In 1957, the American Bar Association

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1 SARASOTA COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION MAY 2017 VOL. 34, NO. 5 DIVERSITY SEMINAR LAW DAY 2017 Young Lawyers host Law Day Luncheon By ROBERT YOUNG, Esq. Icard, Merrill, Cullis, Timm, Furen & Ginsburg, P.A. Florida Bar President William J. Schifino was one of four panelists at the Sarasota County Bar Association Diversity Committee seminar, Trending Toward Diversity Through Economics. The discussion focused on state demographics, diversity within the Florida s legal community and what employers could do to encourage a more diverse employee base. The other panelists were Publisher of Florida Trend Magazine, Andy Corty, the Chief Legal Officer of Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Carol Ann Kalish, Esq., and the Chairwoman of the Florida Bar Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, Brittany Maxey. Proceeds from the seminar will support the SCBA Diversity Committee s minority law school scholarship program and its partnership with Booker High School s Law Academy. Left to right: Carol Ann Kalish, Esq., Andy Corty, Alexis Rosenberg, Esq., Brittany Maxey, Esq., Erik Arroyo, Esq., and William Schifino, Jr., Esq. ANNUAL MEETING SCBA, YLD, SCD officers, directors to be elected By W.E. CHIP GAYLOR, Esq., Nominating Committee Chair MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION Tort-reform Fairness act advances corporate interests By SARA CASTRO, Esq. Farr, Farr, Emerich, Hackett, Carr & Holmes, P.A. On March 9, the Fairness in Class There having been no petitions Action Litigation Act of 2017 contesting the nominees for officers and directors of the Sarasota now pending a vote in the Senate. passed the U.S. House and is County Bar Association for the The Act is one of several tort reform term, the slate submitted Sara Castro, bills advancing through the Republi- by the respective Nominating Esq. can-controlled Legislature this year, Committees shall be elected by voice Farr, Farr, including H.R. 725, the Innocent acclamation of the members present Emerich, Party Protection Act, and H.R. 720, at the Annual Meeting on Thursday, Hackett, Carr the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act, May 18. & Holmes, which have also passed the U.S. Current President-elect W.E. P.A. House. Chip Gaylor will assume the office The Fairness in Class Action of President of the SCBA. Other officers Litigation Act of 2017 has import- presented are Nancy E. Cason, ant implications for multi-district President-elect, and W. Andrew litigation. For those not familiar Clayton Jr., Treasurer/Secretary. with the concept, multidistrict litigation The nominees for 3-year terms as (MDL) is the process for See SLATE, Page 3 See FAIRNESS, Page 15 In 1957, the American Bar Association envisioned a special day for celebrating the role of law in our society. In 1958, that vision came to realization when President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared May 1 of each year to be Law Day in the United States. As part of the month-long celebration for Law Day, each year the Sarasota County Bar Association sponsors a wide range of law-related educational activities, including a luncheon for SCBA members. This is the second year that the YLD will host the annual Law Day Luncheon. The Luncheon will take place on Thursday, May 18, at Michael s on East from noon to 1:15 p.m. The theme for Law Day 2017 is The 14th Amendment: Transforming American Democracy. Professor Michael Allen of Stetson Law School will be presenting a lecture on this year s theme. Allen will explore the many ways that the Fourteenth Amendment has reshaped American law and society. Through its Citizenship, Due Process and Equal Protection clauses, this transformative amendment advanced the rights See LUNCHEON, Page 11

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3 After reading recent newspaperarticles regarding bias on the bench, I couldn t help but be disappointed. It seems we are looking solely at the end of the process, ignoring what happens in the middle and all that happens at the beginning of the criminal process. I think we can all agree that minority defendants are prosecuted disproportionately more than their non-minority partners in crime. However, these disparities in the criminal justice system don t just start all of a sudden with the judge at the sentencing phase. I think it is unfair to look at one phase of the process and not look at the obstacles or problems at other phases of the process. In order to get a true picture of the problem, we might need to rewind the clock on the process. Before getting to the judge on a plea or for sentencing, decisions must be made whether to charge a particular defendant, what charges to file and what type of plea agreement (if any) will be offered. On the other side of the v counsel must be given about what charges are fair and just and what defenses will be viable at trial. Between the prosecutors who make the decisions about what charges to file, whether to enhance a defendant s charges or file a lesser charge and what plea SCBA NEWS Diversity lacking throughout the justice system SCBA PRESIDENT S COLUMN E. Keith DuBose, Esq. Matthews Eastmoore recommendations to make, and the public defenders/criminal defense attorneys, there are very few in our circuit who look like the minority defendants being charged. There is very little relatability to the defendants they prosecute and represent. Aggravating or mitigating factors are less likely to be flushed out if there is an inability to relate or some underlying bias between the lawyer and criminal defendant. Before getting to the prosecutor, the process starts with a traffic stop, or an arrest at a crime scene. For reasons that are either real or improperly perceived, assumptions are made about minority defendants that start moving the process in a failed direction. Diversity training and a more diverse law enforcement organization (sheriff and police) could help improve this process and ease some of the disparities now facing our criminal justice system. I think it is also unfair to look at dissimilar fact patterns when looking at the plea agreements approved and sentences given to minority defendants as opposed to non-minority defendants. We cannot look at all of the plea agreements and sentences imposed in a vacuum, without the benefit of the facts. Likewise, it is unfair to look at dissimilar criminal records when comparing a plea agreement or sentence imposed for minority and non-minority defendants. I think we also have to take a look at the person who ultimately determines whether a plea agreement is accepted, and that person is the defendant. He/she has the ability to accept or decline a plea deal if he/she believes it is unfair. If a defendant decides to freely accept or reject a plea, they have to bear at least some responsibility for his/her decisions. What we cannot do is blame, or paint as a racially biased judge, a man who has done so much in this community by way of his time, talent and resources to help with issues related to not just racial diversity but also gender equality, religious freedoms and many other diversity issues. I think to paint a picture of Judge Charles Williams as part of the problem as opposed to part of the solution is disingenuous and factually inaccurate. The problems associated with our criminal justice system regarding disproportionate sentencing and racial bias certainly exist and there is no question about that. We need to look at the underlying issues causing the problem in order to properly address it. A major issue at the heart of this problem is the lack of diver- See DIVERSITY, Page 7 SLATE Continued from Page 1 directors of the SCBA are: Jason Gaskill, serving his first term, and Stacy Dillard-Spahn and Jonathan P. Whitney, serving their second terms. Elected members will serve on the Board of Directors with Immediate Past President E. Keith DuBose, and current directors J. Allison Archbold, Hagen Brody, Jennifer Grosso, Mark A. Haskins, Dana B. Keane, and Daniel R. Strader. Incoming YLD President Erin H. Christy and South County President Daniel Policastro will each serve a one-year term on the SCBA Board. The YLD slate for is as follows: Erin H. Christy, President; Erin A. Itts, President-elect; Brian Goodrich, Secretary; Sara Castro, Treasurer, and Jesse R. Butler, Immediate Past President. Jennifer H. Burns, Rachel H. Didier, and Robert Young will return as YLD directors until YLD South County Representative Fletcher Rush is nominated to serve a one-year term. Nominated as new YLD directors, Austin Eason, Patrick McArdle and Daniel Tullidge will serve two-year terms as YLD directors until The South County Division slate for is as follows: Daniel Policastro, President; Susan H. Hines, President-elect; Bryan Kessler, Treasurer; Anthony Mowry, Secretary, and Stephen K. Boone, Immediate Past President. Robert N. Harrison and James E. Keim are each nominated for a two-year term as South County directors. They will serve with returning South County directors Catherine M. Gemma and Brady Sharrer. LAW WEEK VOLUNTEERS Get in on a class act Calling all attorneys! Please join us and volunteer a few hours of your time to Law Week The Mock Trial script, The Field Trip, will be offered May 5 and May to fifth-graders throughout Sarasota County to introduce them to the law and how our court system works. The trial itself is a performance, acted out by students portraying the roles of judges, attorneys, witnesses, bailiffs and jurors. Local attorneys volunteer to be on hand to comment on our legal system and answer students questions after the jury has rendered its verdict. To volunteer for this fun event, please contact Brian Goodrich at bgoodrich@ bentleyandbruning.com. The Docket May

