THE DAY AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM DIED

 Mark February 28, 2025 as the day American Exceptionalism died. 

The day the United States stopped being the bastion of freedom and democracy. 

The day the oppressed countries and peoples of the world learned that they can no longer look to the United States to stand up for them. 

It began with the battles of the Somme, Verdun, and the Ypres Salient. 

It continued on the beaches of Normandy and the frozen forests outside of Bastogne. 

It continued at the battle of the Chosin Reservoir Korea.

It continued in Berlin when President Kennedy said "So let me ask you as I close, to lift your eyes beyond the dangers of today, to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom merely of this city of Berlin, or your country of Germany, to the advance of freedom everywhere, beyond the wall to the day of peace with justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all mankind." 

It continued again in Berlin more than twenty years later when President Regan stood at the Berlin wall and said "Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall." 

And it ended at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and the Oval Office today when the shameful conduct of the president and his vice president thug/henchman attacked and belittled The President of Ukraine who has stood firm and mostly alone against the Russian invasion of his nation.  

For on this day, a black mark in our history, the president of the United States sided with a dictator who ordered the invasion of a neighboring and peaceful country. The Russian army has committed genocide. They have lined up and shot innocent civilians and captured soldiers. And today the president of the United States sided with the dictator and against the country fighting for its freedom. 

Today America no longer is exceptional. Today is a day of dark shame. 

MAGA EXPLAINED

 

How's the price of eggs these days? 

How's crypto treating you? 

A child just died of Measles in Texas. The Measles. But vaccines don't work. Although I cannot recall hearing of anyone dying of measles in the United States in the 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s. 

You know what they say " MAGA doesn't kill people. Measles from Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton and Hunter's laptop kills people." 

LEGAL BEAGLE

 

Some Saturday /Weekend bliss. 

A TIME OF MOURINING

 When Children die in war no one wins. We all lose.  

Hamas released the bodied of four Israeli hostages including two children- The Bibas brothers. Their bodies were released in a "celebration" of their murder as people cheered the coffins of the two brothers. 

There are no words as to describe the shameful degrading and inhumane conduct of this disgusting spectacle. 

But more war and more bombing will not stop the hate and violence. 

Hate begets hate. Violence begets violence. 

This must stop. 

Today is a day of mourning for those two young boys.  May they never be forgotten and their names remembered as innocent victims of a horrible act of violence. 

This is a remarkable interview with Israeli Prime Minister Gold Meir. Please click on it. It's short. 

"We value life... the children are not to blame because their Father are Fatah..." 

Israel was never stronger when it valued life. 

All life is precious. It does not matter what side of a border a child is on when they are killed by a bomb. 

MORE SAO SHAME

 What the below email shows is that the culture at the SAO is broken. Witnesses and cooperating witnesses are saying things different than the prosecutors' view of the case and two things are happening. 

1. The prosecutor threatens the witness if they don't change their story. 

2. The prosecutor does not turn over the Brady material about the first version and the change in the story. 

The Miami Dade State attorneys office cannot be trusted. There is a culture of win at all costs and obstruction of justice. It is as simple as that. If they say the sky is blue, go out and check. Because they do not tell the truth. It is a broken office with a broken culture that has zero ethics. 

To be clear- we did not write the following. An FACDL person did. Unlike Miami Prosecutors we have a penchant for not misleading people and telling the truth. The more we re-read what happened, the more shocked we are. This office has fallen from the top to the bottom of the barrel. No judge should trust the word of any prosecutor who operates in this culture of shady deceitfulness. Shame on you Ms. Fernandez-Rundle. Shame, Shame, Shame. This happened on YOUR watch. You are wholly responsible for this and you have DONE NOTHING to fix it. Resign. Now. Resign for the good of the community. 

The lawyers for your office who did what is listed below need to be disbarred. And maybe prosecuted for obstruction of justice. Shame Shame Shame on you. 

I hope Nadia Bayatzadeh doesn't mind me shouting her out publicly because she deserves a huge congratulations! Sometimes the biggest wins occur quietly during morning calendar...

 

As the next saga to the below story from last month, Nadia was able to get the third co-defendant's second degree murder conviction VACATED and DISMISSED today! Everyone who knew the facts of this case knew he was merely present in the car but he was taken advantage of by the State of Florida and became a cooperating witness and a convicted murderer. He would have remained a convicted murderer for the rest of his life... But after the events of last month, Nadia picked up the baton and got HUGE relief for her client! 

