Florida – Page 9 – Miamilawyer1.com

June 2, 2014

Weekly Review for Florida Insurance Law for Friday, June 6, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week for the insurance industry, Florida insurance law, Florida insurance claims, and Florida insurance trends. Enjoy!

Aetna, Humana, Cigna Accused of Bias Against AIDS Patients in Florida
Advocates for people with HIV and AIDS charged that insurers including Aetna Inc., Humana Inc. and Cigna Corp. have discriminated against Obamacare patients in Florida infected with the virus.

The Tampa-based AIDS Institute and the National Health Law Program, an advocacy group in Washington, filed a complaint with the U.S. Health and Human Services Department alleging that the insurers tried to steer HIV and AIDS patients away from plans offered in the federal insurance exchange in Florida by restricting coverage of medicines for the disease. In mid-level “silver plans” offered in Florida, all three insurers require high out-of-pocket spending before covering any HIV/AIDS drugs, even generic ones, the groups said.
Read more here…

Chaucer to Open Miami Office to Build Latin American Business
Chaucer, a specialist Lloyd’s insurance group, said it will open an office in Miami, Florida during the fourth quarter of 2014 to develop Latin American business for Chaucer Syndicate 1084.

Uwe Fischer, region development director for Latin America, will relocate from Chaucer’s office in Buenos Aires to lead the new office. He will be joined by Alejandro Ferrin, property facultative underwriter. Read more here…

Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for Florida Insurance Law!

June 2, 2014

Weekly Review for U.S. Veterans for Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week for U.S. Veterans, Veterans assistance programs, Veterans jobs, Veterans counseling, Veterans recognition, Veterans oral history, Veterans museums, military history and World War 2.

70th D-Day Anniversary: National World War II Museum Events
As the world comes together to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Normandy invasion, The National WWII Museum will host two days of events to honor, educate and reflect on the invasion that paved the way to the Allied Victory in Europe.
Remember the men who fought and explore the obstacles they faced during the special events happening at the Museum. Join us in New Orleans at the Museum, where the iconic Higgins boats used to storm the beaches were manufactured, to commemorate D-Day and to celebrate the Museum’s 14th Birthday.

Weekly Review for Law Practice Tips for Friday, May 30, 2014

Florida Law Practice Updates Friday, May 30, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week related to law practice management, law technology, and legal marketing. Enjoy!

Legal Tech Tips: Android Guide: Extending your Android Device’s Battery Life
One of the biggest gripes among device users is battery life. Devices and batteries are not created equal and the status quo for battery life seems to be about a day, from the time that someone wakes up in the morning and unplug their phone from the charger, to the point where they plug it in at night before they go to bed.
This all assumes that you don’t have one of those days where you’re talking to people all day or you get into a heated texting discussion with a friend, or you just can’t get off of Facebook. Read more here: http://www.howtogeek.com/school/basic-android-guide/lesson3/

Legal Tech Tips: 5 Ways to Run Windows Software on a Mac
Macs have a thriving ecosystem of software, but some programs still only support Windows. Whether you want to use business software or play Windows PC games, there are many ways to run Windows programs on your Mac.
Some of these methods are similar to the ways you can install Windows software on Linux or run Windows programs on a Chromebook. Virtual machines, dual-booting, the Wine compatibility layer, and remote desktop solutions are all included here. Read more here: http://www.howtogeek.com/187359/5-ways-to-run-windows-software-on-a-mac/

Legal Marketing Tips: Top Words To Use In Your Law Firm Blog Post Headlines
You know that strong headlines that attract attention to your blog post, articles, ezines, emails (and more) are very important. How would you like to know which words you can use that will do exactly this – attract the attention of your readers? Imagine a stronger interest in your law firm blog posts, simply with a few tweaks to your headlines?
Read more here: http://lawmarketing.com/top-words-to-use-in-your-law-firm-blog-post-headlines/

Law Practice Management Tips: Do You Tell People You’re “Affordable”?
You’re “affordable.” I know that you’re affordable because I read it on your website. It’s in bold. “Affordable” means cheap, right? You’re cheap? Yep, you’re underpricing. Why are you underpricing?

1. You think that if it’s cheap you’re less likely to be rejected,
2. You think you’re less likely to disappoint, and
3. You won’t feel badly when you sell it.

Those are good ways for avoiding emotional pain. Those aren’t good reasons for underpricing. The only reason you should be cheap is because you’ve figured out a way to offer your service for less than the competition. And even then, you should carefully craft your pricing strategy in light of the market. Low prices are the last refuge of the marketer who’s not particularly good at his job. Is that you? Read more here: https://www.divorcediscourse.com/people-youre-affordable/

Litigation Tips: Ten ideas for better depositions
I recently became involved in a case where all the depositions had already been taken. The opposing lawyers were partners in a very large, very well-known law firm. And my predecessors on the case came from a firm with a recognizable name. The case was pending in Federal Court, so the depositions were all limited to 7 hours. While reviewing the depositions for use at trial, I marveled at the amount of time spent on things that were of no interest to the trial as well as some other quirks that struck me as pointless. So I started keeping a list, which I shared with my partner, Mark Sayre. Mark added a few of his own pet peeves, and together we created this list of 10 “Don’t Do These Things At Depositions.”
Read more here: http://www.patrickjlamb.com/2014/04/27/ten-ideas-for-better-depositions/

Legal Practice Tips: Beware of the Tricks Used to Encourage a Witness to Volunteer
Most witnesses do not understand the purpose of a deposition and believe their job is to teach the questioning attorney everything they know; indeed, many believe if they did any less, they “wouldn’t be telling the truth.” But a witness who talks too much, either in deposition or trial, can be a liability because volunteering information can potentially highlight vulnerabilities for the other side. Witnesses need to be educated about the purpose of a deposition – i.e., it is a fact-finding opportunity for opposing counsel, not an interview or a casual chat. Given this purpose, it is the opposing attorney’s burden (and job) to ask the right question, not a witness’ job to help and offer more than was asked. The first step in the process of getting a witness to stop volunteering too much information is educating the witness about the strategies opposing counsel might use to goad new (and sometimes even experienced) witnesses into talking a bit too much, thereby opening up potential and unexpected vulnerabilities for the case.
Read more here: http://www.thejuryexpert.com/2014/05/beware-of-the-tricks-used-to-encourage-a-witness-to-volunteer/

Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for Law Practice Tips!

May 27, 2014September 10, 2018

Weekly Review for Florida Insurance Law for Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Florida Insurance Law Updates for May 28, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week for the insurance industry, Florida insurance law, Florida insurance claims, and Florida insurance trends. Enjoy!

Florida Gov. Scott to Veto 75 mph Speed Limit Bill
Responding to pleas from highway troopers and the state’s sheriffs, Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday he will veto a bill that could increase the speed limit on Florida highways from 70 to 75 mph.

Scott said that he has decided to “stand with law enforcement” who urged him to veto the legislation that narrowly passed the Florida Legislature late last month.
Earlier this month, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper who was mourning a colleague killed after being struck by a vehicle told Scott that raising the speed limit “wasn’t a bright idea.” Trooper Tod G. Cloud also told Scott the job he feared the most was working an accident on Interstate 75 because people “do not drive with common sense.” Read more here.

Summary Judgment not allowed for Insurance Company if there is some Compliance with Examination Under Oath Requests
In Solano v. State Farm Florida Insurance Company, 4D12-1198 (Fla. 4DCA 2014), a Florida homeowner insurance claim case, the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal held that it was improper to award summary judgment to an insurance company when the homeowner cooperated to some extent with the requests for an examination under oath.

Here, the insurance company demanded an examination under oath for both owners of the home plus their Florida public adjuster. The husband attended the examination under oath but the Florida public adjuster refused claiming that he could not be compelled to do so. The homeowner and public adjuster provided documentation to support the claim to the insurance company and cooperated with inspection requests. Read more here.