4 Your ad here reaches the movers and shakers in Sarasota s legal community. Call today to get your firm or business in front of our elite readership. To advertise in the Docket, please see the rate card at the Bar s web site, sarasotabar.com, or call the office at Where in the world is Lugalo? The village in Tanzania is just one of many international destinations our students visit virtually during the school year. By interacting regularly with classrooms worldwide, Saint Stephen s students experience different cultures, customs and languages. It s part of our goal to create responsible global citizens. Saint Stephen s is an independent, college-preparatory school providing a world-class education for students in grades Pre-K3 to12. Schedule a tour today st St. W., Bradenton, FL (941) Welcoming all faiths Can the law firm you refer your Personal injury Cases to answer yes to these 10 questions? 1. Does the attorney try cases several times each year? 2. Does the attorney have the ability to show you recent trial results? 3. Does the attorney have over 20 years of experience working for the insurance companies so that they have gained an insight into how to oppose and/or sue the insurance companies? 4. Is the attorney Board Certified in Civil Trial Law? 5. Is the attorney AV rated by Martindale Hubbell? 6. Does the attorney have the financial strength to take on significant injury cases? 7. Is the attorney located in the 12th judicial circuit? 8. Will the attorney pay you a referral fee in accordance with the rules regulating the Florida Bar on every case no matter how big or small?* 9. Is the attorney available to speak with you at any point during the referral to give you status updates as you request? 10. Is the attorney willing to take on challenging cases that other law firms or attorneys may not be willing to handle or would turn down due to the amount of work involved? refer your Cases to the mallard law firm, because our answer to these 10 questions is yes. damian mallard, esq. Mallard Law Firm, P.A. 889 North Washington Blvd. Sarasota, Florida (P) *Rules regulating the Florida Bar permit a 25% referral fee without any involvement of the referral attorney other than making the introduction to the client. Any additional fees require court approval and involvement of the referring attorney in the handling of the personal injury matter.

5 By DOUG CHERRY, Esq. Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP Netflix s proprietary algorithm of recommending movies and TV shows based on a person s prior viewing behavior is fascinating to me. Some are obvious, like Because you watched Braveheart, check out Rob Roy. Both movies about Scottish rebels I can get on board with that recommendation. However, I occasionally get headscratchers like Because you watched The Verdict, check out Encino Man. Unless I am missing some profound central theme, the only connection I see on that one is two leading men with nearly identical first names (Paul Newman vs. Pauly Shore). Yet oddly enough, I boarded that train, enjoyed the journey and found myself wanting to wheeze the juice. So while I don t have Netflix s secret algorithm, I hope the following recommendations are on target. Because you watched La La Land, check out Sing Street. Directed by John Carney (Once), Sing Street is a joyful and colorful coming-of-age story set against gray hues of 80s Dublin. Like La La Land, the songs are somewhat infectious and there is a lovely chemistry between the romantic leads. While La La Land is more a love letter to Technicolor musicals of yesteryear, Sing Street s true heart lies in brotherly bonds. Currently available on Netflix. Because you watched Game of Thrones, check out Taboo and Outlander. If you like GoT (as us cool people call it), you enjoy dramatic chess games with a rich tapestry of characters, multi-arc subplots and a restrained dose of mysticism. You can also handle a significant amount of grit and violence. Taboo is a wildly strange British period drama dealing with issues of revenge, incest and trade routes. The centerpiece of the whole story is actor Tom Hardy s John Delany, a character unlike any you have seen. This mysterious figure is pitted again the East India Trading Company, England, the United States, hell, anyone that would get in his way. Hardy goes so deep into this character that I am reminded of ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Because you watched may I recommend? Doug Cherry, Esq. Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP certain Daniel Day-Lewis creations. Currently available on FX On Demand. Outlander, executive produced by Ronald D. Moore (creator of the brilliantly political Battlestar Galactic reboot), is about a married World War II nurse who time travels to 18th-century Scotland. My wife has read through the lengthy series of novels by Diana Gabaldon twice now, and frankly I was concerned the show would be targeted toward a female demographic. No doubt the show is unabashedly romantic, but also manages to be more unflinchingly graphic and intense than GoT. Some episodes can be extremely heart-wrenching and difficult to watch, yet there is a passion you won t find in most dramatic works. It took a few episodes to get into the series, but now I am hooked. Season three, which will focus on book 3 of 9, comes later this spring. Currently available on Starz. Because you watched There Will Be Blood or The Arrival, check out The Witch. The best horror films are not full of blood, gore or cheap jump-outof-your-seat scare tactics, but are psychological experiences in fear and dread-building. A well-crafted Blake Jenner and Temple Baker in Everybody Wants Some!! (2016) Ferdia Walsh-Peelo and Mark McKenna in Sing Street (2016) score, as well as a confident directorial vision, is critical. Set in 1630, The Witch is a self-described New England folktale of an English farmer and his family banished from their colonial plantation, relocating to a remote plot of land on the edge of an ominous forest within which lurks an unknown evil. Based on actual journals, the dialogue is so remarkably true to the period that I needed to turn on subtitles. Currently available on Amazon Prime. Because you watched Dazed and Confused, check out Everybody Wants Some. Richard Linklater has become one of my favorite directors. With films like Boyhood, School of Rock, Bernie and the Before Sunrise series, he has proven his innate ability to capture dialogue and humor with a true voice. Everybody Wants Some, which received rave reviews yet flew under the radar when it was released last year, feels like a sequel of sorts to Dazed in tone and theme. Set in the 1980s (with a great eye for nostalgia), the film involves a group of college baseball players essentially enjoying life as adolescents. The plot doesn t get much thicker than that, but that doesn t mean it is American Pie-like fluff. Actor Glen Powell steals the show as the smartest and funniest guy in the room. The Docket May

