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.

Monday, December 16, 2013

LIFE GOES ON

We buried a friend yesterday. It was a sad affair. There was pain and bewilderment as the ultimate finality of it all sunk in. Richard Sharpstein was remembered by his friends and family for the remarkable life he lived and that is how it should be. We take the lessons from the good of his life, his warmth, humor, humility....his compassion. And that is what we remember as we go on about the business of living our life. 

(deep breath)......

For those of you following our survivor pool, Lucy Lew was tripped up with the Saints who were upset by the Rams. A remarkable run of correctly picking 13 of 15 weeks of winning football teams. Weisman and Lurvey rolled with the hometown Fins. Your finalists are REGJB regulars Kenny "double down" Weisman and Dan "long shot" Lurvey. 

Practice tips. In preparation for the new year, we have compiled our top ten practice tips. Little nuggets of information we have gained from experience that will help make you a better lawyer in 2014 and help you enjoy the practice of law.  It's Rumpole's playbook, and we offer you a peak, free of charge. 

Rumpole's Tip#10: Avoid the Friday Re-set.
As you wind your way through the various courtrooms and cases during an average week, invariably there are cases that need to be re-set. And as the work load of judges and lawyers increases, Friday looms as the day when most of the detritus will be cleared away and the lawyers will have some time to get the work done needed to resolve the case. The problem is that every other judge and lawyer in the building has the same idea and Friday is now jammed with the all the problem cases from the week. The courthouse is as crowded as a Tuesday or Wednesday and everyone is scrambling to get out early and the result is that not as much gets done as everyone envisioned and Friday becomes a wasted court visit. 

So avoid the "Friday re-set." It is an illusion; a mirage of time and light calendars. Friday is in fact it is as busy and hectic a day as any other. 

(another deep breath) Put one foot in front of the other. Handle a case, then another. Go home, hug your family and keep on living. 

See You In Court. 


13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fridays? You are as likely to find a judge on the 3rd hole of a local golf course at 2 pm than you are to find one trying cases in a courtroom. And it is worse at 73. Take an elevator ride and stop on each floor on a given Friday at 3 pm. You will think a neutron bomb was detonated. Hang around for ten minutes or so and act like a lawyer. Sooner or later you will be approached by a bailiff who will ask, with a look of curiosity, if he can help you. Sort of like, "hey, are you stupid? It's Friday afternoon. Nobody is around."

Anonymous said...

Great coverage all week of the dual losses of Markus and Sharpie. Thanks for providing us a place to meet and discuss and mourn. Great job Rump.

Rumpole said...

Friday mornings in the REGJB are crazy because the calendars are jammed and everyone is freaking because they all want to leave by lunch time. It's a mess.

Anonymous said...

7:08, you're an idiot. if a Judge set you for a hearing on Friday afternoon you'd cry.

Anonymous said...

Who's praying for Beennan to come back. MTM is BRUTAL!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

When I first started practicing criminal defense, Friday's were usually days where no Judge set court dates and it was a rarity to get called into the REG. Now they are worse than any day other than Mondays. No early weekends for us.

Anonymous said...

Brennan to come back? Only if she was out having a personality transplant! She is, BY FAR, the worst judge we have at the MJB.

Anonymous said...

Brennan has the brain of a bird. Maybe she will have a brain transplant so she can rule in a neutral matter. She has no heart for defendants so a heart transplant would seem to be in order as well.

Anonymous said...

Who is MTM?

Anonymous said...

But Thornton went further, slamming the tribe in finding the fraud, racketeering and malpractice counts were without merit even if he had jurisdiction. "The record is utterly devoid of any evidence of criminal intent or intentional misconduct," he wrote in the order handed down Sunday.

Motions for sanctions against the tribe and its lead attorney, Bernardo Roman III of Miami, are before Cooke and Thornton.

Roman, according to a deposition of another tribal leader, William Osceola, is paid at least $250,000a month from the tribe.

Thornton found no fraud, no misconduct, no fraudulent billing and no malpractice.

He noted the tribe changed its argument on Lewis Tein's bills from an allegation of pure fraud to a claim the charges were "unreasonable." A review of the invoices found no "genuine issue of material fact," said Thornton, dispensing with allegations of malpractice, racketeering and fraud.

"Not a single piece of evidence reveals, and no witness testified, that any work was done maliciously or simply not done," the judge wrote.

He also said the tribe's own records and officers thoroughly undermined the lawsuit. Officials said they knew of no fraud by Lewis Tein, and financial records show all invoices were submitted and approved.

Miami defense attorney William Barzee, a partner with Barzee Flores, who has supported Lewis Tein's position, called the ruling "total victory" for the firm.

"It was definitely scathing," Barzee said.

He also said the slash-and-burn litigation opens the tribe to sanctions.

"I would not be sleeping well if I were the tribe's attorneys," Barzee said.

Anonymous said...

Rump- any kind words for Kenny Marvin in retirement? He's a Dade former PD who went to the Florida Bar and oversaw the disbarment of that coral gables wacko lawyer who once claimed Janet Reno beat him up. You know who I mean- the guy who couldn't get Neil off the radio and who is a complete nutcase failure.
Anyway Kenny Marvin calls it a career the end of this month and he did our profession proud by cleansing it of that "jack"ass.

Anonymous said...

MTM=Mary Tyler Moore?

Anonymous said...

MTM is Tinkler Mendez