Florida Cat Fund Has $13 Billion As Hurricane Season Starts
Florida is heading into hurricane season with good news.

The state-created fund that backs up private insurers in Florida appears to be in very good financial shape again this year.

New projections show that the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund should have nearly $13 billion available for the Atlantic hurricane season that starts on June 1.
On Thursday, an advisory panel for the fund will hear Wall Street firm estimates on how much money the fund would have to borrow if Florida was hit with a devastating storm. Those estimates show that the fund should be able borrow more than enough for this year. Read more here.

No Hurricanes to Hit Southeast This Year, Say Coastal Carolina Forecasters
Scientists at Coastal Carolina University expect no hurricane to make landfall on the East Coast or in the Gulf of Mexico this year.

The forecast Tuesday anticipates a “below to near normal” hurricane season in 2014. Hurricane season begins June 1 and ends Nov. 30.

The school said the most likely forecast is for no landfall in the Southeast. The second most likely scenario would be for one hurricane to hit the East Coast and another to strike in the Gulf of Mexico. Read more here.

Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for Florida Insurance Law!

May 14, 2014

Weekly Review for Law Practice Tips for week of Friday, May 16, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week related to law practice management, law technology, and legal marketing. Enjoy!

Be “Offensive” to Succeed
In my experience, the best defense usually prevails over the best offense. The Seattle Seahawks, ostensibly the better defender, prevailed over the Denver Broncos, ostensibly the better offense, in the recent Super Bowl by bringing its best defensive skills into play.

However, the playing field is different in the practice of law. Unlike football players, lawyers need to be offensive, not defensive. In this case, offensive doesn’t mean hurting someone’s feelings, which is never a good thing to do in the business of law. Rather, offensive means being proactive.

In particular, lawyers must be proactive to develop effective client relations, which will always win the day. Effective client relations will create loyal clients who will sing your praises far and wide. What are some of the best practices that you might consider?
Read more here…

One Simple Ingredient for a Happier Workplace
Sandra asked the team of legal support staff she manages what would contribute to their motivation at work. They all told her “appreciation – being thanked when we do a good job.”

Mark , a young associate, is unhappy at his firm. One of the things bothering him about the culture is the lack of appreciation for people’s efforts.
Chelsea and her close colleagues laugh at themselves for being foolish: after all their years of practice they still hanker after an appreciative word from their partners for taking on some of the essential but non-billable work critical to the firm’s business. The word of thanks never comes.
Over the past few weeks numerous lawyers from law firms around the country have shared the same thought about appreciation with me – it goes something like this:

I don’t work for the money. Yes, money is essential, but the real satisfaction comes from helping people. And what I long for are a few words of appreciation when I go the extra mile for someone.

In law firms around the country it seems that one of the hardest things to come by is a kind word from someone for a job well done.

Weekly Review for Law Practice Tips for Friday, May 2, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week related to law practice management, law technology, and legal marketing. Enjoy!

The $75 Disaster
Mistakes piled up one after another as soon as Donna Shelton walked through the door. In 2011, Shelton had signed a promissory note for a $40,000 loan. She stopped making payments after one year and was promptly sued by the lender. She came to attorney Marshall Austin’s office in 2012 with a copy of the complaint and no good options. Read more here…

The Elevator Pitch
The concept of an “elevator pitch” is familiar to anyone in the business world. The basic idea is to prepare yourself to make a business pitch suitable for an elevator ride with an important decision maker. The challenge is to explain a product or service quickly, in a persuasive and memorable way that captures the decision maker’s attention. Read more here…

Are we seeing the end of lawyer profiles on websites?
The day is going to soon come when law firms do away with lawyer profiles on their websites. This from White & Case CMO, Michael Hertz (@MichaelHertz), during our LMA panel discussion last week. The reason being, per Hertz, is that present traffic to the LinkedIn profiles of the firm’s lawyers is far exceeding the traffic to bio’s on the firm’s website. This may not be music to the ears of website developers, but a world without website profiles is not without precedent. Read more here…

Thanks for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s Weekly Review for Law Practice Tips!