...

Congratulations to Michele Borchew, Adam Goodman, Khurrum Wahid, and Alyssa Espinosa.

 

Their clients sat in custody for six years waiting for their day in court, insisting on their innocence. On Tuesday night, after picking the jury in this homicide case, the lawyers received a response to an outstanding Chapter 119 request for communications between the SAO and the lawyer for a cooperating witness. The response included an email between the previous prosecutor and the lawyer for the cooperating witness that was obviously exculpatory and Brady material. In the email, the previous prosecutor explained that she had “met with Michael Von Zamft” and the cooperating witness’s story did not line up with their theory of the case. The previous prosecutor (who is no longer at the SAO) said that if the cooperating witness wanted to provide a second statement, the state would listen – but otherwise the plea would be a long prison sentence. This email was not disclosed to the defense until the Chapter 119 request (and even then, it was disclosed by accident, as it wasn’t directly responsive to the request because it was from a prosecutor who’d left the office).

 

The defense sent the Brady email to the current prosecutor on the case, who did the right thing and dismissed the case yesterday morning.

 

FACDL-Miami has previously expressed to the State Attorney our belief that an independent prosecutor’s office should be conducting the investigation into Michael Von Zamft and we will reiterate that position again. The email discovered in this case continues to show a need for change at the State Attorney’s Office – and we will continue to push for that change.

 

The email that was discovered through a Chapter 119 request is also a great reminder that Chapter 119 can be a great tool for the defense bar. Much of the misconduct uncovered in the last year has been through Chapter 119 requests – so if you’re not already using this tool, I’d encourage you to do so.

 

Congratulations again to Michele, Adam, Khurrum, and Alyssa. Their clients saw justice thanks to their incredible work. I’m so proud to be a part of this defense bar.

FIRST SUNDAY

Warning: there are parts of this post that will make you very uncomfortable, especially if you have a fondness for donkeys. 

 It arrives every year, unpleasant as can be, like a colonoscopy, tax day, or an arraignment before a DeSantis Drone Judge: the first Sunday without football. 

But fear not. Baseball players have reported for spring training, and our annual summer European sabbatical is close enough for us to start making reservations at hotels and AirB&Bs

Let us address a few thoughts. 

There is chatter and a Miami Herald article about an experienced (and non-DeSantis Drone Judge) who rejected a 20-year prison plea offer in a Domestic Violence Attempted Murder case only to have the jury acquit the defendant who had confessed to shooting at the other party. Lesson? One we preach often: be careful what you ask for in life; you may get it.  

Here's a fun immigration fact. What did the new administration do in support of their increased attempts to deport people? Why the obvious of course- fire a bunch of immigration judges. Duh,   The report is here: Judges Fired. 

Several CLI/Law school interns at the SAO and PDs office are mulling offers for top positions at the Department of Justice, as there are almost no supervisors left to do the bidding of the Evil Sith Lord Bove III. 

And finally, this nearly unspeakable act of cruelty. Do fake goods from China worry you? They should. And whatever you do, do not, repeat, DO NOT buy a Zebra from China. Most likely you will get a donkey with black and white stripes painted on. 

All the tragic details are here. 

And the MAGA crowd spends their days fretting about RHINOS. Sheesh. 

Don't be fooled. It's a donkey. 

 

THE DIFFERENCE

 We weren't going to post today. But then we came across a quote and we realized we would never have a better opportunity to show the difference between an ignorant moron and an intellectual. 

The ignorant moron, we call him Moe, you know him as the current secretary of defense Pete Hegseth. 

Moe

Sec Def

Hegseth said this in a speech to Nato at Brussels this past Thursday: 

"We can talk all we want about values. Values are important. But you can't shoot values. You can't shoot flags. And you can't shoot strong speeches. There is no replacement for power." 

Maybe long time and careful readers of the blog will know where we are going next. 

It's a good thing Hegseth was not prime minister of England in 1940. Because before they had enough bullets and tanks and aeroplanes to fight Germany, they had Churchill. And Churchill had the English language. 

In what is our opinion the greatest peroration in the history of the English speaking peoples (Lincoln's Gettysburg address is the greatest speech)  Churchill "mobilized the English Language and sent it into battle." He rallied a nation who had just barely saved its army from capture at Dunkirk. He told a worried island nation that if invasion came they would never surrender. And he saved humanity from Nazism. 

