Scott and Fenderson Law Blog

Bits and Pieces from The Florida Justice Association Journal 9/2007

*  "Legislative Notes:  Status of PIP Still Very Much in Doubt:  The clock continues to run out on Florida's Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law - It will stand repealed on October 1, 2007 in accordance with a Sunset provisioin passed in 2003, unless it is reenacted by the legislature prior to that date."

*  Kathryn Fenderson Scott and Charles Scott will be attending the Florida Justica Association Fall Convention on November 1 and 2, 2007.

* I will post more information about PIP as it becomes available.

Call your Auto Insurance Agent Today!

As you may know, PIP is scheduled to sunset in October 2007.  It is therefore very important for you to call your auto insurance agent now - TODAY!  Make sure that you add Medical Payments coverage to your policy and also that you have Uninsured / Underinsured Motorist Coverage.  If you have questions about why you need these important coverages, please feel free to email me or leave a comment. 

Life After PIP Seminar October 2007

Kathryn Fenderson Scott will be attending the Florida Justice Association's Seminar titled "Life after PIP: Be Prepared"  in October.  A recent letter from the FJA states "Faced with a choice between the sunset of PIP or the creation of a system that is clearly anti-consumer, we feel it is in the best interest of all drivers to allow PIP to sunset and pursue other mandatory coverage in the 2008 regular session." 

Please stayed tuned to this blog for more updates in the No Fault Laws in Florida.

Recent Articles of Interest

An article titled "Sealing Civil Court Records" by Judge John C. Lenderman appeared in the June 2007 edition of the St. Petersburg Bar Association's publication "The Paraclete."  Judge Lenderman reports that "On April 5, 2007, the Florida Supreme Court amended the Rules of Judicial Administration. Rule 2.420-Public Access to Judicial Branch Records."  In short, the change allows portions of court records which relate to trade secrets, information which would harm innocent third parties, and/or information protected by  common law or privacy right.  In order to petition the court to make court records private, the party must file a "Motion to Make Court Records Confidential"  and the motion must "A. identify the particular court records the movant seeks to make confidential with as much specificity as possible without revealing the information to be made confidential; and B. specify the bases for making such court records confidential."  Judge Lenderman goes on to state that "If all parties agree to the properly styled motion, the court has discretion to hold a hearing on the motion within 30 days.  If all parties do not agree, the court must hear the motion within 30 days in an open court with a complete record created.  Notice of the hearing on the motion and the motion itself are public records."

Dr. Andrea Corn and Howard Raab wrote "Age-Appropriate Time Sharing for Divorced Parents" for the Family Law Section of the Florida Bar Journal which appeared in the June 2007 edition.   The article outlines each stage of a child's development in relation to a time sharing agreement and concludes that there is no "one size fits all" approach and the factors in F.S. s61.13(3) must be considered. 

Lisa Bench Nieuwveld wrote "Florida Continues to Lead the Nation in Mediation" for the August 2007 edition of The Florida Bar Journal. 

St. Petersburg Bar Lunch / September 2007

My partner (and husband) Charlie Scott and I attended the Bar Membership Lunch by the St. Petersburg ar (whose website is http://www.stpetebar.com/  today at the Mirror Lake Lyceum, its website is http://www.mirrorlakelyceum.com/ and here is a picture of their beautiful building in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.  The lunch was sponsored by www.westlaw.com.

The Featured Speaker was The Honorable Robert J. Morris, Jr., Chief Judge, Sixth Judicial Circuit. 

Chief Judge Morris started by saying that the St. Pete Bar told him that he could speak about anything he wishes, he said he'd like to talk about flamingos and the Bahamas, but said he thought a bunch of lawyers would be more interested in the law. 

Chief Judge Morris spoke of when he headed the Pinellas County State Attorneys Office and all the attorneys who were in the office with him, including our now Governor Charlie Christ.  He talked about how many of the attorneys he knew back then he still knows now.  That these professional relationships sometimes last longer than marriages in today's world and stressed that we should treat each other with common courtesy and respect.  He also stressed how important it is to "Be Positive" and that the way we speak about other lawyers definately has an impact on the public's perception of lawyers.  I think this is an important message.

Chief Judge Morris also spoke about the fact that the Judiciary in Florida has only .06% of the state's budget for governement and that the legislature has proposed to cut this even further.  He said the result has been the closing of law libaries but that a few have been saved, thanks largely to the Clerk of Court Ken Burke.  He said that the courts operate very efficiently with very little funds and that further cuts would result in negative changes in our court system in Florida. 

Chief Judge Morris is a wonderful and engaging speaker and he spoke to a very full house - just about every judge and lawyer in St. Pete was in attendance. 

Pictured is Attorney Kathryn Fenderson Scott and The Honorable Robert J. Morris, Jr., Chief Judge, Sixth Judicial Circuit.

Here are some more photos:

Attorney Charlie Scott and Hon. Judge Fullerton:

 

Kathryn Fenderson Scott and Honorable Judge Susan Bedinhaus: