Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics, Inc. v. Mercury Ins. Co. of Florida (SC09-2069) provides an interesting example of a county enacting a law that the state could not. A special law applicable to one county had been enacted by the
Timing of Adverse Action Is Prima Facie Evidence In Public Employee Retaliation Claims
The standard for public employees to show a prima facie case of retaliation has been elaborated by the Florida Supreme Court in Koren v. School District of Miami-Dade County (SC10-2366). Koren, a public school teacher, alleged retaliation in the form
The Expression of One Does Not Have to Exclude All Others
The Supreme Court unanimously held in Telli v. Broward County (SC11-1737) that Florida’s chartered counties (a county charter could be considered its constitution) have the authority to impose term limits on all county officers. While this seems like a straightforward
The Gerrymander Survives
In a somewhat unsurprising decision issued on April 27, the Supremes confirmed what most Floridians likely knew already: the gerrymander survived practically unscathed Florida voters’ attempts to destroy it by passing what were known in 2010 as Amendments 5 and
Fighting a Traffic Light Camera
As you are driving down a busy street, you see the light change in front of you from green to yellow. Your car speeds up (on its own volition?) and you enter the intersection believing the light is still yellow.
Applying for Membership to the Bar as an Undocumented Immigrant
On the Court’s docket is a petition for an advisory opinion filed by the Florida Board of Bar Examiners (“FBBE”) that is sure to receive national attention. At issue is whether an undocumented immigrant may be denied membership with the
Scrambled Eggs or: Does Florida Law Allow a Child to Have Two Female Parents?
The facts in T.M.H. v. D.M.T. (SC12-216), as the Fifth District Court of Appeals (“DCA”) stated in its opinion below, 79 So.3d 787 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011), are not in dispute. The parties were involved in a committed lesbian relationship
An Obituary of the Joint Residency Rule
In Brown, et al. v. Nagelhout, et al. (SC10-868), decided by the Florida Supreme Court in mid-March, the justices unanimously abrogated the more than half-century old doctrine of venue selection known as the joint residency rule, first promulgated by the
Florida’s Long-arm Statute Grows Longer
The Supreme Court recently held in Kitroser, et al. v. Hurt, et al. (SC11-25) that the corporate shield doctrine does not preclude Florida courts from exercising personal jurisdiction over an individual who commits a tort in Florida while acting on