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7 For new attorneys struggling to launch their careers, or to impress the partners and coworkers in their firms, it can be a struggle to meet people outside of the firm. However, breaking out into the larger community is truly easy when you are a YLD member. Whether you want to volunteer for public service projects, get your name out there, find support and advice from other lawyers, or just make new friends, the YLD offers the perfect community for our young lawyers. Last month, almost 40 young attorneys gathered in Sarasota to network and learn more about the resources available through the Young Lawyers Division of The Florida Bar. It was the Sarasota County YLD s semi-annual Quick Chat, which was held this year at Cine Bistro. Attendees included many brand-new YLD members for whom this was the first YLD event. It was a fantastic program, which began with a presentation by Florida Bar YLD President-Elect Zack Zuroweste. Zack, a partner at Persante Zuroweste in Clearwater, told the attendees about the different programs available to Florida Bar YLD members. All lawyers under the age of 36, as well as new Florida Bar members for the first five years of practice, are automatically members of the Young Lawyers Division of the Florida Bar. Among the topics of discussion was the YLD s Lawyers Advising Lawyers program. If you have not yet used this program, you are truly missing out. Located at the conveniently named website www. LawyersAdvisingLawyers.com, this resource allows Florida Bar members YOUNG LAWYERS DIVISION It is easy to get involved in the YLD YLD PRESIDENT S COLUMN Jesse R. Butler, Esq. Dickinson & Gibbons, P.A. to request one-on-one advice in 50 practice areas from hundreds of volunteer advisors. Zack also told attendees about YLD resources for starting and running a successful law firm, the YLD s work on studying and addressing the problems faced by young women in the profession, and the activities of the various committees of the Young Lawyers Division of the Florida Bar. The presentation was immediately followed by the heart of the Quick Chat: where YLD members took their seats at tables reminiscent of speed dating. The quick format allowed each member to briefly get to know dozens of attorneys. If you have thought about coming to an event, but still haven t made it out, the YLD has the perfect event for you just around the corner. This month the YLD is hosting one of its most casual, family friendly events of the year. On May 11, the YLD is hosting the second annual Sets on the Beach. All YLD members and their families are encouraged to come out for fun at the Siesta Key beach volleyball courts. All YLD members are encouraged to attend, regardless of skill level. For those of you looking for a fun way to provide a little public service to the community, please register for Law Week. Every year, the YLD places attorneys into local fith-grade classrooms for one hour, to observe a student-performed mock trial, and to answer questions the students have about the law and the legal profession. Check out the SCBA website and make sure you are reading the s from Holly to RSVP to these events. Judicial Luncheon at Payne Park Coming up on Friday, June 2, the Young Lawyers Division will hold its annual Judicial Luncheon with the judges, judicial assistants, and young lawyers at Payne Park Auditorium. Our young lawyers look forward to this event every year. We particularly enjoy that the judicial assistants are included, so that we can put a face with the voice that is so often helpful to us! Contact the SCBA at scba@sarasotabar.com if you would like to attend (YLD members only). We are grateful to Kerkering Barberio and the Community Foundation of Sarasota for sponsoring the luncheon. See enclosed registration flyer for more details. DIVERSITY Continued from Page 3 sity throughout the entire process. At every level, minorities are under-represented. We have to look at ways to help increase minority law enforcement officers and also look at ways to help all law enforcement officers to deal with minority groups. We have to also look at ways to increase the number of minority prosecutors and public defenders. If we are going to really address this problem and not look at advancing a particular agenda, we need real dialogue, all the facts, and people with a desire to change a hurting system. In doing so, we have to look at the entire process and not just one phase, and especially not the end of the process only. On April 13, young lawyers from varying practice areas were introduced to each other at the YLD s popular Quick Chat speed networking event, designed to foster friendships and effective referral relationships. The event was held at Cinebistro and was sponsored by BMO Wealth Management. The Docket May

8 Frank Strelec, Esq., Mediator & Arbitrator Mediation, Arbitration and Private Trials 20 years experience as mediator and arbitrator in Federal and State courts, including trust and estate matters, professional liability and partnership disputes, and employment cases Florida Certified Circuit and Appellate Mediator and Qualified Arbitrator 25-year Board Certified Civil Trial Lawyer Graduate, Harvard Mediation Program Call Frank at to schedule a conference. Frank Strelec, PLLC FStrelecMediator@gmail.com A Comprehensive Center for Alcohol & Drug Rehabilitation 28-Day & Long Term Residential Jail Diversion Programs DUI Court Services Involuntary Detox Through Marchman Act Additional Residential & Outpatient Services Available Changing Lives, Saving Families. Creating an alternative for Pro Se litigants Assistance with legal form preparation Explanation of legal rights and responsibilities Limited appearances Legal coaching and strategy / Hearing and mediation prep Ghostwriting of motions/pleadings Assistance with obtaining ID, birth certificates Family law, landlord-tenant, small claims, county and circuit matters Hourly or flat-fee structure No large retainers Michele S. Stephan, Esq. Florida Bar Licensed Attorney Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Court Mediator LegalOnYourOwn, P.A. HELPING YOU REPRESENT YOURSELF N. Washington Blvd. Sarasota, Florida office fax Michele S. Stephan, Esq. mstephanesq@gmail.com

9 JUDGE JOHN M. SCHEB AMERICAN INN OF COURT Halvorsen receives Professionalism Award By PATRICK DUGGAN, Esq. Senior Assistant General Counsel, Sarasota County Sheriff s Office Sarasota attorney and Florida Supreme Court certified mediator Kathi Kate Halvorsen was awarded the Judge John M. Scheb Professionalism Award in a ceremony at Marina Jack Restaurant on March 14, The Judge John M. Scheb Professionalism Award is given annually to a Sarasota County attorney who exemplifies professionalism in his or her day-today practice. The recipient is selected by secret ballot of the Masters of the Inn. Kate is a well-deserving recipient; she emulates the outstanding professionalism of our Inn s founder, Judge Scheb, said attorney Bonnie Polk, President of the Judge John M. Scheb American Inn of Court. After earning a B.A. in Psychology from West Virginia Wesleyan College, a Masters degree in Education Counseling from Bowling Green State University, and her law degree from the Stetson University College of Law, Halvorsen began practicing law in Her primary areas of practice include family, social security disability, workers compensation, and appellate law. Admitted in both Texas and Florida, Halvorsen is the founder of the Law Office of Kathi B. Halvorsen, P.A. She is the Past President of the Sarasota County Bar Association and the Past President of the Sarasota Chapter of the Florida Association of Women Lawyers and has been selected to Super Lawyers each year from Halvorsen served as the President of the Judge John M. Scheb American Inn of Court from and has been a longtime member and contributor. The Judge John M. Scheb American Inn of Court was founded in 1991 by the late Judge John Scheb. One if its stated goals is to promote excellence in legal advocacy at the trial and appellate court levels. Recent recipients of the Judge John M. Scheb American Inn of Court Professionalism Award include Mark Kapusta, Laurie Zimmerman, Bill Partridge, Hon. Stephen Walker, and Drew Clayton. Kathi Kate Halvorsen COACH S CORNER PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT There is no time for one new thing! By MARTY HURWITZ Transitioneering How many times have you had to say this to your associates, your partners, your paralegal and a family member. Probably close to as many times as I have heard it. Ask yourself, is it true or is it an excuse? A false perception of reality. When introducing a new activity and blocking out time, Not enough time. is the go-to response. Make a minute, I am sure you have one minute, to take an inventory with me. Please answer the questions as honestly and as accurately as possible. Some of your answers may overlap. Please try not to include overlapping time in multiple categories. How many hours a week do you work? Time is your limiting resource. Do not waste it. How many hours a week do you sleep? How many hours a week do you commute? How many hours a week do you eat? How many hours a week do you just chill? How many hours a week do you spend with your kids? How many hours a week do you spend running errands? How many hours a week do you exercise? How many hours a week do you socialize? How many hours a week do you spend alone with your spouse/ partner? After you have answered each of the questions, please total the number of hours. Then take that number and subtract it from 168. What have you got? You have the number of unaccounted-for hours in the week. If you have a negative number, then you are using more hours than exist in a week. That may be OK for billing but not a true representation of how you spend all your time. Even if you have only two and a half unaccounted-for hours, that would give you 30 minutes a work day to strategize, market, etc. This also helps you have an inventory of where the hours go. Perhaps some time allocation should be rebalanced to better reflect your priorities. You do prioritize, don t you? Time is your limiting resource. Do not waste it. Maximize the value of each and every hour. Remember that Motivation is what gets you started and habit is what keeps you going. The Docket May

