Thanks to Professor Larry Buck for inviting me to speak to his Law in the Real World class  at FAU about the Application of Law to Emerging Technology. We discussed several cases and scenarios where lawyers and judges are called upon to apply longstanding legal principles to emerging technologies, such …

Relying upon a statute which has been amended twice since 1978, it is a crime in Florida to access someone else’s social media account without their authorization.  This likely happens dozens of times a day in this state, likely as a joke or a prank, which have or could lead …

The question of whether you can record someone’s conversation in Florida arises frequently.  The answer lies first in a statute and second on the individual circumstances.  As a general rule, secretly recording someone in Florida is not going to lead to admissible evidence and could get the person who did …

  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, …