April 13, 2014

Weekly Review for Law Practice Tips for Friday, April 18, 2014

Law Practice Tips for week of April 14, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week related to law practice management, law technology, and legal marketing. Enjoy!

Working Remotely: Managing Solitude
Working remotely has many benefits as we’ve discussed in this series. It can also be lonely. If you’re working from home, it’s you, the computer and the four walls.
Contrast that with being surrounded by people on your commute to and from work, drop-bys and lunch with co-workers, and meetings with clients and visitors. But, it doesn’t have to be lonely. Here are a few tips to stay engaged and keep loneliness at bay while maintaining the kind of productivity that makes working away from the office appealing. Read more here…

Worst Times To Post To Your Law Firm Social Networks
When is the best time to post to your social networks? When is the worst time to post? If you’re going to take the time to post to social media networks such as LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter and Facebook, you want to certainly want to see some action – people reading your post, clicking through to your blog to read more or checking out a link that you referred/recommended. Read more here…

3 Ways To Get More Out Of Every Single Hour
Time is a key resource that we simply cannot replenish. The 24 hours of each day are all we are given—once spent, these hours are lost forever. This means that if you’re struggling to fit all of your priorities and “to-dos” into your day, it’s time to look for methods to use those hours and minutes more effectively. Here are a few research-backed suggestions that can help you make the most of the time you have. Read more here…

Will 2014 Be One of the Worst Years for Law Firms?
As part of our first quarter Legal Analytics activities, we’ve been analyzing invoice data for 2013 and the early part of 2014. While there were some expected trends, I’ve been genuinely startled by some of what we’ve learned. Our data shows that demand for legal services, as measured by billed fees, was fairly flat across the industry from 2012 to 2013. And it confirms one of the things we in the industry have observed anecdotally for some time: work for outside counsel is moving from the largest Am Law 100 firms, whose fees were up less than a third of a percent, to smaller ones, with Am Law 101-200 firms showing a 4.9% increase and Unranked firms seeing a 2.5% rise. Read more here…

Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for Law Practice Tips!

April 13, 2014September 10, 2018

Weekly Review for Florida Insurance Law for Monday, April 14, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week for the insurance industry, Florida insurance law, Florida insurance claims, and Florida insurance trends. Enjoy!

Insurance Company Awarded Attorney’s Fees Against Insurance Claimant
In Citizens Property Insurance Corporation v. Perez, 4D12-1412 (Fla. 4DCA 2014), a new Florida insurance law case, the insurance company was seeking attorney’s fees and costs against its policyholder when the policyholder lost a Florida insurance claim lawsuit. The legal basis for attorney’s fees and costs was based on a Proposal for Settlement made under Florida Statute 768.79 and Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.442. In the proposal for settlement, the insurance company made a minimal offer of $1,000.00 to which the policyholder rejected. The policyholder argued the insurance company was not entitled to attorney’s fees and costs because the minimal offer was not made in good faith. The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal held that an insurance company’s minimal offer was in good faith if it had a reasonable basis at the time of the offer to believe its exposure was nominal. The Fourth District Court of Appeal found that the insurance company had a reasonable basis to believe its exposure was nominal and the minimal offer was made in good faith. Read more here…

Flood Insurance Reforms May Be Missing The Mark
Reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program have been passed, but these changes may have little impact on the actual cost of flood protection in many parts of the U.S. The reforms were meant to limit the rate at which flood protection becomes more expensive, but homeowners in many parts of the country could face “extreme costs” when it comes to their coverage in the coming months. In Winona County, Minnesota, for instance, homeowners are being told to brace for rate shock as flood protection becomes more expensive. Read more here…

Florida Senate Passes Parasailing Insurance Bill
Parasailing in Florida moved closer to becoming a regulated industry lat week, with the Senate approving a bill that would place safety guidelines on companies.
The legislation details insurance, equipment and license requirements, along with weather conditions that would force operations to temporarily stop. The bill passed 40-0. Read more here…

Carriers Being Selective with Citizens Clearinghouse Agency Appointments
Florida’s state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. says the initial opening of its new web-based clearinghouse designed to make it easier for private insurers to write its policies has been promising, although the number of policies removed by insurers has been modest due to the reluctance of companies to appoint agents. Citizens launched the clearinghouse at the end of January, making it the latest tool for the insurer to reduce its 940,000-plus policyholders. Read more here…

Thank you for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for Florida Insurance Law!