If you want to hear the quote, scroll ahead to 5 minutes. But spend the seven minutes and watch the speech. It changed history.  It did what Hegseth's view of "power" could never do. Because it set the vision for using power in defense of "values" and ideals. 

There is no effective use of power without values and ideal. Ask the Chinese tank commanders at Tiananmen Square. 

This, dear readers, is the difference between an ignorant moron, and a genius leader. 

WILL THE LAST PROSECUTOR OUT THE DOOR AT THE SDNY PLEASE TURN OFF THE LIGHTS

 We do not often say nice things about prosecutors. But these ones at the SDNY quitting before following the orders of the Evil Sith Lord Emil Bove III to drop the charges against Adams The Hutt are heroes and this guy Scotten? He is great. Best letter we have read in a long time. And that last line in the penultimate paragraph? "But it never was going to be me." 

F'ing perfect. Heroic.  Hagan Scotten is THE MAN! 

 Love it. 

Letter Resignation by Anonymous PbHV4H on Scribd

CHAPTER 23 THE EVIL SITH BOVE III

 A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...

Chapter 23. The Evil Sith Lord Bove III. 

The Emperor found a weak point over Adams The Hutt who rules the province of New York. 

"Dismiss the charges against him" the Emperor said. "But not permanently. Hold them over Adams the Hutt's head so he has to do our bidding on immigration." 

"Yes" said the Evil Sith Lord Bove III. 

The Evil Sith Lord Bove III

The Evil Sith Lord Bove III directed Princess Sassoon who was heading the Southern District of New York's prosecution of Adam The Hutt to drop the charges.

Adams The Hutt

 "No" responded Princess Sassoon. Her letter is here. Such an action "is inconsistent with my ability and duty to prosecute federal crimes without fear or favor and to advance good-faith arguments before the courts."  

The Evil Sith Lord Bove III was brought to anger. His letter is here. "In no valid sense do you uphold the Constitution by disobeying direct orders implementing the policy of the Emperor. ..and anyone romanticizing that behavior does a disservice to the nature of this work and the public's perception of our efforts." 

Princess Sassoon's resignation was followed by another resignation in her office, and then two more resignation's by two prosecutors who led the Public Integrity Section in the DOJ. Kevin Driscoll, who headed the Public Integrity Section resigned, as did his deputy John Keller. Both are distinguished, career prosecutors.  

For more on what this represents, see our post on the Saturday Night Massacre. 

In response to the pressures placed on Adams The Hutt, Adams issued an executive order allowing, for the first time, the Emperor's Immigration Officials into the Rikers Island Club to search for aliens from other galaxies to deport. Prior to the order New York City had been a sanctuary city and had not allowed agents of the Emperor into the Rikers Island Club. Not that there is any quip pro Bove III between the dropping of the case and the change in policies. 

The story did not end for Princess Sassoon and her ragged band of prosecutors who defied the Evil Sith Lord Bove III. 

The Sith Lord, with the approval of the Wicked Witch of the South Pam Bondi (sorry to be mixing metaphors and Star Wars and The Wizzard Of Oz but it had to be done), set forth the agents of the DOJ after Princess Sessons and her band of prosecutors. The Evil Sith Lord Bove III opened and investigation into the actions of Princess Sessons and the others who resigned from her. 

The Wicked Witch Of The South

"I am not done with them yet" The Evil Sith Lord Bove III said, rubbing his small hands together in evil delight. 

The Emperor and The Evil Sith Lord Bove III

NO JUDGE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO....

 Before we begin, do you understand just how remarkable our Super Bowl predictions and picks were? From telling you that the game would not be close and the Eagles would win going away, to giving you the bet that the Eagles would win by more than 7 and less than 19 points, to the successful two point conversion, and of course by giving you the can't miss coin flip bet (tails) we had an amazing day yesterday. We took our mid five -figure bankroll that we built over the season and literally doubled it! 

You're welcome. 

The current president was quoted as saying that "No judge should be allowed to rule against" the changes his administration has been making. Outlawing the possession and use of reason for example. Jailing anyone with a science degree who uses the phrase "climate change". Etc. 

While we find little we can agree with the president on, we did think that there is some use to the phrase "No judge should be allowed to..." 

We will start the conversation and you can add to it in the comments. 

