Florida

Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.24.20

* An entrepreneur who created the world's first "robot lawyer" has secured $12 million in funding. Hope this guy doesn't make a robot Morning Docket writer... [Forbes] * A Pennsylvania lawyer has been disbarred for defrauding his firm by referring people who came to the firm to other lawyers in exchange for a percentage of the fees. [ABA Journal] * An appeals court has ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $2.1 billion for damages allegedly sustained from baby powder that was purportedly laced with asbestos. And this amount is lower than the original verdict of $4.69 billion. [Hill] * A Florida lawyer is in hot water for filing allegedly frivolous lawsuits under the Americans with Disabilities Act. [Daily Business Review] * The unexpected deaths of two attorneys and a series of tornadoes was no excuse for a late filing according to a federal judge. This ruling seems kind of harsh. [ABA Journal] * Two Virginia lawyers have pleaded guilty to extortion for trying to persuade Monsanto to pay them $200 million for a "consulting agreement" to settle Roundup litigation. Sounds like these attorneys could have learned a lesson from Michael Avenatti... [ABC News]

By Jordan Rothman
Morning Docket

Morning Docket 06.18.20

* 17 firefighters in Detroit have been sued for taking a picture in front of a burning building. Pretty sure they're supposed to do more than just take pictures of fires... [Detroit Free Press] * The Indiana Attorney General has had his law license restored after being suspended from practice for inappropriate behavior toward women. [NWI Times] * 56 former prosecutors have signed a letter advocating that two lawyers accused of firebombing an NYPD police car be granted bail. [Washington Post] * The general counsel of the Florida Department of Transportation is being investigated by the Florida Bar after he allegedly admitted to forging signatures on government documents. In the meantime, he's still keeping his $132,000-a year-job. [Miami Herald] * A Tennessee attorney has been arrested for allegedly coercing clients to have sex with him in lieu of paying fees. [WJHL News] * The Illinois Attorney General is recovering well after testing positive for COVID-19. Wishing the attorney general a speedy recovery! [NBC News]

By Jordan Rothman
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.15.20

* A lawyer who claims a sleazy, toupee-wearing criminal in the film The Wolf of Wall Street was based on him has lost his defamation lawsuit. [Business Insurance] * The New York Attorney General is interviewing Amazon workers in a probe over Amazon's COVID-19 response. [CNN] * A Florida lawyer is facing ethics charges over a practice at his firm of telling clients the firm settled cases for less money than was recovered and pocketing the difference. [Daily Business Review] * A new lawsuit alleges that a Drake University coach told a player who accidentally shot another student in the head to lie to the police. [Des Moines Register] * An appeals court said the judge overseeing Michael Flynn's criminal case may have picked an "intemperate" lawyer to write an opinion over the Department of Justice's decision to drop the case. Those are some fighting words. [Fox News]

By Jordan Rothman
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.09.20

* A judge in Florida is in hot water for pretending to be her son's lawyer during an interrogation. Wonder if she told investigators her name was "Jerry Gallo"... [Daily Business Review] * 3M is suing a merchant who is selling PPE on Amazon for 18 times the listing price. [Wall Street Journal] * A Florida lawyer who appeared on beaches dressed as the Grim Reaper has attended recent protests in the same costume. [Fox News] * George Floyd's lawyer is asking the United Nations to intervene in his case and make recommendations for police reform. [Newsweek] * Prince Andrew seems royally screwed over an investigation into his connections with Jeffrey Epstein. [AP] * A lawyer has been suspended from practice for filing a $67 million lawsuit over pants he lost at the dry cleaners. Maybe the pants were just really nice? [ABA Journal]

By Jordan Rothman
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 06.03.20

* Carole Baskin has been awarded the zoo once owned by Joe Exotic to satisfy a judgment from long-standing litigation between the two. Baskin should go after Exotic's country music songs next. [BBC] * A government lawyer says that the number of prisoners with COVID-19 at a federal lockup is likely seven times higher than previously reported. [ABC News] * A Florida man has been convicted of fraud for claiming he represented The Village People and fleecing a casino out of $12,000. "It's fun to stay at the 'J.A.I.L.'" [Fox News] * Google faces a $5 billion class action for tracking the internet usage of users even though browsers are set in "private" mode. [Reuters] * Attorney General Barr is purported to have personally ordered protesters removed so President Trump could visit a church near the White House earlier this week. [CNN] * A company has been ordered to pay $3.6 million in attorneys' fees for their adversary on top of a $600,000 judgment and paying their own lawyers $5 million. Bet they wish they just settled the case earlier. [Chicago Law Bulletin]

By Jordan Rothman
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.29.20

* A Florida man who had his law license revoked has filed a pro se lawsuit challenging Governor DeSantis’s lockdown orders. Guess he found one way to get back into a courtroom. [ABC News] * A lawyer who helped a witness skip town so she wouldn't have to testify in court has been suspended from practice. [Bloomberg Law] * If you have ever considered life as an American expat attorney, check out this article. [Black Enterprise] * A CNN news team was arrested on live TV this morning while covering Minneapolis protests related to the death of George Floyd. [CNN] * Harvey Weinstein is facing additional sexual misconduct lawsuits. [Vulture] * The wife of an attorney is accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from an elderly victim. At least she can get free legal advice from her husband... [CBS News]

