney in the state of Florida.

There are thousands of accredited four year colleges in the state of Florida and they range from the huge Florida State University to the much small and private St Thomas University. However, they all offer four year degrees in any number of fields, sciences, or arts. Determining which college is right for you is a largely unique determination that takes into account the cost of tuition, the location of the university, scholarships offered, and ultimately academic acceptance. However, once a university or college has been decided upon, then the successful completion or the curriculum becomes important.

 At this stage, it is not necessarily important what type of four year undergraduate degree is earned. While it is important to choose a discipline that encourages logical thinking, academic research, writing, public speaking, and interdisciplinary organization, it is not a requirement for ultimate success as a professional Florida lawyer. Programs that many future lawyers have found useful have been majors in humanities, social sciences, history, and political science. Again, at this stage of the process, it is not important what four year undergraduate degree is attained. It only matters that degree is successfully attained.

Once you have finished an undergraduate program, then you must get accepted into law school. Law school is usually an additional two year program. Acceptance into one of the two hundred or so law schools across the nation is based on the LSAT (Law Schools Admissions Test). This test is designed to test the attributes that a lawyer should have. It examines basic knowledge, logical thinking, and problem solving. It is largely considered to be one of the hardest admission tests that a lawyer will have to take. The higher the school then the better the chances of being accepted into a law school are. All law schools are not created equal. While they all offer the same basic program, some are much more famous and expensive than others. In Florida, law schools include St Thomas School of Law, Stetson University College of Law, and University of Miami School of Law.

Obviously after the successful entrance into a recognized law school, the next step to becoming a Florida lawyer is the completion of that program and earning a law degree. Earning a law degree is not easy and requires a broad knowledge of all legal standards and situations regardless of the intended field of the law student. It is therefore very challenging.

Even after graduating from law school, an individual is not fully recognized as a lawyer until he or she has passed the Florida Bar exam. This is an exam intended to test the basic knowledge and skills of a lawyer. A person can take this test as many times as necessary to receive a passing grade. Once a person has successfully completed this exam, he or she is a lawyer and can then practice law in Florida.

(St petersburg attorney) Slots and the Ongoing oneworld Application

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Airport Coordination Limited (ACL), which is charged with coordinating slots at Londons Heathrow Airport, submitted answers last week to the U.S. Department of Transportation as part of the latters ongoing investigation into the pending alliance approval and antitrust immunity application…

LaHood’s Aviation Agenda
Last Friday, President-elect Barack Obama named Illinois Republican Congressman Ray LaHood to head the U.S. Department of Transportation. LaHood has been characterized “as a pragmatist” with a “determination to get things done while not getting bogged down in ideology.” The…

A Bill to Ensure Adequate Airline Competition between United States and Europe (?)
Rep. James Oberstar, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is behind the newly introduced bill, H.R. 831 which bears the title “A Bill to Ensure Adequate Airline Competition between United States and Europe.” Rep. Oberstar’s speech in support…

Meta: Obama’s New Economic Team
Two blog commentaries from The Economist on President-elect Barack Obama’s economic team nominees– Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor and Ron Kirk for U.S. Trade Representative–are less than enthusiastic (see here and here). Why? Both are under a heavy cloud…

Text of H.R. 831
A full text of Rep. James Oberstar’s controversial new bill is available from the Government Publications Office here.

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(Aviation attorney) Coyne’s & Co., Inc. v. Enesco, LLC

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(U.S. 8th Cir., Commercial Law, Contracts, Copyright, Injury And Tort Law, Intellectual Property, Trade Secrets, Trademark) In a suit related to the early termination of a distributor agreement, denial of a preliminary injunction is affirmed where plaintiff could not demonstrate a likelihood of success on its claims since the distributor agreement was no longer in effect, and defendant’s termination of the agreement did not fall under the Minnesota Franchise Act’s termination requirements since plaintiff had never paid defendant a franchise fee.

Taco Bell Corp. v. TBWA Chiat/Day Inc.

(U.S. 9th Cir., Contracts, Entertainment Law, Food & Beverages, Intellectual Property, Media Law, Remedies) In a suit against an advertising agency seeking indemnification for damages entered against plaintiff in a suit based on plaintiff’s breach of an implied contract for using a third party’s Chihuahua character in advertising developed by defendant, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where the evidence only showed fault for the previous liability on the part of plaintiff, thus defendant owed no duty to indemnify.

In re TS Tech USA Corp.

(U.S. Fed. Cir., Civil Procedure, Intellectual Property, Patent, Transportation) In a patent infringement action relating to pivotally attached vehicle headrest assemblies, petition for writ of mandamus to vacate decision denying petitioner’s motion to transfer venue and to direct district court to transfer case to another state is granted where: 1) petitioner met its difficult burden of establishing that the district court clearly abused its discretion in denying transfer of venue to the Southern District of Ohio; and 2) mandamus relief was appropriate.

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