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11 SOUTH COUNTY DIVISION South County Spring Luncheon set for May 16 Greetings from South County! Well, we made it through another season. Now all we have to look forward to is a long hot summer. As a kick-off to summer, the South County Division is holding its annual Spring Membership Luncheon on May 16 at Venetian Golf & River Club. If you haven t been, Venetian Golf & River Club is a beautiful facility just east of I-75 off Laurel Road (very easy access from both north and south). For the price of admission, not only will you be able to enjoy a fine meal and fellowship with your fellow Bar members, but you will also get one hour of technology CLE via an excellent program provided by John Stewart, Esq., chair of the Vision 2016 Technology Committee. As you all know, we must now get three hours of technology CLE during the SOUTH COUNTY PRESIDENT S COLUMN Stephen K. Boone, Esq. Boone, Boone, Boone & Koda, P.A. course of our reporting cycle. Here is an easy, inexpensive way to get that first hour. Please join us. Synovus Bank is sponsoring the event. Since my last Docket article, the South County Division hosted a happy-hour beer and wine social at the quaint, charming Beach Road Wine Bar and Bistro on the water in Englewood. It was a beautiful evening, and a wonderful time was had by all. I would like to thank Kerry Mack for organizing the event, and Fifth Third Bank for their sponsorship. In April, the South County Division also hosted two Probate, Guardianship and General Civil Trial Practice brown bag lunches with Judges Don Hall and Kimberly Bonner. Both were very well attended and very informative on each side of the bench. Things are running very smoothly with our South County Civil Division. We are somewhere well in excess of 2,000 new cases having been filed in South County since the first of the year. Now that summer is upon (or nearly upon) us, the days are longer, the water is warmer, things have slowed down a little, and all of the snowbirds have gone home. I encourage everyone to get outdoors, get active and enjoy the lifestyle that we have available to us. Whether you are a boater, fisherman, kayaker, jogger, bicyclist, bird watcher, or whatever you enjoy doing, get out there and enjoy it while the weather is nice. I guarantee you that for each and every one of us, when our time comes not one of us will say, I wish I would have spent more time in the office. BAR ASSOCIATION NEWS Appellate Practice Section plans upcoming CLE By ROB ROBINSON, Esq. Kirk Pinkerton, P.A. Recently, members of the Sarasota County Bar Association Appellate Practice Section met for lunch at the law offices of Kirk Pinkerton, P.A. In attendance were myself, Robert K. Robinson, as chair, Jesse R. Butler, Stacy Dillard- Spahn, Jennifer G. Maglio, Ryan W. Owen, Meghan O. Serrano, Susan J. Silverman and Douglas R. Bald. The group discussed plans for an upcoming CLE seminar and lunch, scheduled for Friday, June 16. The seminar will focus on the use of technology in appellate practice, and will satisfy 1 hour of the new technology credit requirement. Speakers will be Dineen Pashoukos Wasylik, appellate practice attorney from Tampa, and Austin Roe, staff attorney, Second District Court of Appeals. The lunch seminar will take place at the Sarasota Yacht Club. Additional information and registration forms will appear in an upcoming edition of The Docket. See enclosed registration flyer or contact Holly Lipps at hlipps@jud12.flcourts.org in the Sara- Rob Robinson, Esq., Kirk Pinkerton, P.A. The lunch seminar will take place at the Sarasota Yacht Club sota County Bar office. The Section also discussed the possibility of combining the Appellate Practice Section into another Section of the Bar. Presently, there are only approximately 21 members of the Appellate Practice Section. However, the committee felt that, despite the smaller subsection size, it was important to maintain Appellate Practice as a separate section of the Bar Association. Our present members practice in diverse areas of appellate law ranging from civil to criminal to family. The group also felt it important to reach out to others within the Bar Association in the event there are those who practice some or all of their time in appellate law and have not yet joined our section. The final matter of business undertaken by the committee was to select the chair-elect for the Appellate Practice Section for the year. Meghan O. Serrano, of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick graciously agreed to serve as chair-elect in the coming year. Meghan was also instrumental in coordinating the upcoming CLE. LUNCHEON Continued from Page 1 of all Americans. It also played a pivotal role in extending the reach of the Bill of Rights to the states. Ratified during Reconstruction a century and a half ago, the Fourteenth Amendment serves as the cornerstone of landmark civil rights legislation, the foundation for numerous federal court decisions protecting fundamental rights, and a source of inspiration for all those who advocate for equal justice under law. We are anticipating a full house at the luncheon, so register today! We would like to thank the Community Foundation of Sarasota for sponsoring the event. As this year s Law Day Luncheon Chair, please feel free to contact me directly at ryoung@icardmerrill.com if you have any questions or need additional information. The Docket May

12 Need Construction Litigation Support??? FOREMAN & ASSOCIATES, INC. COMMERCIAL RESIDENTIAL INDUSTRIAL Expert Witness Investigations Detailed Reports Building Code Interpretation Forensic Analysis DE / NDE Improper Design / Installation Negligence / Accidents Developer Turn-Over Study MICHAEL S. FOREMAN PRESIDENT BEE RIDGE ROAD SARASOTA, FLORIDA construction-guru@comcast.net Mediation Services 25 YEARS EXPERIENCE Certified Circuit Civil Mediator Certified County Civil Mediator Certified Appellate Mediator Florida Arbitrator Federal Mediator Harvard College, B.A., 1975 Capital University Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1986 Harvard Law School Mediation Program BOB HOYLE Probate matters Will and trust contests Real estate Homeowners and condominium associations Foreclosures Commercial and residential leases and tenancies contract Business and commercial litigation D. Robert Hoyle, P.A bhoyle@hoylefirm.com 1001 THIRD AVENUE W., SUITE 260, BRADENTON, FL bhoyle@hoylefirm.com Calendar availability and full bio at floridamediators.org/roberthoyle DANGEROUS DRUGS & MEDICINES We Can Help If... Your client has suffered injury or death due to the use of prescription drugs or medicines. REFERRALS & ASSOCIATIONS ARE WELCOME Over 300 years of combined legal experience se habla Español SARASOTA PUNTA GORDA BRADENTON TALLAHASSEE