By Jordan Rothman
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 05.18.20

* Boies Schiller has been hit with a malpractice lawsuit over a representation involving water balloon patents. The litigants should just have a water balloon fight to settle the dispute. [American Lawyer] * Charges have been dropped against a Tampa megachurch pastor who was accused of violating Florida's safer-at-home orders. [Fox News] * An attorney for Quinton Dunbar, an NFL player accused of armed robbery, claims he has affidavits proving his client's innocence. [Boston Globe] * A federal judge has called "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli "delusional" while rejecting his request for early release to help find a treatment for COVID-19. [Hill] * A lawsuit has been filed against SeaWorld San Diego for continuing to charge annual pass fees while the park is closed due to COVID-19. [NBC News] * Tiffany Trump celebrated her graduation from Georgetown Law this weekend. From one "Hoya Lawya" to another, congrats! [Yahoo News]

By Jordan Rothman
Morning Docket

Morning Docket 05.01.20

* Bed Bath & Beyond has a new top lawyer. Hope she gets more than a 20% discount. [Bloomberg Law] * The husband of the Los Angeles County District Attorney is under investigation for pointing a gun at protesters. [Los Angeles Times] * The NCAA is facing a lawsuit alleging that it did not do enough to protect women from violence perpetrated by male athletes. [USA Today] * The Florida Bar has launched a hotline to help attorneys dealing with stress amid the ongoing pandemic. [Daily Business Review] * R. Kelly "didn't believe he could fly" to Brooklyn for an arraignment on new charges, so he teleconferenced into the proceedings from his jail cell in Chicago. [New York Daily News] * Several death row inmates in Arizona have died because of COVID-19. [NBC News] * A Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice who lost re-election has unrecused himself. Hey, what about no backsies? [CNN]

By Jordan Rothman
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.24.20

* The lawyer who sued Florida's governor over COVID-19-related closures will be wearing a Grim Reaper outfit on beaches to warn people about social distancing. Wonder if he'll need a mask with that costume. [NBC News] * An attorney, and former managing partner at a New Jersey law firm, has pleaded guilty to tax evasion to the tune of $250,000. [New Jersey Law Journal] * A new lawsuit alleges that New York City jail workers are being forced to work 24-hour shifts in a "cesspool of illness." It's a horrible situation, and you have to hand it to the lawyers for that colorful language. [New York Post] * The Texas Attorney General's Office filed a lawsuit accusing the largest U.S. egg producer of price gouging. Whoever loses the lawsuit may end up with egg on their face... [Wall Street Journal] * The search continues for a Chicago-area attorney who went missing a month ago. [Chicago Tribune] * A lawyer who lost her law license for losing a briefcase of sensitive documents on a train is appealing her case. Unless this lawyer lost the nuclear football, her punishment seems kind of harsh. [Legal Week]

By Jordan Rothman

Morning Docket: 04.16.20

* A Florida attorney is suing over his county's COVID-19-related curfew, arguing that "[i]t's not like the virus is Count Dracula." With an argument like that, he can't lose. [New York Post] * A husband and wife (who were both lawyers) were found dead in their Chicago home on Monday under suspicious circumstances. [NBC News] * The top lawyer of Twitter saw his pay decrease last year, but don't worry, he still makes millions of dollars a year. [Bloomberg Law] * An attorney won around $106,000 during a five-day winning streak on Jeopardy! Should cover about a year's worth of law school loans... [Online Athens] * Selena Gomez has filed a $10 million lawsuit against a game developer for the unauthorized use of her likeness. [Variety] * A lawyer has discovered a way to make plastic face shields from plastic covers on legal documents. Is this attorney named MacGyver? [ABA Journal]

By Jordan Rothman
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.14.20

* A judge is complaining that some attorneys are appearing shirtless and in bed for court conferences held via Zoom because of COVID-19. Of course, this is happening in Florida... [Local 10] * Speaking of which, the Supreme Court will be conducting oral arguments by remote means next month. It seems that there will be no on-camera component to the arguments, so counsel might get away with participating in their underwear. [CNN] * Check out this Texas lawyer who traded a suit for scrubs and volunteered to help COVID-19 patients at a New York hospital. [Dallas Morning News] * A federal judge has ruled that ICE must allow detainees to have private phone calls with their attorneys during the COVID-19 pandemic. [Los Angeles Times] * McDonald's employees have filed a class-action lawsuit against the fast food chain alleging that the company has a systematic sexual harassment problem. [Business Insider] * The North Carolina Attorney General is investigating someone for price gouging for offering to sell a roll of toilet paper for $100. Maybe it was just super premium toilet paper? [AP]

By Jordan Rothman
Morning Docket

Morning Docket: 04.08.20

* A Florida judge has tossed a lawsuit claiming that the governor of Florida couldn't close the state's beaches because of COVID-19. Looks like people will have to hit tanning beds instead of beaches...it's an essential service, right? [Orlando Sentinel] * A federal judge has ordered the inspection of DC jails amid concerns that prison officials are not doing enough to prevent the spread of COVID-19. [Washington Post] * The family of a Walmart employee has filed a wrongful death lawsuit after the employee died from COVID-19. [NBC News] * StubHub is another one of the long list of businesses facing class action lawsuits for allegedly not treating customers fairly when it comes to dealing with issues involving COVID-19. [Billboard] * Officials in Los Angeles have settled a lawsuit with a company claiming that they had accurate in-home test kits that could detect antibodies for COVID-19. [Los Angeles Daily News] * A lawyer with no park experience will now be in charge of the Grand Canyon. What does this attorney really need to know other than not to fall in? [Washington Post]

By Jordan Rothman