No judge should be allowed to: 

Deny a motion without reading it;

Talk about how to try a case when they never did so in private practice;

Correspond privately about cases with the prosecutor. Call it the "3rd DCA Rule"; 

Set cases for trial the week a lawyer returns from vacation; 

Deny a motion for continuance because the lawyer did not follow the obscure rules of judicial administration; 

Keep jurors after 5 pm even if they ask for it; 

Sentence a defendant more harshly for exercising her right to a trial by jury. We know every single judge from here to Los Angeles and back denies that they do this. But the president denies that he is persecuting his enemies, so most of these denials are not worth the paper they are written on. 

This is a good start. We are sure you can add to it. 

What should we buy with the more than 16k in cash we suddenly find ourselves owners of? 

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY 2025

 Here we are. Super Bowl Sunday. The day promised to all Americans in the Bible as a reward for American exceptionalism.  A day when everyone has to sing the national anthem a dozen times and wear the American flag on their person. 

Can we please stop mixing nationalistic jingoism with sport? Sing the national anthem once on opening day and be done with it. And there is no reason that the military has to be mixed in with sport. Jets that are designed to bomb and kill people have nothing to do with a football game. 

Anway we have three words for Super Bowl Sunday. 

Are you ready? 

Fly Eagles Fly! 🦅

We are all in on Philly. We sold a few Eth coins and a couple of shares of Nvidia and called 8th Street Ernie and told him we are putting it all on Philly money line. No points. We got +120 but most online sites will only give you +100 or even money. 

Here are a few prop bets we like. 

We LOVE the bet that there will be a two-point conversion attempt. We got +320 for their being two -two-point conversion attempts and we also put some money on a successful 2 pointer. 

Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurst - Philly QB- going over 1.5 passing TDs?  +150.  Over 218 yards?  -105. And the parlay over 1.5 TDs and over 218 yards> +260 on Hardrock. 

The Over/Under? We aren't sure. Probably going to pass. 

Here is a fun one. +6000 for any member of the Philly D line getting an INT. It would be on a tipped ball and we think the Eagle D Line will be in Mahomes face all day. He will be seeing them in his dreams tonight. 

Eagles winning by between 1-6 points? +325. This is a great bet. Eagles winning by 13-18 points? +900. $50 bucks for fun on that one. 

And finally, the bet you are all waiting for. After 0ver 100K simulations, taking into account the latitude and longitude of New Orleans and the Coriolis effect on that area, we are very certain that the coin flip will be.......

TAILS!

It's gonna be a Green Super Bowl. It won't be close. We will be enjoying the game with a few cold ones and a Pats Cheese-Steak we had flown in last night for the game. 
"Wit" of course. (If you don't know what "Wit" is in a cheese steak order, go on to Mr. Markus's blog We are sure you can find a lively discussion on pending changes to the federal rules of evidence that may be more your style). 

LEGALDEFENSE FUND

 We do not often publicize defense funds, but this one is worthwhile. 

A former Judge has emailed us. 

Good afternoon Rumpole,

It has been a long time.  I have retired as a professor of law and now I am a "Distinguished" Professor Emeritus.  Imagine that.  Me "Distinguished". Oh well.

Let me get down to why I have contacted you.  Before I begin, I am in no way seeking contributions of money from anyone.  I am deeply involved with an organization named The State Democracy Defense Fund.  It is headed up by Norman Eisen and has a board of directors of very (and they are) distinguished lawyers and journalists.

We have been asked to represent a number of FBI agents and DOJ lawyers who have been or are about to be illegally fired and likely investigated.  I know it seems antithetical to ask defense attorneys to help defend FBI and DOJ personnel, but in the long view it benefits us all, in light of the alternative.  I am looking for attorneys who would be willing to participate, if only in a minor way.  If interested please contact me at swartzj@cooley.edu.  All assistance would be appreciated.

Resistance is not futile, but the lack of it has an inevitable bad result.

  

Jeffrey D. Swartz

Professor of Law

9445 Camden Field Parkway

Riverview, Florida 33578

813-419-5100

IT'S ELECTION DAY

UPDDATE: And your new chief judge is......

GONNA MAKE MIAMI COURTS GREAT AGAIN! 

 

(somehow this seems apropos) 

 Before we begin, do not miss DOM's post on Judge McAliley defending AUSA Michael Thakur- a MAGA victim of retribution against a superb prosecutor who was fired for doing his job. The post is here.  Bad shit is happening every day now and before they shut down David and us, the word needs to get out. And make no mistake they will come after legal bloggers who do not toe their racist, xenophobic, authoritarian line.   