13 ESTATE PLANNING & PROBATE Chair: Babette B. Bach, Esq., Bach & Jacobs, P.A. Elective share legislation The Estate Planning & Probate Section invites you to Elective Share 3.0: Florida s New Elective Share Legislation on Wednesday, May 24. Richard R. Gans of Fergeson Skipper, P.A., will be presenting. Attorney Gans served on The Florida Bar Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section committee that drafted the legislation. The meeting will be held at noon at Michael s on East. We gratefully acknowledge Kerkering Barberio as our exclusive sponsor. CLE credit has been applied for. FAMILY LAW Chair: Dana B. Keane, Esq., Law Offices of Keane and Keane Social media and family law Nasty text message exchanges, incriminating posts on Facebook, tantalizing pictures on Instagram, and juicy s. What do these things have in common? They re all evidence family law practitioners see in their offices during almost every contentious case. Please join the Family Law Section on Thursday, May 25, for a panel discussion with attorneys Douglas A. Cherry and Hunter G. Norton of Shumaker Loop, and cybersecurity expert Jeff Birnbach of Sylint. They will cover how to authenticate social media posts, s, and texts to ensure they haven t been tampered with and the admissibility of these types of evidence. Cybersecurity issues will also be covered. The luncheon will be from noon to 1 p.m. at the Sarasota Yacht Club. SECTION NEWS MEMBERSHIP Welcome, new members! The following represents each new member s name, law school, year of admission to The Florida Bar, and law firm association. n Adam Dunn: Florida Coastal Law School; 2013; Office of the Public Defender APPELLATE LAW Chair: Robert K. Robinson, Esq., Kirk Pinkerton, P.A. Using tech to your advantage before the second DCA On Friday, June 16, the Appellate Section of the Sarasota County Bar Association will present a CLE meeting: Using Tech to Your Advantage Before the Second DCA. The luncheon will run from noon to 1 p.m. at the Sarasota Yacht Club. Enjoy lunch, earn tech credit, and learn about the inner workings of the Second DCA. Dineen Pashoukos Wasylik, a board certified appellate and IP attorney, and Austin Roe, staff attorney at the Second DCA, will share important technology tips and tricks to ensure that you are maximizing tech to your benefit in appeals. See enclosed registration flyer for more details. Connect with us! Want to be reminded of upcoming SCBA events while you scroll through Facebook? How about a glimpse of past events you missed? Maybe even some local legal news and events? Please like our Facebook page to receive future updates and photos by clicking here: SarasotaBar n Lindsey Jones: University of Florida; Class of 2017; Student Member n Kennedy Legler IV: Stetson; 2011; Office of the State Attorney CLERK S CORNER Attorney rotation: Is your name next on the list? Attorney rotation lists are promulgated by the 12th Judicial Circuit and managed by the Clerk s office. The process for appointing attorneys by the court is designed to fairly rotate names of CLERK S CORNER Karen E. Rushing Clerk of Court and County Comptroller attorneys in a systematic way. The lists include attorneys who wish to be appointed by the Court for criminal, juvenile, appeal, and guardianship cases, and in Sarasota County, there are two separate lists one for the Sarasota area, and one for Venice. The lists are maintained internally, and electronically, by the Clerk. In criminal, juvenile and appeal cases, the Court obtains the next name that appears on the list from the Clerk. The process is different for Guardianship cases. The attorney who files the petition for Guardianship is responsible for calling the Clerk ( ), to ask for the next available attorney appointment for an alleged incapacitated person. Pursuant to Florida Statute , when a court appoints an attorney for an alleged incapacitated person, the court must appoint the office of criminal conflict and civil regional counsel or a private attorney prescribed in section (6) F.S., and the private attorney must be one who is included in the attorney registry compiled pursuant to Florida Statute Appointments of private attorneys must be made on a rotating basis. Further, it is the responsibility of the petitioning attorney to contact the appointed attorney, who must advise whether they are able to represent the alleged incapacitated person. If the attorney is unable or unwilling to represent the alleged incapacitated person, it is the responsibility of the petitioning attorney to notify the Clerk s office, who provides the next name on the list. To ensure transparency, the Clerk dockets the names into the progress docket, each time a name is provided. If you create proposed orders of appointment, please note a change coming this month. Effective May 1, the addition of this language is required to be included in all proposed orders of appointment: I hereby certify that I have complied with the 12th Judicial Circuit Probate and Guardianship division requirements to obtain the above appointed attorney from the Attorney Rotation List maintained by the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Counsel wishing to be added or removed from the attorney rotation list should contact Court Administration in Sarasota ( ). The Docket May

14 Social Security Disability & SSI HEARINGS/APPEALS SERVING SARASOTA AND MANATEE COUNTIES MORE THAN 35 YEARS EXPERIENCE Jonathan E. Hausburg, Esq N. Tamiami Trail Sarasota, Fl socialsecuritysarasota.com Mediation outside the box The mark of a an effective mediator is the ability to find solutions to a dispute that the parties have not explored. Norman Vaughan-Birch has put that philosophy to work in 40 years of resolving the most complex disputes as a trial attorney and mediator. Put his experience and expertise to use the next time you need a mediator. You will find that effective mediation can be cost-effective, too. Norman Vaughan-Birch Florida Supreme Court-certified mediator Florida Bar Board-certified in civil trial and business litigation MediationOutsideTheBox.com s. pineapple ave., 6th floor, sarasota fl FOR A FRESH START CHAPTER 7 & 13 BANKRUPTCY FAMILY LAW RICHARD V. ELLIS, P.A. PHONE (941) FAX (941) NORTH TAMIAMI TRAIL SARASOTA, FLORIDA SARASOTABANKRUPTCY.COM The Docket is a publication of the Sarasota County Bar Association. All articles printed herein are the property of the Sarasota County Bar Association and may not be reprinted without permission. PUBLISHER: SCBA Executive Director Holly Lipps CO-EDITORS: Brian D. Goodrich, Esq., Bentley & Bruning, P.A., and Robert L. Young, Esq., Icard, Merrill, Cullis, Timm, Furen & Ginsburg, P.A. DESIGN AND EDITORIAL CONSULTATION: Peter M. Gentile, petermichael associates The Docket encourages submissions of interest to SCBA members. Contact the SCBA office via (scba@ sarasotabar.com) or phone ( ) for further information. The Docket is published 10 months a year. Deadline is the first Friday of the month preceding the month of publication.

15 NEWS OF NOTE CLASSIFIED ADS n Williams Parker is proud to sponsor active-duty U.S. Navy pilot Ryan Rankin in his quest to fly 52 distinct planes throughout As a New Year s resolution and to fulfill his passion for aviation, Rankin has set out to fly 52 different types of aircraft in the span of a year one for each week. In order to accomplish his mission, Rankin will travel across the United States, as well as internationally to Poland and the United Kingdom. He will fly a wide variety of aircraft, from vintage, open-canopy planes to more common aircraft like the Cessna 172 or Piper Warrior. Each week, Rankin s journey will be documented in an SRQ Daily series titled From the Cockpit, as well as on his blog, Ryan Flies. n Williams Parker is pleased to announce attorney Bonnie Lee Polk has been reappointed by Florida Governor Rick Scott to the Twelfth Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission. Judicial Nominating Commissions are responsible for selecting nominees to fill judicial Have you or a member of your firm achieved professional recognition? Have you hired a new attorney? Any other news of note? If so, we would like to hear about it. your News of Note items to scba@ sarasotabar. com. vacancies within the Florida court system. n Williams Parker attorney Kimberly Page Walker recently participated as a speaker at Cumberland Advisors and the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee s Financial Literacy Day, held March 30. Walker spoke on a panel focused on women s financial issues, including risks, opportunities, and ways that women can protect themselves financially. n Stuart Levine, Managing Partner of Walters Levine & Lozano, has been selected to join the prestigious CEO Council. The CEO Council is the premier organization for business leaders in the Tampa Bay region. The purpose of the Council is to bring together Tampa Bay business leaders to help each member learn and grow personally and professionally by meeting with and learning from the business leaders in Tampa Bay what they are doing to make their companies successful. OFFICE SPACE For Sale or Lease 754 sq. ft. Office near Courthouse. 2 private offices, waiting, secretary, storage. Very nice. $150,000 Call Steve Ross Realtor (941) Ringling Blvd., 1,215 sq. ft. professional office. Excellent location, parking. $2,000 per month gross rent (includes CAM and R.E. taxes). Available. Call (941) EMPLOYMENT Litigation Paralegal. Mallard Law Firm is a growing personal injury law firm located in Sarasota. We are still looking for a full-time experienced litigation paralegal to be a part of a dynamic team. You will be responsible for heavy client interaction, moving cases forward to conclusion, and providing administrative support to the attorneys. You will handle the flow of paperwork, calendaring, filing court documents, etc. for each case assigned to you with high quality and in a timely manner. The ideal candidate will have 3 years personal injury litigation paralegal experience, be proficient with Outlook and other Microsoft Office programs, possess professional appearance and demeanor, and have the ability to organize, multitask, and work well under pressure. Interested candidates may apply by sending cover letter with salary requirements and a resume to Kathy at mallard.law.firm.jobs@gmail.com. FAIRNESS Continued from Page 1 consolidation of pretrial proceedings in pending federal civil actions that involve one or more common questions of fact, such as complex product-liability suits. As stated by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, the body that oversees MDLs, the purposes of multidistrict litigation is to avoid duplication of discovery, to prevent inconsistent pretrial rulings, and to conserve the resources of the parties, their counsel and the judiciary. The Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017 imposes strict deadlines that will arguably make the process less efficient and cumbersome by setting mandatory deadlines and imposing dismissal with prejudice as a sanction for failure to comply. The Act would require that counsel for each plaintiff in an MDL submit evidence, including medical records, to support factual allegations of the alleged injury, the exposure to the risk that allegedly caused the injury, and the alleged cause of the injury within the first 45 days after the civil action is transferred to or directly filed in the proceedings. The deadline may not be extended and the penalty for failure to comply is dismissal without prejudice, which then becomes dismissal with prejudice if the deficiency is not corrected within the following 30 days. This process is normally undertaken during summary judgment proceedings, which generally occur after discovery has been exchanged and the case is further developed. This legislatively imposed requirement will cause additional burden on the judicial system at the outset of each MDL, requiring submission and review of vast amounts of medical records and other evidence. Furthermore, the mandate that deadlines may not be extended under the ultimate penalty of dismissal with prejudice defies the well-reasoned premise that a case should be heard on the merits when possible, in addition to removing necessary judicial discretion. Any attorney who has been involved with the extensive discovery process in an MDL, which often involves sifting through masses of documents dumped by a pharmaceutical or other large corporation, knows that evidence supporting the cause of the injury is not ascertainable within the first 45 days of All in all, the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017 is an attempt to hinder effective litigation on behalf of individuals against large corporate defendants the civil action. This requirement will further incentivize corporate defendants to delay and obstruct the discovery process. The Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017 states that the assigned judges in an MDL may not conduct a trial unless all parties to that civil action consent, restricting bellwether trials. Bellwether trials are an integral and crucial part of the MDL mechanism, encouraging and providing context for large-scale settlements based upon the outcomes of a few representative cases. There does not appear to be any legitimate rationale behind this requirement, except to throw a wrench in the MDL process and potentially obstruct settlement in cases in which the defendants expect negative outcomes in the bellwether trials. Finally, under the innocuous and deceptively titled subsection, Ensuring Proper Recovery for Plaintiffs, the Act states that any plaintiff who asserts a personal injury claim in an MDL shall receive not less than 80 percent of any monetary recovery obtained for those claims by settlement, judgment, or otherwise. Sounds great, right? Of course See FAIRNESS, Page 18 The Docket May

