InsideTrack

Update: Two confirm interest in Florida Bar prez job

Two potential candidates for president-elect designate of The Florida Bar have confirmed interest in the job.

Coral Gables litigator Ervin Gonzalez plans to run next March. The deadline for nominations is December.

Two other members of the Bar’s board of governors are considering runs.

Gwynne Young, a shareholder in Carlton Fields’ Tampa office, said she is interested in the position.

Samuel Grier Wells, an attorney in GrayRobinson’s Jacksonville office who has been mentioned as a potential candidate, could not be reached for comment.

The successful candidate would serve as president-elect beginning in June 2010 and take over as president in 2011.

The emergence of multiple candidates could indicate the end of a string of uncontested elections going back to the late 1990s.

Orlando City Attorney Mayanne Downs, who is a shareholder at King Blackwell Downs & Zehnder, became president-elect designate after an uncontested election late last year.

Both Gonzalez and Young said they’re ready for the challenge of becoming president of the 86,000-member group. Gonzalez has been a member of the Bar’s board of governors for nine years and Young since 2003.

Gonzalez, a shareholder at Coral Gables-based Colson Hicks Eidson, handles plaintiff medical malpractice, personal injury and products liability cases. He is a former president of the Dade County Bar Association and the Dade County Trial Lawyers Association and is a member of the board of trustees of St. Thomas University.

Young is a past president of the Hillsborough County Bar Association and the Hillsborough County Bar Foundation and is a former member of the University of Tampa board of trustees.

Both highlight the importance of diversity in Bar leadership, and both see court funding as the biggest issue facing the Bar.

"We’re facing in the judiciary significant budgetary issues and matters of great impact on the judiciary," Gonzalez said.

Young said, "I’m a big proponent of the Bar’s maintaining its commitment to diversity in the legal profession, not just more women in leadership [but] more minorities involved in leadership in the Bar." She is a civil litigator who works on insurance coverage disputes, real estate issues, land-use matters and family law.

Wells focuses on alternative dispute resolution, as well as commercial, construction and employment litigation and insurance defense work.

A run for the Bar? At least three considering it

At least one potential candidate for president-elect designate of The Florida Bar has confirmed his interest in the job.

Coral Gables litigator Ervin Gonzalez plans to run next March. The deadline for nominations is December.

Two other members of the Bar’s board of governors are considering runs. They are Gwynne Young, a shareholder in Carlton Fields’ Tampa office, and Samuel Grier Wells, an attorney in GrayRobinson’s Jacksonville office. Neither could be reached for comment.

The successful candidate would serve as president-elect beginning in June 2010 and take over as president in 2011.

The emergence of multiple candidates could indicate the end of a string of uncontested elections going back to the late 1990s.

Orlando city attorney Mayanne Downs, who is a shareholder at King Blackwell Downs & Zehnder, became president-elect designate after an uncontested election late last year.

Gonzalez, a shareholder at Coral Gables-based Colson Hicks Eidson, handles plaintiff medical malpractice, personal injury and products liability cases.

Young is a civil litigator who works on insurance coverage disputes, real estate issues, land-use matters and family law.

Wells focuses on alternative dispute resolution, as well as commercial, construction and employment litigation and insurance defense work.

Judge Aleman may face opposition from familiar face

Beleaguered Broward Circuit Judge Cheryl Aleman will go into the 2010 election season with a challenger she has sparred with before.

Assistant Public Defender Sandra Perlman tells Inside Track she intends to run against Aleman but has not yet filed.

Aleman got in trouble with the state Judicial Qualifications Commission after threatening to hold Perlman and another public defender in contempt of court for not filing handwritten motions within minutes in a death penalty case.

The Florida Supreme Court reprimanded Aleman this month for conduct unbecoming a judge based on her order in the murder case.

Perlman declined to comment on why she chose to run against Aleman.

"This particular seat is up in 2010," Perlman said.

In a circuit where most judges skate through re-elections, Aleman could be facing a second election challenge.

Aleman, who was appointed to the bench in 2001, survived a challenge by Robert Malove, and Perlman campaigned for him.

With the exception of a five-year stint as a California prosecutor, Perlman has worked for the Broward public defender’s office since becoming a lawyer in 1985. She currently handles homicide cases.