 It's election day ? 

Yup it's election day as your favourite judge trudges downtown to vote for Chief Judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. 

And if you are out of the loop you have missed some of the most vicious, backstabbing, palace- intrigue-type campaigning of any recent election. 

The incumbent is Nushin Sayfie who very competently guided our courts through the Covid Crisis and has done a very good job. She is our choice for Chief Judge. She has earned another term.  

Her "Make Miami Courts Great Again"  MMCGA  (phonertically MM CAG-GA - like the sound your cat makes when throwing up) opponent is Ariana Fajardo-Orshan who left the bench to work for you-know-who as US Attorney and then returned to the bench and has pretty much been showing up anywhere and everywhere any judge has been. A judge is mowing their lawn? There is Fajardo saying "Hey let me do that for you, and then I'll hop inside and do those dishes and fold the laundry and while I'm here let's get out the ladder and I'll clear those pesky leaves from your gutters..."

But there is more than A vs B. 

There is X and Y. 

People do not think we know this. But we know more than they think we do. 

Before Judge Sayfie became chief Judge, a Judge, call him X, wanted to challenge Judge Soto. A deal of sorts was struck. "One more term, and then I'll support you."   Come the next election Judge X did not get the support he was promised, and Judge Sayfie was elected. 

Politics makes strange bedfellows, and the strangest of all is when they wear robes. 

So although their political views don't come close to matching. X and their Spouse Y are actively campaigning for the MMCGA candidate. 

Votes will be counted tonight. 

Depending on who wins can we expect a slew of executive orders if the MMCGA candidate wins? 

"Effective immediately defense attorneys will not be allowed to mention the term reasonable doubt to a jury";

"Effective immediately all defendants who look like they might be an illegal immigrant shall have their bond immediately revoked:

"Effective immediately the local rules are amended to allow the prosecution to file a motion for new trial on all not guilty verdicts" 

"Effective immediately the picture of President Trump SHALL be displayed in all courtrooms, all hallways of all courts, and in the chambers of all judges."

What we can be sure of is this- there is a lot of vote counting going on. And if your favourite judge all of the sudden loses their chambers and has to work in the corner of the El Gordo Cafe, you will know they supported the loser. 

NOW YOU KNOW HOW WE FEEL

 Seems like defense attorneys are not the only ones complaining we don’t get FBI 302s. A fight has erupted between the FBI and acting attorney general Heinrich Himmler.  Himmler asked the FBI to turn over the names of the agents who investigated the current president.  The FBI acting director refused.  Himmler then said “all orders must be obeyed” and then asked for even more  names. The FBI is refusing. Himmler called it “insubordination”. “Ve havf vays of making you talk” Himmler sneered  

In other news the DOJ opened an investigation on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. All Bragg did was convict Pam Bondi’s boss of a mess load of felonies.  Bondi sighed a bunch of orders “de weaponizing” the DOJ. 

So to be clear. Shortly after being confirmed Pam Bondi opened an investigation of a sitting district  attorney for convicting the then former president.  So glad she testified under oath that no investigations would be political in nature.  

TIME FOR THEM TO LEAVE

 Well this is something different. 

You know those crazy sovereign citizens that file fraudulent deeds to steal property? 

Well one of them lives in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. 

At a press conference at the White House Tuesday Evening, the President said the United States would, and we quote "Own Gaza". 

And what about the 2.1 million people whose home land is Gaza? Where will they go? 

Hialeah seems a likely landing spot. Maybe Newark New Jersey.  And La Crosse Indiana. There's some empty land in the Ukraine. That could work. After all, the Palestinians are already used to being bombed.  And of course, the President is angry at Canada so maybe he can order the Air Force to pack the Palestinians in planes, strap them in parachutes and drop them on Montreal.  Children would get parachutes with Disney characters. 

Sort of like the Berlin airlift. 

But in a perverse reverse. 

So much for the fundamental principles of conservatism that believes that property rights are the foundation of all rights.  

 Just to be clear. 

The President of the United States just said he plans to displace a nation-state of people because there is nice beach front property. 

 You voted for him. 

We are gonna say that a lot in the next few years so we are introducing now the acronym YVFH. 

The president just snatched the pebble from the hands of the Palestinians. Time for them to leave. 

WELL THAT WAS QUICK

 After months of blustering POTUS imposed a 200 million percent tariff on Mexico and Canada and then backed down a few hours later. Sort of like the parent who takes away TV privileges from their child but then lets them watch You Tube and Tik Tok videos. What lesson does the kid learn? The parent (POTUS) is a wimp. 