16 CIVIL RIGHTS LAW 11th Circuit denies sexual orientation discrimination claim, but is this final? By DANIEL R. STRADER, Esq. and CHRISTOPHER CAVALIERE, Esq. Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP If you have been keeping track of how the federal courts have handled employment discrimination claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (and we know you have), you have probably noticed that many courts have refused to recognize claims of sexual orientation discrimination under this federal statute. However, you might also recall that the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in And you might have also heard that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a decision shortly thereafter stating that, in its opinion, sexual orientation discrimination is protected under Title VII. In light of these recent developments, you might have wondered whether the federal courts would begin to treat sexual orientation claims differently. A recent decision from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over federal courts in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama, suggests otherwise. On March 10, a three-judge panel of the Eleventh Circuit decided the case of Evans v. Georgia Regional Hospital, et al., 2017 WL (11th Cir. 2017). Evans was a hospital security officer who sued her employer for sexual orientation discrimination, gender non-conformity discrimination, and retaliation. The trial court dismissed her case, and Evans appealed to the Eleventh Circuit. In a 2-1 decision, the Eleventh Circuit held that sexual orientation is not protected under Title VII and upheld the dismissal of that claim. However, unlike the trial court, the Eleventh Circuit recognized that gender non-conformity is a valid, separate claim under Title VII, and it sent the case back to the trial court to allow Evans to better plead her gender non-conformity claim. The difference between the two types of claims is essentially one of motive. In the case of a claim for sexual orientation discrimination, the employee must show that discrimination was based solely on the employee s status as gay or lesbian individual, without regard Daniel R. Strader, Esq. Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP to any other individual characteristics. The Eleventh Circuit and other courts have held that there is no such claim under Title VII, because Title VII does not specify sexual orientation as a distinct, protected category. In the case of a gender non-conformity claim, however, the employee must show that they suffered discrimination based on a failure to conform to traditional social norms of what it means to be either masculine or feminine. There is a long line of cases going back over 25 years recognizing that gender non-conformity claims are a form of sex discrimination covered under Title VII, regardless of the employee s sexual orientation. If the distinction between these two claims seems unclear, you are not alone. In fact, many district courts have recently held that maintaining a clear line between these two types of claims has proved to be unworkable in practice, because virtually every instance of discrimination against a gay or lesbian employee can be viewed as based on the perpetrator s belief as to how a man or woman should behave, including by engaging in relationships only with the opposite sex. E.g. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Comm n v. Scott Med. Health Center, P.C., 2016 WL (W.D. Pa. Nov. 4, 2016). Thus, these courts view the two types of claims considered by the Eleventh Circuit in Evans as essentially a distinction without a difference. These courts have also agreed with the EEOC s position that sexual orientation discrimination is inherently a form of prohibited sex discrimination under Title VII. In other words, an employer who treats a gay male employee worse than a straight female employee is treating the two sexes differently for the exact same behavior, specifically, engaging in relationships with men. Thus, the employer is engaging in discrimination based on the sex of the employee. However persuasive this logic may have become to district courts in recent years, it had not been adopted by any federal appellate court until this month. On April 4, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals adopted the arguments advanced by the EEOC and held that a claim for sexual orien- tation discrimination is cognizable under Title VII precisely because it is a form of sex discrimination, for all of the reasons outlined above. Hively v. Ivy Tech. Comm. College of Ind., 2017 WL (7th Cir. 2017). Thus, sexual orientation discrimination is now prohibited under Title VII for employers in Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Interestingly, Hively was initially decided in July 2016 by a panel of three judges, who reached the opposite result (and the same result as Evans). However, the entire court elected to reconsider the matter, and the full Seventh Circuit became the first appellate court in the nation to adopt the arguments that the EEOC has been advancing for several years now, with increasing success at the trial court level. Will Hively be the first crack in the dam that causes a flood of similar rulings? There are some indications that it might. First, Evans might get another bite at the apple. Like most federal appellate decisions, Evans was decided by a limited panel consisting of three of the Eleventh Circuit s eleven judges. On March 31, Evans filed a motion asking for all eleven of the court s judges to rehear the case, as was done in Hively. As of the time of submission of this article, that motion has not yet been decided, but the subsequent issuance of the Seventh Circuit s opinion in Hively may be a strong incentive for the entire Eleventh Circuit to rehear the Evans case. There is an almost identical case pending in the Second Circuit that, like Evans, was just decided against the plaintiff on March 27. Anonymous v. Omnicom Group, Inc., 2017 WL (2d Cir. 2017). As of the time of submission of this article, no motion for rehearing had yet been filed by the plaintiff in Anonymous; however, given that two of the three panel judges expressly stated in the opinion that the entire Second Circuit should consider the matter, and in light of the intervening decision in Hively, a full rehearing of that case seems likely. While the outcome of these decisions remains to be seen, there is a reasonable chance that within the next few months, the Seventh, Eleventh, and Second Circuits may have all ruled in favor of the EEOC s See DISCRIMINATION, Page The Docket May 2017

