Lakeland Bar Association

09/23/2023

Join Donna Sholar and I at the RPFunding Center this weekend for a really cool craft show. Only six dollars to attend five dollars if you bring a food item or the coupon located in the lobby.  Saturday 10 to 5, Sunday 10 to 4

02/09/2021

Thankfully they averted a CATastrophe!

09/22/2020

Way to go Steve!

Lakeland lawyer Stephen R. Senn has taken office as president of The Florida Bar Foundation. Board certified in appellate practice, Senn is a senior shareholder with Peterson & Myers, where his practice includes appeals and federal litigation, as well as employment and business disputes. Senn earned...

05/15/2020

Good luck to the nominees!

Gov. Ron DeSantis now has 60 days to select a new judge from among the nominees or direct the commission to submit a new slate of nominees.

04/14/2020

🤦‍♂️

Sweatpants and T-shirts may be the uniform for the new work-at-home workforce.

03/25/2020

New information regarding the courts below

To meet the unprecedented COVID-19 emergency, Chief Justice Charles Canady of the Florida Supreme Court issued a new order March 24 suspending jury trials statewide through April 17.

On issuing the order, the Chief Justice also released a new video to Florida’s legal community and the public about the pandemic’s impact on the state’s justice system.

“We are all facing an unprecedented challenge,” Canady said in the video. “The pandemic is now affecting everyone. We are living our lives in a way that none of us would have contemplated a few short weeks ago. And none of us can count on things getting easier any time soon. We face many tough choices on the path ahead of us.

“The pandemic presents an extraordinary challenge for the legal system. We depend on human interaction to achieve justice under the law. We are working to maintain that interaction while also minimizing the spread of the virus. I am confident that the courts, the legal profession, and all of our partners are up to the task.”

The March 24 order also extends an earlier suspension of speedy trial rules and related court procedures and directs all state courts to cancel or postpone court proceedings other than essential and critical ones.

It orders other measures designed to reduce the need for in-person contact in court proceedings as much as possible, including suspending some notarization requirements.

In addition, the Chief Justice may extend or change emergency orders in the weeks ahead as needed to address the changing emergency.

Canady’s video and all other Florida court COVID emergency orders and advisories are being linked on one webpage as they are reported on a statewide basis: https://www.floridasupremecourt.org/Emergency

03/18/2020

The Florida Supreme Court just released an update regarding non essential court proceedings.

BREAKING:

New Florida Supreme Court Administrative Order, released about 45 minutes ago.

Please read, members:https://www.floridasupremecourt.org/content/download/631996/7181425/AOSC20-15.pdf

03/17/2020

More closures of note.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has ordered bars and nightclubs throughout Florida closed for 30 days and placed restrictions on restaurant seating. Locally, the city of Lakeland is closing all recreation centers and libraries at the end of business today for at least 30 days, and the Polk Museum of Art announced...

03/16/2020

Chief Justice Charles Canady on March 13 suspended jury trials throughout the State Courts System in the interest of public health. Clerks of court and trial court administrators throughout the state will act to implement the administrative order and notify all who have been called for jury service....

03/13/2020

Be advised.

Due to COVID-19, most jury trials in the state courts will be suspended for a minimum of two weeks starting March 16 under a statewide order issued by Florida Chief Justice Charles Canady. The order takes effect Monday.

Also, Canady authorized local judges to use remote electronic means of conducting other legal proceedings whenever possible. The order will be extended or modified as needed in the future and is subject to existing constitutional requirements.

This is the first time jury trials have been ordered since Florida’s state courts system was unified by a constitutional amendment approved by state voters in 1972.

In the Friday order, Canady said these measures are needed because a public health emergency exists in the state courts. The emergency requires social distancing to reduce person-to-person transmission of the COVID-19 virus, the order said.

“Social distancing” is a public health measure designed to slow the spread of infectious disease by eliminating face-to-face meetings. It includes holding meetings using remote technology.

Under the Florida Constitution, the state’s chief justice is the chief administrative officer of the state courts system and can issue orders with statewide effect.

Canady’s order follows other emergency orders issued by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and state and national officials. The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic earlier this week.

Florida’s state courts system first began extensive emergency preparedness planning for infectious diseases in 2002 following the anthrax attacks in Florida a year earlier. Those plans were updated and deployed during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.

State court officials recently updated those planning materials again after the virus that causes COVID-19 emerged in China late last year. https://www.floridasupremecourt.org/

03/12/2020

FYI.

While no cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Polk County, numerous local organizations are canceling public events and taking other precautions. We’ll post updates here as we get them: …