April 10, 2014

Weekly Review for Law Practice Tips for Friday, April 11, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week related to law practice management, law technology, and legal marketing. Enjoy!

Microsoft Office for iPad sets the gold standard for tablet productivity:
It took four years, but Microsoft has finally released full-featured Office apps for the iPad. As expected, the new Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps are free to install but require an Office 365 subscription to unlock the full set of features. Here’s what you can expect. Read more here…

Going Paperless A to Z:
Reducing your firm’s paper storage requires initial investments of money and effort. But soon you’ll realize the benefits in terms of dollars and time saved and available for billable client work. Read more here…

Thanks for reading (and sharing). Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for Law Practice Tips!

image credit: wisbar.org

April 6, 2014September 10, 2018

Weekly Review for Florida Insurance Law for Monday, April 7, 2014

Here are some recent articles of interest that I found this week for the insurance industry, Florida insurance law, Florida insurance claims, and Florida insurance trends. Enjoy!

Flood insurance bill is now signed into law:
On March 21, 2014, President Obama signed the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 into law. This law repeals and modifies certain provisions of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act, which was enacted in 2012. FEMA looks forward to working with Congress, the private Write Your Own Insurance Companies, and other stakeholders to implement these Congressionally-mandated reforms and to working toward our shared goals of helping families maintain affordable flood insurance, ensuring the financial stability of the NFIP and reducing the risks and consequences of flooding nationwide. FEMA will continue to identify and publish special flood hazards and flood risk zones as authorized and required by Congress. Read more here…

Florida Supreme Court Throws Out Medical Damages Caps Law:
The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s caps on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice wrongful death cases violate the state Constitution’s equal protection clause. The 5-2 opinion held that the way the caps reduce damages “is not only arbitrary, but irrational” and it “offends the fundamental notion of equal justice under the law.” Read more here…

When Do I Need a Lawyer for My Florida Insurance Claim?
Sadly, it is not a question of whether you will need a lawyer for your insurance claim but rather when you need a lawyer for your insurance claim. Insurance companies have made it a routine practice to deny insurance claims. Insurance claims are denied because it is profitable to do so. Every penny not paid for an insurance claim is a penny earned for the insurance company. Read more here…

Florida Home Foreclosure Rate Falls But Still Triple National Average
The residential foreclosure rate in Florida, which has the highest percentage of delinquent mortgages in the U.S., declined to 6.2 percent in January, according to a report by CoreLogic Inc. That’s down from 10.1 percent from a year earlier. Florida’s rate was triple the national average of 2 percent, according to the report by Irvine, California-based mortgage data and software company. Florida led the nation with 116,000 foreclosures completed in the 12 months through January, the company said in a separate report in February. Read more here…

Florida Homeowners Insurance ‘Bill of Rights’ Slowed by Fraud Measure
Florida’s chief financial officer went to the Legislature this spring with a simple request: grant additional protections to customers dealing with property insurance companies. But the push by Jeff Atwater is in serious jeopardy. That’s because insurers, such as State Farm Florida, are only willing to accept the added protections if they come with other changes that could help keep their costs down. Read more here…

Added two more case histories for actual results obtained:
There are two components for evaluating a lawyer and lawfirm. First, how did the lawyer and lawfirm go about its business and treat its clients? That information for Russell Law can be found in “Testimonials”. Secondly, what results did the lawyer and lawfirm achieve for its clients? Read more here…

Thank you for reading (and sharing).

Stay tuned for next week’s weekly review for Florida Insurance Law!