17 SCIENCE AND THE LAW Forensic biomechanics science of injury causation By JOHN D. LLOYD, PhD, CPE, President / Research Director, BRAINS, Inc., San Antonio, FL John D. Lloyd, PhD, CPE, is a Board Certified Ergonomist, Brain Injury Specialist, and Consultant in Biomechanics, Accident Reconstruction and Human Factors. You may contact him at DrJohnLloyd@Tampabay. RR.com or visit his website at Human injury is complicated. If we lived our lives inside a protective bubble, then one day experienced an incident, it might be relatively simple to ascribe any injuries to the traumatic event. But that is typically not the case. As an aging nation, our bodies experience mechanical trauma every day from work, sports, recreation, and potential incidents. The question then arises whether forces and accelerations acting on the body as a result of a traumatic incident, such as an automobile collision, slip and fall, or recreational accident, were the direct and ultimate cause of injuries. Answering that question is the unique role of the forensic biomechanist and is typically beyond the expertise of most medical doctors. Biomechanics is the study of injury causation by measuring forces acting on and within the human body, using methods of mechanics, to determine whether such forces exceed known thresholds of injury. As such, a biomechanist possesses expertise in the fields of both mechanics and human anatomy. Biomechanists and medical doctors serve complementary roles in the medico-legal system. Medical doctors have specific knowledge to diagnose and treat a patient, but the science of biomechanics is not taught in medical school. Therefore, a biomechanist is required, based on their specialized education, training and experience, to serve as the necessary bridge between medicine and engineering by calculating the forces acting on the body as a result of a claimed incident and thereby explaining the diagnosed injuries in terms of mechanical causation. In a motor vehicle accident case, a biomechanist will assist the trier of fact by relating the impact forces and motions of the vehicles (automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles or pedestrians) to the resultant motion of occupants or other persons involved (kinematics), and forces they experience (kinetics) due to often multiple impacts within the vehicle interior or ground, then relate those forces to explain the mechanical causation of their medically diagnosed injuries. For example, in a rear-end collision, both the target vehicle and occupant(s) will be accelerated forward. However, since the human body is more elastic than a car, the occupants and automobile will experience different impact durations. The vehicle will move forward more quickly than the occupants, who will initially be thrown rearward relative to the vehicle, potentially impacting components of the vehicle interior. Resultant injuries may include whiplash, lumbar disc herniation, or even traumatic brain injury, depending on the magnitude of the impact. Motorcycle, bicycle and pedestrian involved accidents can be substantially more complex, since the vehicles and operators tend to become separated and travel independently to their final rest positions. In Florida and many other states, motorcyclists have the right to choose whether or not to wear a helmet. Research on the biomechanics of helmet protection shows that while helmets are effective at reducing the risk of penetrating head injury due to skull fracture, helmets do not offer adequate protection against traumatic brain injury, which may occur whether the rider is helmeted or not. Given the interdependency between the accident reconstruction and biomechanical analysis, it is clearly beneficial if the biomechanist is also certified in automobile and motorcycle crash investigation, accident reconstruction and analysis. This advanced knowledge facilitates collaboration with and understanding of the techniques performed by an accident reconstructionist or, if necessary, allows the biomechanist to perform the complete analysis, beginning with the vehicle collision and continuing through biomechanical injury causation. There are benefits to either approach, but more importantly, opposing counsel is unable to challenge the reliability of one s opinions based upon the opinions generated by another expert if the biomechanist is qualified in both fields and can verify results independently. Forensic biomechanics is also key to the analysis of cases involving slips, trips and falls, which are claimed in all manners of environments, including workspaces, shopping areas, restaurants, etc. Slips may occur whenever the coefficient of friction (CoF) between one s footwear and the flooring surface is too low, often due to the presence of a foreseeable foreign substance, such as a fluid. Conversely, a trip may occur whenever the CoF between the footwear and flooring is too great, or unexpected, such as a transition between different surfaces. Unprotected falls can and do generate inordinate forces on the human body caused by acceleration due to gravity. For example, a simple fall from approximately 3 feet can generate an impact velocity of 10 miles per hour! But, more important is how quickly the human body comes to rest upon impact. It has been shown that a simple fall from only 12 inches onto a hard surface, such as concrete, can generate more than 1,000 pounds of force on the human head, which is sufficient to cause fatal injury. In conclusion, a forensic biomechanical analysis may be pertinent to the success of a variety of cases, including: motor vehicle accidents (involving automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians), recreational accidents (including boats, jet skis, ATVs, etc.), sports injuries / helmet protection as well as slips, trips and falls. The opinions formulated by forensic biomechanists regarding the quantitative accelerations and forces necessary to result in injury are uniquely biomechanical opinions, and no other area of science or medicine is as appropriate to offer such opinions. Neither mechanical engineering nor physics includes the prerequisite background concerning human body tissue properties and human anatomy. Similarly, medical training does not provide the necessary understanding of biomechanical principles to identify qualitative relationships between physical trauma and human tissue injury. Thus, a forensic biomechanist serves the legal system by quantifying the forces associated with an incident and comparing those forces against scientifically accepted thresholds of injury, thereby explaining the medical diagnosis. The Docket May

18 SCBA NEWS 12TH CIRCUIT NEWS Summer Intern Orientation and Social June 8 n Intern & Law Clerk Orientation. Lunch 11:45 a.m. to noon; Program, noon to 2:30 p.m., Courtroom 8B, Judge Lynn Silvertooth Center n All Bar Summer Intern Social. 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., location TBD DISCRIMINATION Continued from Page 16 position. Unless and until that happens, however, the law is fairly clear after Evans for Florida employers at the present time: employees may not sue for sexual orientation discrimination under Title VII but may do so for gender non-conformity discrimination. Nevertheless, local employers should make sure their non-discrimination policies cover sexual orientation discrimination for a variety of reasons. In addition to the rapidly changing nature of the legal landscape on this issue as explained above, sexual orientation discrimination is still protected under several local ordinances. For example, Hillsborough County, Pinellas County, and the cities of Tampa and Sarasota all have ordinances prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination and providing remedies for employees who fall victim to it. In light of this, local employers should ensure that their employee handbooks reflect an appropriate non-discrimination policy, and they should update their handbooks if such a policy is not already included. FAIRNESS Continued from Page 15 the plaintiff should keep 80 percent of the monetary recovery. However, the actual (and likely intended) effect of this restriction will be that attorneys fees in MDL actions will be limited to 20 percent, thus reducing incentive for contingency representation in MDLs. Plaintiffs attorneys are the driving force behind MDLs, a mechanism that allows efficient resolution of large-scale complex litigation that individual plaintiffs otherwise likely would not and could not fund against corporate defendants. Placing a federally mandated cap on attorneys fees in these cases would hamper the viability of the entire process, which requires significant risk and upfront investment by plaintiffs attorneys. With most state attorney fees caps at almost twice this percentage, plaintiffs attorneys will be less likely to make the large upfront investment to venture into the federal MDL process. This restriction would ultimately reduce the representation available for individual defendants, while corporate defendants remain able to advance their interests with armies of attorneys funded by comparatively limitless deep pockets. All in all, the Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017 is an attempt to hinder effective litigation on behalf of individuals against large corporate defendants, deceptively hidden behind unobjectionable titles touting ideals such as fairness and proper recovery for plaintiffs. A retirement dinner for Judge Andrew J. Owens, Jr., was held on Wednesday, April 5, at Michael s on East. Over 200 guests joined in the festivities. ABOVE (left to right): Court Administrator Walt Smith, Master of Ceremonies Chief Judge Charles Williams, Jennifer Peters, Judicial Assistant to Judge Owens, Judge Owens, James Buzbee, Esq., and Cary Gaylord, Esq. RIGHT: Judge Durand Adams shares a light moment Judge Owens. 18 The Docket May 2017

19 Membership Directory Pre-Order Form Order a copy for your staff today! Each SCBA member will receive one FREE directory as a benefit of membership. This valuable reference book contains photographs, addresses, telephone numbers, addresses, practice areas and board certifications. Additional copies are available for purchase for $25.00 (plus sales tax). Please complete this order form and return to the SCBA office by May 31, 2017 (no exceptions!). *Directories available August 2017 Name: Firm/Company: Phone Number: Number of $25 = 7% Sales Tax = Total Due = Please return this form and payment to: SCBA P.O. Box 507 Sarasota, FL DEADLINE IS MAY 31, 2017 (no exceptions!)

