JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG

WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM. Winner of the prestigious Cushing Left Anterior Descending Artery Award.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Steve Shenkman has passed away.

We start the year off with some sad news. We did not know Steve Shenkman, but it warms our heart to learn we brought him some enjoyment.

Readers are encouraged to share their memories.

It is wth great sadness that I must report that Traffic Hearing Officer Steve Shenkman Passed away yesterday after battling pancreatic cancer for the last three months. Steve loved reading the Blog and I am sure he is still reading it now ... just from a higher vantage point. He will be sorely missed.

Tom Cobitz

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry to hear about Steve Shenkman.

On a lighter note, the Dolphins need to keep the following players on offense: Ronnie Brown, Lorenzo Booker, Jesse Chatman, Ted Ginn, Camarillo, and Satele.

On defense, they need to keep Zach Thomas, Jason Taylor, Joey Porter, Michael Lehan, and Lance Schulters.

Everyone else is expendable and should be let go if we can get good value for them. Did I miss anybody? Who agrees?

Anonymous said...

really really nice guy. I served on the traffic court rules committee with him, and he was always a great, productive, insightful member. What a loss.

Rumpole said...

This is why you need to leave re-building the Dolphins to experts like Parcells and I.

Zach Thomas's cap cost in 2008 is 7 million. Yikes. 7 million for a player crippled by concussions? He is one head banging hit away from spending his Sundays at Flager Dog track playing poker.

Thomas either takes a pay cut, or is cut...and by the way, guess who picks up old Zach for 2 years 5 million? You got it- The Evil Genius and his band of Cheaters.

The Fins bascially traded one aging LB (Porter) for another (Zach).

Anonymous said...

How much to rebuild the Dolphins to 1972 standards?

Anonymous said...

The passing parade of life...

RIP, Steve Shenkman.

Anonymous said...

Rumpole, it's "Parcells and me," not "Parcells and I." --the grammar police

Anonymous said...

You forgot Carey and Crowder.

Rumpole said...

No you are wrong. The special case infinitive of Tuna, being the past participle of Parcells, makes this a special case senario where it is Parcells and you, but I and Parcells.
See?

Anonymous said...

My word. We lost to a team that was whipped by a Division 1AA team. We lost to Michigan. Woe is me. I'm calling in sick tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

I have known Steve since 1974. Whatever he did, it was done with passion and purpose. Rarely, if ever, have I ever heard Steve say a bad thing about someone else. I spoke with him via email just two weeks ago. What a wonderful man. What a big loss. My heartfelt sympathy to his family.

Anonymous said...

Rump, you on the wagon or something? Ever since the Walker incident, you've sounded like the crazy zealot you accuse the Walkers of the world of being. Really. You were a lot more fun when you were drinking!

Rumpole said...

nope nutjob...can't sneak one through. But you can be sure I have your emails to post come election time.

Anonymous said...

HERBERT...

"Lawdy..mah statute book is on fire again."

HERBERT...I TOLD YOU. IT'S NOT LORD. IT'S ALLAH.

'praise be allah oh jesus...praise be allah."

UP OFF YOUR KNEES HERBERT. I HAVE A MISSION FOR YOU. YOU ARE TO GO SEE THE EVIL PHAROAH OF THE SAO...KATHY FERNANDLE. AND YOU TELL HER: 'THUS SAYETH ALLAH...BRING MY PEOPLE BACK."

say what?

HERBERT...YOU GO SEE PHAROAH FERNANDLE AND HER HENCH MAN HORN AND TELL HER ALLAH SAID TO RE-HIRE EVERYONE SHE FIRED..BUT YOU.

why me lord..uh I mean allah.

I HAVE OTHER PLANS FOR YOU HERBERT.
LETS JUST SAY I HOPE YOU LIKE THE EVERGLADES FOR THE NEXT 40 YEARS.
NOW GO HERBERT. TRY AND CATCH HER IN OFFICE BEFORE SHE GOES ON VACATION AGAIN. ALLAH...OUT.

Anonymous said...

