Bad mixes: Superman and kryptonite, a judge and the check at lunch, Mitt Romney and compassion and reason, the Tea Party and, well, they don't get along with anyone, so it was a poor example. Oil and water.
Cops and defense attorneys.
And yet because of the forces of nature (and Miami City Hall) cops and defense attorneys have been thrown together in Lot 26 in a parking lot situation almost as explosive as the middle east.
Exhibit 1 is offered as a compound exhibit of two pictures of one police officer who believes s/he has every right to take up two spaces. The Justice Building Blog irregular who took these snapshots informs us that the offense occurred during a busy morning (Monday?).
Would the parking lot enforcement officers who patrol the lot have the wherewithal to have that offending truck towed?
There's as much a chance of that happening as criminal court judges who don't have a trial going volunteering to help their overburdened colleagues in civil. Somethings are just against the law of nature. It's not east to get a Friday 2pm tee-time at Riviera.
SUICIDE POOL: POOL B?
After last Sunday's massacre- 17 down on the Cheaters (boy does that still bring a smile to our face) we proposed a Pool B. A losers bracket. A second chance. Winner of that bracket plays winner of winners bracket.
We will do it if 20 or so of the 24 out in the first two weeks join in. A logistical nightmare for us. But we're altruists. Didn't you read our post the other day?
23 comments:
Uh the winner of the winner's bracket is the winner. How can a loser be a winner?
Rumpole- I saw your tweet about life being a grind. Are you ok? I can help...ANY way you need it. I sent you a private email.
6:55: It's a common scheme. With one loss your moved to another bracket and the champion of that bracket with one loss gets to play the champion of the bracket with no losses. This is not rocket science here.
9:06...no thanks. I have enough on my plate for the moment. (just being funny here, ok?)
So, I'm sitting waiting for my case to get called in Judge Newman's courtroom.
I'm listening to the rude, snide nasty comments he makes to unrepresented defendants on a stupid driver license calendar. I can't believe this guy.
Sure he gave people time to get a license, but if you don't come in with a valid license you get, "Tough!", "Too bad, so sad". What a douchebag. Just do your job, adjudicate the guy and move on. Pick a better financed, more competent opponent for him next time, Al.
Maybe he figures these people are the 47% that aren't gonna vote for him anyway.
What a jerk for parking like that.
6:55 is right unless you give the winner of the winner's bracket some sort of advantage in the playoff (like the winner of the winner's bracket only has to win once, but the winner of the loser's bracket has to win twice).
Just move to the other lot. I have had no problems there. It can be a bit slow to leave, but there is always a spot for my car and I can always get in by just showing my keycard
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
PROFESSIONALISM, DID YOU SAY PROFESSIONALISM .....
Got a beef. Don't like what you see going on at the GJB? Then help out by participating in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit's Professionalism Committee -
Criminal Justice Subcommittee Survey
As part of an ongoing effort to foster a criminal justice system that reflects the highest professional standards, and is more pleasant to work in, the Criminal Justice Subcommittee of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Professionalism Committee is asking you to participate in a professionalism survey
https://www.surveymonkey.
com/s/G6B775D
Assistant state attorneys, assistant regional counsels, assistant public defenders, FACDL members, registry attorneys, criminal court (misdemeanor and felony) judges and judges handling juvenile delinquency cases are being asked to participate in the survey. The survey results will be used to develop training and guide discussions regarding professionalism within the criminal courts context. We hope you will take a few minutes to complete the survey
https://www.surveymonkey.
com/s/G6B775D
Cap Out .....
THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:
WANT TO MAKE MORE $$$ ...BY TAKING COURT APPOINTMENTS ....
Have you ever handled a Private Court Appointed Counsel (PCAC) criminal conflict case as a member of the PCAC Registry? Were you at one time a SAPD (Special Assistant Public Defender) back in the day? Are you considering the possibility of applying to the Registry to add some income to your bottom line, but don't particularly care for the fees being paid by the State of Florida?
Well then, we need your help. The Office of the State Courts Administrator (OSCA) is required by the 2012 General Appropriations Act to conduct a study of the reasonableness of the current mandated conflict counsel fees in criminal cases (those listed in s. 27.5304, F.S. and the Gen. Appropriations Act) to determine the adequacy and reasonableness of those fees. This study will be submitted to the Florida Legislature by January 15, 2013.
As part of this required study OSCA has prepared a brief survey to be completed by criminal defense attorneys so they have some standard by which to compare the current rates. They want to hear from both registry and non-registry attorneys for this survey. So, even if you have no intention of ever joining the PCAC Registry, your participation in this survey is still critically important to OSCA.
This survey will take less than three minutes to complete.
The link to the survey is now active and will remain active through the close of business on September 27, 2012.
The survey link is as follows:
http://www.flcourts.org//
checkbox/Survey.aspx?s=
baed77af640b4f7a9125b4e147efea69
CAP OUT ....
Rumpole -
I never bad mouth attorneys for accepting quick plea deals because I know nothing about the facts and circumstances of the case, but do you or does anybody know why Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson's Broward DV case closed out so quickly with probation?
Seems like a quick non-PTD resolution for a DV case.
Any insight?
Special Ed:
You're now practicing law? By the way, I love your album "Youngest in Charge."
Today's dubsteppin blowhards can't hold a candle to you.
Whatever Swickle did up there was quite intentional re 85. Swickle's binlaw drew rosen... All approved. Few are as zealous as Adam. Move on Put in past. More likely teams can now hire. Case closed.
Broward only offers PTD to people with NO priors at all. He has a prior. Signed an insider
Some people would say the "douchebag" is the individual who metaphorically thumbs his nose at the judge, the system, and us by refusing to clear up his DL.
