Florida Bar welcomes attorneys chased by Katrina
The Florida Supreme Court ordered Wednesday that Florida will permit lawyers from areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina to provide limited legal services in Florida to their displaced clients. The order was a result of an emergency motion filed by The Florida Bar. That motion delayed the institution of rule amendments regarding the multi-jurisdictional practice of law.
“This will go a long way in assisting displaced attorneys and their families and clients,” said Alan Bookman, president of the Florida Bar. “It lets attorneys from the affected states to practice some law temporarily in Florida. We wanted to provide them with a way to continue working with and helping their clients.”
The Court’s action allows an attorney from another state to provide limited legal services in Florida on a temporary basis and authorizes the Florida Bar to discipline the attorney for misconduct. Attorneys must be licensed and in good standing in their home states to practice temporarily in Florida.
The Florida Bar has information at www.FloridaBar.org to answer questions about temporary or permanent practice of law in Florida and to instruct Florida Bar members on assisting displaced attorneys and representing victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The full motion and order can be found at the Florida Supreme Court website: www.floridasupremecourt.org.
Gooding writes Pataki
Duval County Court Judge David Gooding is known for finding creative solutions to the problems that often confront family courts. To help clear adoption backloads, he initiated “Family Fridays” wherein he opens his court for an entire afternoon to would-be adoptive families, and his “Open Mike Thursdays” give foster children a chance to speak their minds to the court. But Gooding took a more conventional approach to intervene on behalf of a Florida child awaiting adoption in New York. Gooding wrote New York Gov. George Pataki asking him to clear some two-year-old red tape that’s been holding up the adoption.
Probation office cutbacks prompting early releases
The United States Probation Office housed in the Federal Courthouse released figures showing an increased demand for its services even as its staff is cut. Elaine Terenzi, chief of probation, pointed to numbers showing that the offender population supervised by the office is rising to record highs while administrative and support staff have been cut by 30 percent and 22 percent, respectively, over the past two years. Overcrowded jails mean increasing numbers of offenders will be released into supervised custody, according to the report. The number of sex offenders on supervision in Florida’s Middle District has doubled since 2000 and is expected to triple by the end of 2005. The Probation Office has been forced to triple its use of early termination from supervision to manage the growth of offenders in custody, according to the report.