I always thought Steve was an extremely intelligent and well-spoken Hearing Officer. Although I don't do a lot of grunt work, I have been before him on several occassions and we sometimes socialized in the same circles. I always found it amusing how he could be come across in court as a firm, strong, 'force to be reckoned with,' when off the bench he was just always so nice and sweet to my family and I.

Anonymous said...

Steve Shenkman was a straight shooter, an intelligent and kind human being, and a learned and fair Hearing Officer. Every time I spoke with him I learned something. He was loved by many and will be missed by all who knew him. Good bye good friend.

Anonymous said...

This is sad news. This is one thing I did not want to hear to start the new year. I appeared often in front of him. He could be tough on the bench, but off the bench he was very cordial, knowledgeable, and respectful. Very easy to get along with.

One of the interests in life which he enjoyed talking about were automobiles. Sharing this same interest with him, we often spoke about old and new models, the auto shows, and other happenings in the auto industry. He often let me have some of the magazines that he was subscribed to which he did not have to do. This often made my day because some of the magazines he was subscribed to were not available on the newstand. I spent many hours reading those publications.

I want to express my condolences to his family. He will be missed.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone have any information on a service or memorial for Steve?

Anonymous said...

I have known Stephen as fellow subrogation lawyer. I always found him to ethical and on top of the latest in the law. Being that I have known him most of my career, it is extremely sad to start the new year off with such news.

Anonymous said...

Steve Shenkman will truly be missed. He was my mentor when I was in high school and now, 18 years later, I am practicing law in large part because of his influence in my life. He was a good man and treated everyone with respect. I truly hope he is reading all of these comments from up above and sees he was appreciated during his time with us.

Anonymous said...

I am Steve's Legal Assistant. I worked for Steve for almost 17 years.
Words can not express how I feel. The loss of a great man, my boss and my friend. I can hardly stand going into the office and knowing that he will not be walking in, emailing me, calling me or texting me. I will miss him shooting a bird at me and sticking his tongue out at me. LOL! When I go into his office and I can still smell his cologne. I miss him so much. Two of his favorite quotes: Life sucks and then you die. No good deed goes unpunished. To my boss and friend, I will miss you greatly and I will always remember you.
HM

Anonymous said...

There will be no services for Steve Shenkman, those were his wishes. If anyone is interested you can make a donation to FLREA. All the information is on their website.

Anonymous said...

I worked for Steve and have been his friend for over 20 years, This is a sad time for all of us and, of course, for his family and staff. Steve always took great pride in the fact that he was an Attorney. He will be missed, but he will not be forgotten.

Anonymous said...

Hearing office Thomas Cobitz is not patient enough to hear the case completely. He is basically rush to judgment, he sounds like he already decided the fate of the case before even sitting in his bench. He basically called me and my witness a lair and doubled the fine. What a joke. Because of people like him Americans are losing their faith on our justice system.

Anonymous said...

I too just dealt with Thomas Cobitz and like someone else just said, he does seem in a rush to go through the docket. He doesn't seem to actually listen to every detail, he waits till there is no more noise coming from your mouth and says what he planned on saying before you even started talking.
Had he listened to what was being said, he would have asked questions. It was a failure to obey traffic device (right turn only sign). Well, if you turn right, it lead you to a closed road due to construction, thus because of the road closure, the traffic device is invalid. But, since the judge didn't actually listen, he said, "sounds like an honest mistake". What?!? An honest mistake? Obviously had you listened you'd know nowhere in tree would
You reply with, sounds like an honest mistake.
Then when my fiancé tried to speak up Cobitz was rude and condescending. Cobitz asked who he was, he stated he was my fiancé. Then when my fiancé tried to say, I'm
Only speaking up because sometimes she gets nervous and there were things that seemed to be missed. Cobitz responded, rudely, "women cam speak for themselves in this country".
Honestly, that was obnoxious to say and completely
Out of line. He was merely trying to help me since Cobitz wasn't listening. Rude rude rude rude. People like Jim shouldn't sit in judgment of others. He certainly is not
The man he seems to have replaced. Looks like God might have taken the wrong one. And if that is mean, that's what you get when you're mean first!

b morgan said...

I now know something about the man who I have been sending my money. He took out a judgement on me seem like he was a great guy may god bless him and his family.