In an earlier post, I discussed public records legislation that would have removed the trade secrets exemption for businesses contracting with state agencies. But HB 459 died in the process during the 2018 session that ended in March, along with three other pieces of...
Florida’s Construction Defect Statute provides an opportunity to resolve construction defect claims prior to litigation. It was instituted to streamline construction defect claims and encourage early alternative dispute resolution. Pursuant to Chapter 558, a claimant...
The Bill of Rights enshrines the rights to free speech and free press in our Constitution. Yet since the beginning of our republic, various compartments of our government have tried (and always failed) to impose prior restraint on those rights by invoking court power...
Co-authored by Sharon L. Palmer, ACP, FRP For most people, probating an estate is uncharted territory that brings up many questions and concerns. Here are a few of the frequently asked questions our office receives. What is “Probate”? The term “probate” is used to...
With apologies to my academic friends: it is sometimes said that arguments in academia are especially vehement because the stakes are so low. However, from the perspective of Florida community college professor Isabel Del Pino-Allen, the stakes in her defamation...
Co–authored by Kristine M. Scott, Estate Planning Associate We have discussed the basics of Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) and how to use them to fund charitable giving. But what happens when a family member passes away owning an IRA? While dealing with the...
On December 1, 2014, Travel Weekly published a glowing article about former Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Colin Veitch, calling him a “visionary” and maybe “the most influential and creative cruise CEO of the past decade”. Veitch’s successor as CEO, Kevin Sheehan, took...
If you do business with the state of Florida, you may no longer be able to rely on a trade secrets exemption to hide related contracts or financial data from the public. Currently, certain public records can be kept private if they contain trade secrets. In 2016, the...