We were being served our pancake breakfast when news of the tariffs hit. Managment quickly snatched away the syrup saying it was now 40 bucks a shot, only to return it a few minutes later with their apologies. 

Well it is February and if you followed Rumpole's advice you avoided trials in January but now, like us, have a full trial schedule. Important practice tip: Lawyers from Miami should try and avoid cases being set for trial in Minnesota in early February. Are you kidding us? The coffee from Starbucks froze when we walked outside. 

So Justice Building Irregulars - who are your new favourite robe wearers  from the batch of newly minted judges (certain in their own mind their ascension was preordained by the Lord) and which ones are exhibiting that well known condition of robeitis - having never tried anything other than a bench trial in private practice they spout nonsense like this : 

"Counsel your motion to continue is denied. You've already had one in this capital murder case and should have gotten all your depositions done in the two months since arraignment. Plus if you read our practice order we require motions to continue to be fully briefed with the rules of criminal procedure and judicial administration to be cited with appropriate case law and a certification that you and opposing counsel have conferred in person for not less than one hour to narrow the issues before the court. Having done none of this, jury selection will start tomorrow so you can finish your depositions today...."

There are just some judges who are certain that their appointment/election means Circuit Court-District Court-Supreme Court- and the more delusional of them (and you've seen them) -POTUS. 

Do your best. Report their ridiculous behavior to their more experienced and grounded colleagues, and of course the blog. 

Coming Soon ( as soon we get a minute to breathe) Ominous Parallels. 

Oh yeah- if you don't like how quickly we post comments then go to Mr. Markus's blog. We are doing the best we can until we get some more blog interns. 

Speaking of which, Mr. Markus (the second best legal blogger in the country)  is on fire 🔥with some great posts including a federal Judicial DEI seminar that may now be illegal;  a US Attorney's Office whose moral is as low as the Miami-Dade SAO, or a Democrat in Congress,  and a Judge Rudy Ruiz order for a new trial that is not to be missed for its fairness and insightful analysis. Sometimes we get it right when we appoint judges. 

Check it all out here. 

DEI will be the New McCarthyism:  "Are you now or have you ever been a member of a group that supported diversity or equity or inclusion? Will the witness please remember that they are under oath and answer whether or not they attended a meeting in Miami Florida in which certain members of the Federal Judiciary celebrated (against the public policy of the United States) Black History Month with a symposium entitled (add your own version of a nasty sneer) "Layered Lives: The Intersection of Identity And Experience". 

If you attend, and you should, you might want to wear a burka as there is certain to be agents of DOGE recording people entering the event.  

Attending DEI events will be this generation's version of sitting in at Woolworth lunch counters in the South that refused to serve African Americans. You will be attacked and ridiculed (albeit mostly likely on X and IG). But it is the right thing to do. So do it. 

GROUNDHOG DAY

 

For those of us up North, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow...six more weeks of winter. 

Thought of the day: Don't you wish they picked Punxsutawney Phil the same way they choose the Dali Lama? 

Alternative thought of the day: To our friends in Canada and Mexico and others in the rest of the world looking at us, we are sorry- about 50% of tried to avoid this. 

For the Super Bowl you should be gathering all your money, calling in fees due from clients and placing as big a bet as you can on the Philadelphia Eagles money line. They are going to win ...Fly Eagles Fly. 

JUDGE ALAN SCHWARTZ WAS A TREASURE

 

    We came across this case in our work on an esoteric issue. And as long time and careful readers of the blog know, we love a good Churchill quote. 

SCHWARTZ, ALAN R., Associate Judge.

As Churchill might have put it had he been considering the fascinating and monumental verities of Florida post-trial procedural law and practice rather than merely the prosaic question of Chinese politics, the result we reach in this case represents an incongruity arising out of an imbroglio and caused by an anomaly. The incongruity lies in the fact that the parties are required to undergo a new trial even though the plaintiff has now agreed to an order, secured by the defendant, and affirmed by us, which reduces his judgment as a condition of Avoiding such a trial. The anomaly is the peculiarity of the Florida law which permits a full appeal from an essentially interlocutory order only in the case of an order granting a new trial. The imbroglio occurred in this manner:

Mendelson v. Mendelson, 341 So. 2d 811, 812 (Fla. 2d DCA 1977)