On November 5, 2017, 26-year old Devin Patrick Kelley allegedly shot and killed 26 people at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.  Mr. Kelley’s body was reportedly recovered from a Ford Expedition; he was found deceased from a single bullet wound (entering above right ear and exiting …

In the case of Walgreen Co. and Holiday CVS, LLC v Jonathan Rubin, two national pharmacy chains were somehow convinced by their counsel to appeal an adverse discovery production order despite the fact that the lawyers failed to get (basic) affidavits establishing that production costs were unreasonably burdensome. In the …

A lawyers’ ethics committee appointed by the Nebraska Supreme Court issued an opinion regarding whether lawyers in that state could receive payments in bitcoin; receive payments from third parties in bitcoin; and/or hold bitcoin for their clients.  This applies to any digital currency.  The committee was clearly well-informed and wrote …

Litigators and the courts continue to put heavy emphasis on social media discovery but, surprisingly, the case law has not significantly developed in Florida (or really around the country) since the 2015 case of Nucci v. Target.  However, the few cases that have arisen in the last two years are …

The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of a national nursing home chain by reversing a decision by the Kentucky Supreme Court and, instead, held that persons who have broad “powers of attorney” may execute arbitration agreements even when state law grants a right to access to courts and …

For nearly a year and a half, the government and the grand daughter of a witness to the Kennedy Assassination have fought a legal battle over who has a bit of film of the shooting called the Nix Film.  The original appears lost and this case, which just concluded, yielded …

A federal court judge in New Jersey entered an order today allowing a civil suit involving Bitcoin investments to proceed.  The Court ruled that it had jurisdiction over the case based upon the pleadings regarding diversity of the parties and the value of the case exceeding $70,000.   In fact, …

Professor James Tracy was fired by Florida Atlantic University in January 2016 and filed suit shortly thereafter claiming, inter alia, his First Amendment rights were violated.  This case, you may recall, involves a South Florida professor who made national news claiming that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax.  Going back …

Internet sellers and website designers beware of new law in Florida governing internet sales.  A Florida state appellate court has ruled, in a case of first impression, against enforcing a “browsewrap” agreement and, as an aside, in favor “clickwrap” agreements.  For non-lawyers, the importance of this “case of first impression” means …

The Palm Beach Bar Association is hosting the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee’s annual CLE/CME, which is entitled this year, “ADR – A Help and Not a Hurdle.” The schedule and sign-up information is here. Christopher Hopkins is speaking on “Use of Technology in Mediation” regarding website, office, app, presentation, and …

Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal receded from two opinions in 2004 relative to how Miranda rights are given. For lawyers and the general public alike, there’s always room for a little refresher on Miranda.  After all, even the stodgy U.S. Supreme Court was hip enough in 2000 to note that “the …

Two decisions regarding slip-and-fall litigation from Florida’s Third DCA (Miami) provide some instruction on how to litigate “transitory substance” cases under Florida Statute 768.0755, particularly “constructive notice” cases.  In both instances, summary judgment was upheld which is unusual in negligence cases.  The decisions provide insight into maintenance contracts, stacking inferences, …

While nearly 80% of Florida voters comfortably agreed with a constitutional amendment giving them “a right to have access to any records made… by a health care facility or provider relating to any adverse medical incident,” this so-called “Amendment 7,” which added to Article X, section 25 of the Florida …

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.

This one hour session, which you view live or via web (even after the fact), explains the key published opinions in Florida regarding social media discovery.  In addition to that, attendees will see the discovery requests which worked AND failed as well as obtain samples of up-to-date discovery requests.  Finally, …