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The First Party Claims Conference (FPCC) will be hosting its annual meeting in Warwick, Rhode Island from October 19-21, 2015. 

For those who are unfamiliar, “FPCC is a nationally recognized provider of education specifically designed for adjusters, public adjusters, attorneys and others in the first party property insurance claims community.”   They are also closely associated with the National Association of Public Insurance Adjusters (“NAPIA”). 
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Continue Reading Save the Date: First Party Claims Conference October 19-21, 2015 in Warwick, RI

Austin, Texas Federal Judge Sam Sparks recently issued a novel Order in response to a fairly routine discovery dispute:

Greetings and Salutations!

You are invited to a kindergarten party on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1,2011, at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom 2 of the United States Courthouse, 200 W. Eighth Street, Austin, Texas.

The party will feature many exciting and informative lessons, including:

  • How to telephone and communicate with a lawyer

  • How to enter into reasonable agreements about deposition dates

  • How to limit depositions to reasonable subject matter

  • Why it is neither cute nor clever to attempt to quash a subpoena for technical failures of service when notice is reasonably given; and

  • An advanced seminar on not wasting the time of a busy federal judge and his staff because you are unable to practice law at the level of a first year law student.

Invitation to this exclusive event is not RSVP. Please remember to bring a sack lunch! The United States Marshals have beds available if necessary, so you may wish to bring a toothbrush in case the party runs late.

Accordingly,

IT IS ORDERED that defense counsel Jonathan L. Woods, and movants’ attorney Travis Barton, shall appear in Courtroom 2 of the United States Courthouse, 200 W. Eighth Street, Austin, Texas, on THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2011, at 10:00 a.m., for a memorable and exciting event

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Continue Reading Federal Judge Hosts Kindergarten Party for Attorneys in Discovery Dispute

The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Lenny Kravitz, Mos Def, Trombone Shorty, and Tim Robbins recorded a version of The New Orleans Mardi Gras classic, It Ain’t My Fault, by Joseph Smokey Johnson and Wardell Joseph Quezergue, updating some of the lyrics for the Gulf Aid concert:
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Continue Reading A Thoroughly Enjoyable and Inexpensive Way to Help Those Injured By the Oil Spill

The hosting site for this blog is experiencing problems caused by a massive amount of comment spam generated by ‘spambots’ automatically posting random junk comments to their network.

The hosting site has temporarily disabled comments on the blog while fixing the issue. They have also had to temporarily disable the email notifications that are sent out…

I appreciate the kind comments and suggestions many readers express regarding the educational nature of this Blog. Our new law firm website also has many reference materials and some funny news videos of yours truly trying to comment on a variety of legal issues.

If you have any comments or suggestions regarding our new website…

My collegues and I coined a new term in 2004, following Hurricane Ivan. We became co-counsel with the prominent Pensacola firm of Levin, Papatonio, Thomas, Echner & Proctor. They brought a brilliant attorney, Bobby Loehr, out of semi-retirement to work with me on their insurance claim litigation. We referred to hurricane cases where nothing was left of our clients homes or businesses as "slab cases." It was an important legal designation because of the anti-concurrent causation issues and the then applicable Florida Valued Policy Laws. Upon my arrival in Mississippi just following Katrina, it was obvious to me the same litigation was going to ensue; there were thousands of "slab" cases. We actually noted these cases because they generally had the most significant damage and the most unresolved legal questions. …

Continue Reading Slabbed

After a long day of work, I called a client at 11:38 on Saturday night to confirm the resolution of a long and hard-fought lawsuit. An attorney in our Houston office and my paralegal immediately emailed, thanking me that they could stop working around the clock to prepare the case for trial. My work day started at 5 am, checking out the Hurricane Ike forecast. Following a two hour run with my St. Petersburg running buddies, I was on a plane with David Pettinato, our firm’s hardest working attorney. We flew to Ft. Lauderdale to meet with public adjusters and sign the closing of a large case David recently won.  …

Continue Reading A Work and Play Saturday