1st Amendment

Christopher Hopkins discusses First Amendment & Social Media at University of Miami Law School

A special thanks to professor Jan Jacobowitz for inviting me to speak about the First Amendment and Social Media as part of her Social Media and the Law class at the University of Miami Law School. Some of the cases we covered include: Elonis v US US v Elonis In …

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Meet Christopher Hopkins (YouTube Video)

McDonald Hopkins LLC has produced a short video segment “Meet Christopher Hopkins” which you can view here. The video shares my thoughts on a number of topics, such as the best part of being a lawyer.

Conspiracy

Florida Atlantic University and Other Defendants File Motions to Dismiss Against Conspiracy Professor James Tracy

Readers of this blog will recall the story of former university professor James Tracy, who taught and eschews conspiracy theories and was fired for breach of a Florida Atlantic University’s “Conflict of Interest / Outside Activities” policy which required professors to advise FAU of their outside activities.  He filed a massive …

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Third DCA: First Impression Case on Revocation of Trust Under Florida Statutes 736.0602(3)

Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal issued Bernal, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Zintgraff v. Marin, holding that a will met the high standard for revocation of a prior trust under the “clear and convincing evidence” standard even though the will did not name the trust specifically and the trust …

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Florida Supreme Court Holds Workers Comp Attorney Fee Provision Unconstitutional

In one month, two Florida appellate courts have found separate provisions in the Florida Workers Compensation statute unconstitutional.  Most notably, the Florida Supreme Court held that the attorney fee provision is unconstitutional and that the courts are to revert back to the “reasonable” attorney fee standard according to the former …

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$5,000 Civil Penalty for Soliciting Prostitute in Florida is Constitutional Under 8th Amendment

The Second District Court of Appeal held in State of Florida v. Joseph Lloyd Cotton that a $5,000 civil penalty for soliciting a prostitute (at the time, a second-degree misdemeanor) was constitutional after the trial court had found it unconstitutional.  The appellate court acknowledged, in a rare discussion of the Eighth …

iOS

How Jurors Use Technology in 2016

In 2011, 2014, and (now) 2016, I have written columns for the Palm Beach Bar regarding how jurors use technology. 2016 is different. The question is no longer whether jurors are using technology (they are), the question is what is their relationship with technology.  Even if someone is extremely tech-savvy, they may …

1st Amendment

Eleventh Circuit: Florida Firearm Owners Privacy Act is Constitutional

The 11th Circuit has reversed a district court ruling and, instead, concluded that Florida’s “docs vs. glocks” law is constitutional.  This is a victory for gun proponents who voice concerns that inquiries from Florida doctors about gun ownership was an invasion of privacy. The case is Dr. Bernd Wollschlaefer et …

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Adnan Syed of “Serial” Fame Is One Step Closer to a Re-Trial

If you are like at least 39 million other people, you may have tuned into a podcast phenomenon called Serial which tracks back to the murder of a high school student in the late 1990s. Comprising 12 episodes, which is fewer than a season of Newsroom, the show was such …

JFK

National Archives: October 2017 Release of Last of JFK Assassination Records

In April 2015, the US National Archives explained at their NDCPrioritization: What Secrets Do People Want to See? conference how the release of the remaining JFK records will be accomplished. By way of background — that “background” being a cry primarily from FOIA fans and conspiracy types to free the …

law & order

Was There a Numbers Station in Palm Beach?

        Was There a Numbers Station in Palm Beach County? [PDF of June 2015 Palm Beach Bar article is here] In the past two years, we have been increasingly exposed to the “cool” side of math: cryptography and encryption.  Algorithms were not something you likely learned in …

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PDFZilla for Lawyers

I have written a few articles on iPhone/iPad apps for business people, lawyers, and mediators but it has been a while since I’ve recommended PC software (“Clean Your PC in 30 Minutes” from 2011). PDFZilla is worthy of a review and recommendation.  There’s a free trial version — and there’s …

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Understanding the Fight Over .Sucks Domains

You may be aware that a new global top level domain (gTLD) called .sucks will be available.  Like .COM or .ORG, companies and individuals will be able to register sites ending with .SUCKS. The distribution of theses .SUCKS domain is controlled by Vox Populi Registry, Inc., which won the rights …

iOS

How Florida Lawyers Use Technology

In January 2015, the Florida Bar released its “Results of the 2014 Economics and Law Office Management Survey,” which you can find here. The Bar article covers the primary study results however there are far more interesting tech-specific data about lawyers and their use of technology. Some of the interesting, …

iOS

iPhone Apps for Mardi Gras — Or for Fastest Breaking News

Last year, after the Boston Marathon Bombing, I wrote about my experience reading Twitter and listening to Ustream to get news on the manhunt which was coming in 10-30 minutes faster than it reached CNN.  A year later, the article is still solid and gives some good resources to say …