"I always aspired to be on the bench," she said. "I have a deep sense of justice. I understand law, and I have an outstanding reputation in the legal community."

"It’s the perfect time for me to run," she said.

Aleman, who now handles civil cases, did not return a call for comment.

Sometimes love hurts. Other times it gets you sued

Kris Shubert is putting a price on heartbreak — and it’s more than $1 million.

She sued former boyfriend Kurt Wiksten in Palm Beach Circuit Court, claiming her decision to quit her job, sell her home and move to Texas to be with him was based on lies and left her with a personal financial mess.

The complaint filed this week contends Wiksten concealed financial and legal problems from Shubert, including tax liens and a bench warrant for failing to appear on a drunken driving charge.

"Wiksten had a duty to Shubert to disclose any negative aspects of his past to her before she enters into a personal relationship with him," the complaint said.

The two met in October 2003, and Shubert’s lawsuit said she moved to Texas with a promise of marriage.

Her lawsuit maintains he had no plans to marry her and just wanted her for her money. She’s seeking half of all income he received from business efforts while she helped support him.

Shubert’s attorney, David Goldberg of Ellis Hodes & Goldberg in Miami, declined to provide further details.

"The factual allegations speak for itself," he said.

Shubert sued for intentional infliction of emotional duress, breach of promise and breach of contract.

The moral of the story: Sometimes love hurts. Other times it gets you sued.

Not a friend of amicus briefs

Florida Supreme Court practitioners be forewarned. Justice R. Fred Lewis is no lover of amicus briefs.

During arguments Wednesday on whether a Florida Bar section should be allowed to file a friend-of-the-court brief opposing a state ban on gay adoptions, Lewis argued the briefs are a misnomer.

"They’re not friends of the court. They want to assert a position," he said.

In 10 years on the state’s high court, Lewis said he could recall only one brief that was in fact friendly. It was in a real estate case.

"They really turn into partisan briefs no matter who files them," he said.

Barry Richard, a Greenberg Traurig shareholder representing the Bar, joked he would have to make a note of this.

The court gave no indication how or when it would rule.

A program by any other name

The program called Florida Attorneys Saving Homes has been around since 2007 as a pro bono initiative involving 1,000 attorneys statewide who try to keep distressed homeowners from losing their homes to foreclosure.

Just don’t refer to it as FLASH. 

One of the group’s first hurdles didn’t involve hard-nosed lenders or even real estate for that matter, but intellectual property. 

Another group, the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes, contacted the Florida group and asked it to use a different acronym, Florida Bar spokeswoman Zannah Lyle said. 

Although related to homes, FLASH is a Tallahassee-based nonprofit that promotes disaster safety and property-loss prevention in disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, terrorism,  tsunamis, floods, hailstorms, rip currents and lightning.

Slow going for choosing South Florida’s next U.S. attorney

You think the wheels of justice move slowly — how about the selection process for a new U.S. attorney in South Florida?

While other states are starting the interview process, the federal Judicial Nominating Commission in the Sunshine State still has not issued a notice seeking applications to replace Miami U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, whose term is up this summer. Acosta is interviewing Wednesday for the dean’s position at Florida International University’s law school.

The delay in calling for applications could mean that Acosta’s top assistant, Jeff Sloman, would likely serve as acting U.S. attorney. Sloman, a Democrat, is said to be interested in the job permanently.

Meanwhile, another potential applicant has emerged: Broward Circuit Judge Ilona M. Holmes. 

After President Obama was elected and a turnover in U.S. attorneys was apparent, talk centered on Greenberg Traurig attorney Jackie Becerra, a Hispanic woman and the former right hand to U.S. Attorney Marcos Jimenez. But word is she’s happy at Greenberg, and her office confirmed Friday that she just adopted a baby. So, congratulations to Jackie.

Another name in the mix is Miami-Dade Assistant County Attorney Wilfredo Ferrer, a former federal prosecutor.

Other legal eagles who have surfaced as possible Acosta replacements are in alphabetical order David Buckner with Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton in Coral Gables, Brian Miller at Akerman Senterfitt in Miami, Curtis Miner at Colson Hicks Eidson in Coral Gables, Mark Schnapp of Greenberg Traurig, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Daryl Trawick and Bruce Udolf at Berger Singerman in Fort Lauderdale.

Diversity came up as an issue for women, blacks and Cuban-American Democrats looking at the makeup of the 56-member commission. Among the names mentioned so far, Holmes and Trawick are black, and the rest are white males. 

As for the delay in getting the show going, Tampa attorney John Fitzgibbons, Florida JNC chair, said he is awaiting word from U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson to fire the starting gun to accept applications. He said he didn’t know why nothing has happened so far.

That didn’t stop rumors from flying around the Broward County courthouse last week that Holmes has a good shot at the presidential appointment, even though not a single application had been filed.

Diversity champion runs for judicial opening

Roshawn Banks helped push for diversity training of Broward judges in 2006 as president of the T.J. Reddick Bar Association. 

Now she wants to don a black robe herself. 

Banks has filed to run in the 2010 race for the county court seat being vacated by Steven Shutter.

Banks, who is black, said although diversity on the bench is important, it is not her sole reason for running. 

“I am convinced our bench needs community-minded judges, and I know I’m that person,” Banks said.

In an interview, Banks said some judges fail to fully recognize their decisions affect the lives of people appearing before them.

“Judges are not robots,” she said. “They can follow the law and still have empathy and compassion and patience. It’s a servant’s position, and judges forget that sometimes.”

This is Banks’ second attempt at a judgeship. She applied for a vacancy in 2005. 

Banks, who has been a member of The Florida Bar since 1998, handles criminal defense work as a solo practitioner at All Law Center in Plantation. She is an adjunct professor at Nova Southeastern University’s law school. So far, she is the only person to file to run for Shutter’s seat.

Let the judicial election season begin

   Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Peter Adrien is the first judge to draw opposition for the 2010 judicial elections with two lawyers filing to run against him. 

  Coral Gables attorney Jeffrey David Swartz filed Tuesday and Miami attorney Samantha Ruiz Cohen filed for the same seat Wednesday.

  Swartz, an attorney with Miller Kagan Rodriguez & Silver, was a county court judge from 1994 until he was unseated in an election by Miami-Dade County Judge Ada Beatriz Pozo. Swartz made headlines in 2006 when he made a last-minute gambit for Circuit Judge Israel Reyes’ seat, betting Reyes would be elevated to the 3rd District Court of Appeal before election day and he would take the seat by default. Reyes was not picked, and Swartz dropped out of the race.

  Swartz, who does legal malpractice defense, said the logic behind running against Adrien “is simply that his performance on the bench to date has left a lot to be desired.”

  Adrien said: “I’m not sure what he’s referring to. I haven’t been rude to anybody.” 

  The black judge said he possibly drew opposition because of his race and noted only 11 of Miami-Dade’s 123 judges are black. 

  “We come from humble means,” he said. “We’re going to be targeted because of our race.”
Cohen is of counsel with Bennett Aiello Cohen & Fried, is a former prosecutor and teaches constitutional law as an adjunct political science professor at Florida International University. She did not return calls seeking comment.

Power lunchers in downtown Miami have one less choice -- at least temporarily.

Prime Blue Grille closed suddenly over the weekend. A sign posted at the eatery’s entrance on the first floor of the One Miami condo says the restaurant is undergoing remodeling.

No renovations were visibly under way. And it remained unclear what needs remodelling in the posh restaurant, which offers its diners commanding views of Biscayne Bay and the mouth of the Miami River. The restaurant isn’t even two years old.

Prime Blue was vying against Capital Grille just a few blocks away on Brickell Avenue and others to establish itself as the choice for the city’s business elite. Prime Blue offered diners a fresh and innovative twist on a steakhouse. But it also had plenty of new competition, including Manny’s Steakhouse across the street.

Prime Blue’s lunch crowd has steadily diminished. It tried a reduced-price Power Lunch menu to drum up business. Reservations were required months ago to ensure a table, but that has not been the case lately.

A call to the restaurant revealed that its phone has been "temporarily" disconnected. Same thing for its corporate parent, Boston-based WellDunn Restaurant Group.

Spotted near the restaurant’s entrance Tuesday: Coral Gables bankruptcy lawyer John Kozyak. He said he was in the building, which also houses the headquarters of developer Related Group, meeting a client he declined to discuss.

It remains to be seen if the restaurant is, well, done.