I'm glad Judge Newman indicates his - and our - disgust at these "douchebags". It may be the first time they've heard some disapproving words in their life, especially if they attended a U.S. public school.
This is Outrageous and Sickening
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 21, 2012
Contact: Kristen McDonald, RPOF Press Secretary
850-222-7920
RPOF Board Votes to Oppose Retention
of Liberal Supreme Court Justices
Today RPOF Press Secretary Kristen McDonald released the following statement:
"This week, the RPOF executive board voted unanimously to oppose the retention of Supreme Court Justices R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente, and Peggy Quince. While the collective evidence of judicial activism amassed by these three individuals is extensive, there is one egregious example that all Florida voters should bear in mind when they go to the polls on election day. These three justices voted to set aside the death penalty for a man convicted of tying a woman to a tree with jumper cables and setting her on fire. The fact that the United States Supreme Court voted, unanimously, to throw out their legal opinion, raises serious questions as to their competence to understand the law and serve on the bench, and demonstrates that all three justices are too extreme not just for Florida, but for America, too."
###
Paid for by the Republican Party of Florida. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate committee. www.rpof.org
This blog often offers good advice for new PDs/ASAs, but I would like to solicit advice for young lawyers at the next career stage -- those thinking of leaving govt and beginning private solo practice doing crim defense.
Things Ive been told:
1) The market sucks. The cocaine days are dead & gone. Things are hard out there.
2) There are far too many lawyers already, and competition is driving prices down.
And I realize lawyers don't have any incentive to welcome more competition, don't want to disclose their secrets, their fees, how they generate business. But perhaps some would be willing to give me clues.
What would be a reasonable misdemeanor/felony fee for a brand new atty who has 5-10 years as an ASA/PD?
What percentage of your business comes from referrals? Website? Professional organizations like DCBA, CABA, etc? Advertising?
Would you take anything that walks through the door (eg. family law, etc), focus on something specifically (eg. DUI or traffic)?
What can a brand new solo realistically expect to make?
What would be worthwhile investments and what would not? Expensive office v. virtual office? Expensive website v. not? Etc?
Any rookie mistakes you've seen/made that you'd be willing to share?
Thanks --- Govt Worker Eying the Next Step
6:19 missing the point.
Regardless of the reason they can't fix their licenses, a judge should not be rude, demeaning or snide. Period. Be a judge, not a dickhead.
Exaggerated point: Ted Mastos told a sex batt defendant that " you can't just rape 'em, you gotta take 'em out for dinner or a movie". He also told a defendant's mother, Ma'am...your son is a piece of garbage" . Chomp, chomp, smack he's in private practice now.
More Newman-like point; Lenny Glick while qualifying a black defendant for PD and hearing he has no job says : "you're a real credit to society aren't you".
Heard all of this crap with my own ears.
Why does a cop need a pickup truck? The wizards at the Miami parking authority would never tow a cop. The tow truck driver (only persons more loathed than cops) would likely get shot, or arrested for felony battery on a LEO. Just saying
Anybody who thinks the Republicans have not screwed up this state enough take heed. They are now trying to take over the judiciary too. Vote blue up and down the ballot.
10:41A.M. Precisely,no doubt.
A judge's goal in a driver license calendar is to make sure that as many defendants as possible get good licenses so as to rid the roads of unlicensed and uninsured drivers. No matter how many days in jail and how many fine and costs or community service and traffic school hours you give those defendants, they will continue to drive even if they don't have a license. So, instead of doing the knee-jerk reaction of adjudicating the defendant and slamming him with fine and costs, the better practice is to look at the suspensions, compare them to what the driver has done to fix them, and tailor a continuance or program to get them to come up with a good license. Some defendants just need a few more weeks to come up with the money to pay the 40% collection fee, some need time to buy SR-22 insurance, and some are just victim of the anti-immigrant laws that deny driver licenses to illegal aliens in order to make their lives so miserable that they "self-deport".
9:05 -
It's a competitive market out there, but it's doable. Just be honest, avoid bondsmen, and above all - give your clients excellent service.
Being a great defense attorney is much more than just being a good trial lawyer. As compared to your days as a PD/ASA, very few of your cases will go to trial. People who can afford private attorneys typically have more to lose than poor, repeat offender PD clients who think they can beat the system again and again (not being derogatory, that's the truth and we all know it).
Being an excellent defense attorney is about being a great communicator and guide through the confusing land of the justice system. You and I know this system. Our clients do not. You and I know that when a young girl with no priors comes into our office charged with grand theft for stealing $400 worth of sweaters from Macys, it's a PTI case. She thinks she's going to prison.
Many defense attorneys can get the same result for a client. But the longer you do this, you'll see clients shopping for new lawyers on their second offenses. Even if the first lawyer got them PTI, got their case dismissed, or even beat their case at trial.
Why? It wasn't the result. It was the way that the client was treated. Clients like to have access to their lawyers. They like to be updated (even if there are no new developments). They like to be told in advance what will happen. Clients HATE to only talk to their lawyers in the courthouse hallways seconds before their cases are called up. They hate to have their phone calls unreturned.
I'm not saying that your clients should have unfettered access to your life, but you need to communicate with them. Even if the client ends up getting convicted or receives a less-than-stellar plea, they will appreciate the efforts and the humanity that you showed.
That - above all - will help your business to grow. Because every client that you treat with respect and importance will have cousins, friends, co-workers, etc, who get in trouble and will need a lawyer. And then their friends. And then their friends.
Keep track of your clients and where they come from. 3,4 years from now you will be amazed to see the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation referrals. People will call you and say, "I've heard you're the best." Results are very important, but equally important is the level of service you can show your client.
I wish you the best of luck in your new endeavor.
to: 6:19
Long ago Lenny Glick should have been reported to the JQC. His personal opinions have no place in the courthouse.
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