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Court denies execution stay for Fla. killer.
Firm News/Florida |
2014/01/10 23:44
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The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to block Tuesday's scheduled execution of an inmate convicted of fatally stabbing a prison guard while already on Florida's death row.
Askari Abdullah Muhammad, previously known as Thomas Knight, was set to die by lethal injection Tuesday evening.
The 62-year-old Muhammad was first condemned to die for the 1974 abduction and killings of Sydney and Lillian Gans, a Miami couple. He was sentenced to die again for killing corrections officer Richard Burke in 1980 using a sharpened spoon.
His execution has been delayed for so long because of numerous appeals and rulings, including a 1987 federal appeals court tossing out his death sentence because he hadn't been allowed to put character and background witnesses on the stand during the penalty phase. |
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BERGER SINGERMAN NAMES JAMES C. CUNNINGHAM, JR. SHAREHOLDER
Firm News/Florida |
2009/01/09 22:38
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The Florida business law firm Berger Singerman is pleased to announce that attorney James C. Cunningham, Jr. has been named a shareholder. He is a member of the firm’s Dispute Resolution Team, resident in its Miami office.
Cunningham joined the firm in 1998 and focuses his practice to commercial litigation with a concentration in labor and employment law.
“James is an extremely talented attorney with a wealth of commercial litigation experience, as well as a strong labor and employment law background, and we are pleased to announce that he is now a shareholder,” said Mitchell W. Berger, Chairman of Berger Singerman.
Mr. Cunningham has been in private practice as a litigator since 1981. He has been involved in significant litigation, including John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital, Inc. v. Bludworth, 452 So.2d 921 (Fla. 1984), by which the Supreme Court of Florida first recognized and set standards for living wills, and Telesat Cablevision, Inc. v. The City of Riviera Beach, Florida, 773 F. Supp. 383 (S.D. Fla. 1991) in which the trial court rejected First Amendment challenges to cable television regulations and recognized a municipality’s compelling governmental interests in regulating use of public rights-of-way. He has also been lead counsel in a significant case of securities fraud. Mr. Cunningham has litigated cases under the Americans With Disabilities Act and federal labor and employment statutes. He also was on the litigation team of a fired CEO of an international holding company. The litigation, claiming breach of contract, invasion of privacy, conspiracy to invade privacy, defamation and conspiracy to defame, resulted in a multi-million dollar settlement for the CEO. |
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FIFTEEN BERGER SINGERMAN ATTORNEYS NAMED TO 2009 EDITION OF THE BEST LAWYERS IN AMERICA
Firm News/Florida |
2008/12/17 22:43
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The Florida business law firm Berger Singerman is pleased to announce that fifteen lawyers were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in the recently released edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
Since its inception in 1983, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Because Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 25,000 leading attorneys cast almost two million votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers in their specialties, and because lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed, inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”
The Berger Singerman attorneys included in the 2009 edition are:
· James L. Berger - Real Estate Law
· Mitchell W. Berger - Commercial Litigation
· John D. Eaton - Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law
· Brian K. Gart - Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law
· Jordi Guso - Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law
· Melanie Ann Hines - Administrative Law
· Charles H. Lichtman – Commercial Litigation
· Daniel D. Mielnicki – Tax Law
· Sheldon S. Polish - Tax Law
· Leonard K. Samuels - Labor and Employment Law
· John “Jack” C. Shawde - Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law
· Paul Steven Singerman - Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law
· Arthur J. Spector - Bankruptcy and Creditor-Debtor Rights Law
· Daniel H. Thompson - Administrative Law, Environmental Law
· Bruce L. Udolf - Non-White-Collar Criminal Defense, White-Collar Criminal Defense |
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Kelley / Uustal Wins More Than $1 Million in Back Pay for Former Alamo Employee
Firm News/Florida |
2008/07/17 21:44
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McDonald Clark was the marketing genius behind Alamo-Rent-a-Car’s glory days. When Alamo was taken over by Republic Industries in 1996, Republic entered into a new employment contract with Clark which provided for certain payments to Clark for 10 years if his contract was not renewed. Republic later changed its name to AutoNation and spun off Alamo into a separate company. When Alamo went bankrupt, AutoNation refused to make the payments.
Clark hired the attorneys at Kelley / Uustal to fight to enforce the agreement. After six years of litigation, the jury found that Clark was entitled to $1,098,800. The jury deliberated for only a few minutes after the four-day trial, which included testimony from a host of former Republic executives, including Steve Berrard and Michael Karsner.
“McDonald had a contract which was negotiated by Republic, written by Republic on Republic letterhead, and signed by Republic’s CEO, Steve Berrard,” explained John Uustal, who tried the case with his partner, Todd Falzone. “Republic tried to use Alamo’s bankruptcy as an excuse to avoid responsibility. But the jury didn’t buy it. A deal’s a deal.”
Clark’s five-year contract with Alamo included a 10-year, $100,000-a-year salary continuation benefit that would begin at the end of the contract. One year into the contract, Alamo was sold and Republic, now AutoNation, renegotiated the contract. In 2000, the contract was not renewed, and Clark began receiving his salary continuation payments. By November of 2001, however, Alamo filed bankruptcy and the payments stopped.
“AutoNation’s CEO gave Mr. Clark his word that this contract would be fully honored. But when it came time for them to make good on that promise, AutoNation turned its back,” said Falzone. “Thanks to the Judge and Jury, we had a fair trial and a just verdict.”
Mr. Clark’s claim for attorney’s fees is still pending. |
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South Florida Law Firm Gives Low Income Clients a Legal Lift
Firm News/Florida |
2008/06/12 21:45
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The Law Firm of Caserta, Spiriti & Gonzalez, is providing a helping hand to Floridians, allowing “eligible” low income individuals access to a full service lawfirm with deeply discounted legal care.
The services will fall under the firm’s Affordable Legal Lift Program ™. This program was spearheaded by Senior Member, David Caserta, who after returning back from Tallahassee and witnessing first hand the devastating State Budget Cuts, immediately called a meeting with the firm’s Managing Member, Joe Spiriti, to discuss how the firm could reach out to the overwhelming number of Floridians that cannot afford legal services. Aided by Attorney/Member Maria Cristina Gonzalez, who previously dedicate several years as a family law practitioner with the Dade County Legal Aid Society, Spiriti reviewed some of the public and private programs offered in several states. After weeks of review and joined commitments by all of the Attorneys in the firm, the Affordable Legal Lift Program™ was created.
To be eligible for the Affordable Legal Lift Program ™, individuals will need to fill out a simple application, provide current paystubs, or similar proof of income, and fall within the Client Financial Eligibility Guidelines, which have been set by the firm. The Guidelines are based on Size of Household and Annual Income.
Under the Affordable Legal Lift Program ™, Caserta, Spiriti & Gonzalez will provide as much as a 50% discount off their usual and customary hourly rate. In addition, on Contingency Fee Cases (Where the fee is usually expressed as a percentage of the amount collected or awarded), Caserta, Spiriti & Gonzalez may accept a reduced fee as low as 20% if the case is settled before formal court proceedings begin or 25% if settled after filing the lawsuit.
“With the increased number of foreclosures and level of unemployment, everyone needs to give each other a Lift,” says Caserta. |
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