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Thursday, February 18, 2016

THE END OF AN ERA & JUDGE JOHNSON INVESTITURE .....


THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

THE END OF AN ERA ....... BUT FIRST

JUDGE CHARLES "CHARLIE" JOHNSON INVESTITURE

County Court Judge Charles "Charlie" Johnson, recently appointed to the Circuit Court bench by Governor Scott, will be formally sworn in at his INVESTITURE OF JUDGE CHARLES JOHNSON, on Friday, February 19, 2016 at 12:15 PM.  The Investiture takes place at the Civil Courthouse, located at 73 West Flagler Street, 6th Floor, in the Ceremonial Courtroom.

Guests are advised to arrive early if they want a seat inside the courtroom.  There is an overflow room with a video screen available on the same floor.

Congrats again for a well deserved accomplishment.

ROBBINS, TUNKEY, ROSS, AMSEL, RABEN, & WAXMAN .....

In the mid-1970s, Fred Robbins and Bill Tunkey were ASAs working for Richard Gerstein.  They left that office and joined Paul Pollack's firm.  Jeff Weiner soon joined them.  In 1977, Jeffrey Weiner, Fred Robbins, and Bill Tunkey created the law firm Weiner, Robbins, Tunkey.

Soon thereafter, Alan Ross left Kogan and Kogan to join the new firm.  In 1982, Bob Amsel signed on right out of law school. David Raben left the PD's office in 1983 and joined the growing firm. And Benjamin "Benji" Waxman rounded out the firm in the mid-80s. There were many other associates over the past four decades that worked at the one and only criminal defense law firm in the State of Florida. (Two names that come to mind that worked there over the years include Barry Wax and Mark Eiglarsh.  Who else worked there?).

The firm lasted 39 years, a lifetime in the legal community in this day and age.  Jeff Weiner left in 1992 and they renamed the firm Robbins, Tunkey, Ross, Amsel, Rabin & Waxman.  Finally, earlier this month, after 39 years, the immutable Robbins, Tunkey, et al decided to break up.

They were known as Florida's oldest and largest exclusively criminal defense law firm. They were the exception to the norm in criminal defense firms, where the average size is one.  While many criminal defense lawyers share space and overhead, their firms are kept separate because of the issue of conflict of interest.  Robbins, Tunkey bucked that norm and created a powerhouse law firm of seasoned attorneys who did nothing but criminal defense law, on a State and Federal level.   Nearly all were former ASAs or APDs and they were really good at their craft.

We can tell you that the dissolution was amicable.  According to Bob Amsel, "we had all come to a point in our careers where we were all in different places and this change seemed to make sense."  We understand that a new firm has been born at the familiar location on SW 3rd Avenue.  That new firm is called Ross, Amsel, Raben, Nascimento (Joseph).  Fred Robbins and Bill Tunkey are sharing space together in the same building, while Benji Waxman has moved his digs to a new location.

Good luck to the newly named firm and to all of the other attorneys who once made up "the largest exclusively criminal defense law firm in Florida".

ELECTION CENTRAL .......

In Election 2016 news, yet another attorney has filed to run in Group 34 of the Circuit Court.  Attorney Mark Blumstein, a member of The Florida Bar since 1996, has filed in a Group that now includes five candidates: Renee Gordon, Antonio Jimenez, Denis Martinez Martinez-Scanziani, Luis Perez-Medina, and Blumstein.

Mr. Blumstein went to Nova law, he speaks Italian and Spanish, and his practice covers just about all areas of the law, according to his web site, which states that "our firm practices extensively in litigation, contractual disputes, business torts, military affairs as well as many other practice areas."

To date, there all still four contested Circuit Court Groups, and David Young is still uncontested in an open seat.

CAPTAIN OUT .....
Captain4Justice@gmail.com


19 comments:

Anonymous said...

With Dannelly and Georgi gone, who will prosecute and defend the THIRD Baby Lollipops trial? Which judge?

Anonymous said...

This was all predicted by the nearly best-selling book "It's a shanda- the rise and fall of Weiner Robbins Tunkey Ross."

CAPTAIN JUSTICE said...


The Captain Reports:

Ana Maria Cardona
F-90-048092-B
Judge de la O

Cap Out .....

Claude Erskine- Browne said...

In Cardona v State, the Florida Supreme Court took the Prosecutor to the woodshed for the over the top behavior in trial. This reversal, like the first reversal , is due solely to the Prosecution's misconduct.
The Court, again cautioned prosecutors to behave ethically, basically saying winning is not the goal of a prosecutor, but a fair and just result is their task

Anonymous said...

tell me the photo of Judge Robert Luck on the back page of today's DBR is not a dead ringer for a young Nino Scalia.

Anonymous said...

Sad to hear. Robbins, Tunkey, Ross, Raben, Amsel, and Waxman are all great guys. It is getting harder and harder to make a living in private criminal defense practice.

Anonymous said...

I believe Richard Sharpstein once worked there. As for the Cardona case, my bets are on Reid Rubin to take over for the prosecution, and Steven Yermish and Manny Alvarez for the P.D.'s office.

Anonymous said...

Rumor has it that a prominent Hispanic attorney will be filing against Young.

Anonymous said...

Bill and Fred should have left Ross many years ago.

Anonymous said...

I note that Baby Lollipops prosecutor won DBR lawyer of the year for that case. Can DBR get award back?

Anonymous said...

Weiner was was the smart one to bail on Ross in 1992.

Anonymous said...

Richard Essen had a criminal defense law firm with multiple lawyers in Dade, Broward and palm beach. Handled mostly DUIs but did take all criminal cases. They also had a strong appellate division.

Anonymous said...

The big question is --who is getting into the race against David Young?? There is no way he gets this unopposed......

Anonymous said...

Whatever happened to that stupid boat that they liked to brag about? The "Knot Guilty"?

What a buncha chumps.

Anonymous said...

Feel like there's a story behind the story that you're telling but not really telling.

You say the firm is dissolving but then say that really its just splitting in two. If youre going to write something, just write it.

Anonymous said...

Antonio Jimenez is seriously kicking ass in Group 34. I predict him to be the winner.

Anonymous said...

At one point Essen and Essen had 18 attorneys. In it's heyday (1985-1995) they had offices in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Two appellate lawyers on staff at all times. His lawyers flew around the state trying DUI cases. Ed Bradley did and interview of RE on 60 minutes, called "The Drunk Driver's Best Friend". 90% of the work was DUI and DUI manslaughter. Richard only went to court once during that time...for Rick Sanchez.

RE was one of the first guys to recognize the value of direct mail, the internet and social media marketing. We made a killing.

Anonymous said...

Eiglarsh??????why must we mention his name?

ever

Unknown said...

Bill Tunkey is in a class by himself. Greatness is one characteristic that comes to mind about him