20 South County Division Membership Luncheon Legal Information Technology: Challenges and Opportunities for the Future Tuesday, May 16, noon to 1:00 p.m. Venetian River Club Advancements in technology have resulted in many changes in how attorneys do business. These changes are having profound impacts on the practice of law. Technology is not central to the delivery of legal services. Have you been able to keep up with all the changes? John M. Stewart, Esq. Chair of the Vision 2016 Technology Committee Attorney John M. Stewart, Chair of the Vision 2016 Technology Committee, will discuss changes in technology that will affect the practice of law, the new technology CLE requirements and some of the history behind the need for the new CLE requirement. 1 hour of Technology credit has been approved by the Florida Bar We gratefully acknowledge the support of our sponsor: SCD Membership Luncheon Tuesday, May 16, 2017 $25.00 p/person Name: Check No: Check Amt: If paying by credit card, please go to our secure website to register: Reservations must be received by Friday, May 12, 2017 Mail with payment to: SCBA, P.O. Box 507, Sarasota FL No Shows and reservations canceled within 48 hours of event will be invoiced. Please check here is you have a disability that may require special attention or services. To ensure availability of appropriate accommodations, attach a general description of your needs. We will contact you for further coordination.

21 Please join the Sarasota Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers In honoring The Judges of the 2 nd DCA and The Judiciary of the 12 th Judicial Circuit Judicial Reception May 17, :30-7:30 p.m. Sarasota Yacht Club 1100 John Ringling Boulevard Sarasota, Florida Judges are Guests of FAWL FAWL Members are $30.00 Non FAWL Members are $50.00 Levels of Sponsorship: Gold: $1,000 (4 tickets) Silver: $500 (2 tickets) Bronze: $250 (1 ticket) Member Patron: $100 (1 ticket) Purchase Tickets By May 10, 2017 at judicialreception.eventbrite.com For more information: Corinna@rosenberglawpa.com

22 Sarasota County Bar Association ANNUAL MEETING AND LAW DAY LUNCHEON Thursday, May 18, noon 1:30 p.m. Michael s on East Honored guests will include Judges from the Second District Court of Appeal Agenda: Election of Officers and Directors for the Bar Year Mock trial skit reenacted by local elementary students Featured guest speaker is Stetson University College of Law Dean Michael Allen We gratefully acknowledge our sponsor Name: SCBA Annual Meeting and Law Day Luncheon Thursday, May 18, 2017 $30.00 p/person Please indicate if you require a vegetarian meal Deadline for reservations is Friday May 12, 2017 Mail with payment to: SCBA, P.O. Box 507, Sarasota FL No Shows and reservations canceled within 48 hours of event will be invoiced. Please check here if you have a disability that may require special attention or services. To ensure availability of appropriate accommodations, attach a general description of your needs. We will contact you for further coordination. THE 14TH AMENDMENT TRANSFORMING AMERICAN DEMOCRACY

23 Estate Planning and Probate Section Presents Elective Share Legislation Wednesday, May 24, noon to 1:00 p.m. Michael s on East SPEAKER: Richard R. Gans, Esq. Fergeson Skipper This course will cover the evolution of Florida s elective share law, paying particular attention to the 2017 elective share bill and the changes that it will bring to elective share proceedings and how the elective share is calculated and satisfied. CLE has been applied for. We gratefully acknowledge the support of our sponsor Estate Planning & Probate Section Luncheon Wednesday, May 24, 2017 $30.00 p/person Please indicate if you require a vegetarian meal Name: Check No. Amt. Of Check: Deadline for reservations: Friday, May 19, 2017 Mail with payment to SCBA, P.O. Box 507, Sarasota FL No Shows and reservations canceled within 48 hours of event will be invoiced Please check here if you have a disability that may require special attention or services. To ensure availability of appropriate accommodations, attach a general description of your needs. We will contact you for further coordination.

24 Social Media Issues in Family Law Thursday, May 25, noon 1:00 p.m. Sarasota Yacht Club PANELISTS INCLUDE: Doug Cherry, Esq. Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP Hunter Norton, Esq. Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP Jeff Birnbach Sylint Group The presentation will cover how to authenticate social media posts, s, and texts to ensure they haven t been tampered with and the admissibility of these types of evidence. Cybersecurity issues will also be covered. CLE has been applied for. Family Law Section Meeting Thursday, May 25, 2017 Sarasota Yacht Club $27.00 per person Name: Check No: Check Amt: To pay by credit card visit Deadline for reservations: Friday, May 19, 2017 Mail with payment to: SCBA, P.O. Box 507, Sarasota FL, No Shows and reservations canceled within 48 hours of event will be invoiced. Please check here if you have a disability that may require special attention or services. To ensure availability of appropriate accommodations, attach a general description of your needs. We will contact you for further coordination.

25 Sarasota County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division invites its members to the Judicial Luncheon in the Park Friday, June 2, :00 to 1:00 p.m. Payne Park Auditorium It s A Fiesta! Join us for Mexican fare, cold drinks and ice cream treats! Honored guests will be the Sarasota Judges and their Judicial Assistants The YLD appreciates the generous support of our Sponsors YLD Judicial Luncheon in the Park Friday, June 2, 2017 YLD Members Only $18.00 p/person Name: Reservations must be received by: Friday, May 26, 2017 Mail with payment to: SCBA, PO Box 507, Sarasota FL No Shows and reservations canceled within 48 hours of event will be invoiced. Please check here if you have a disability that may require special attention or services. To ensure availability of appropriate accommodations, attach a general description of your needs. We will contact you for further coordination.

26 APPELLATE SECTION Using Tech to Your Advantage Before the Second DCA Friday, June 16, noon to 1:00 p.m. Sarasota Yacht Club Presented by: Dineen Pashoukos Wasylik, Esq. and Austin Roe, Esq. Enjoy lunch, earn tech credit and learn about the inner workings of the 2d DCA at this not to miss presentation! Dineen Pashoukos Wasylik, a board certified appellate and IP attorney, and Austin Roe, staff attorney at the 2d DCA will share important technology tips and tricks to ensure that you are maximizing tech to your benefit in appeals! 1.0 General, 1.0 Technology Credits Have Been Approved We gratefully acknowledge the support of our sponsor: Appellate Section Meeting Friday, June 16, 2017 Sarasota Yacht Club $30.00 Per person Name: Please check here if you require a vegetarian selection To pay by credit card visit Reservations must be received by Friday, June 9, 2017 Mail with payment to: SCBA, P.O. Box 507, Sarasota FL No Shows and reservations canceled within 48 hours of event will be invoiced. Please check here if you have a disability that may require special attention or services. To ensure availability of appropriate accommodations, attach a general description of your needs. We will contact you for further coordination.