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The Business Law Section of The Florida Bar, organized in 1970, serves Florida lawyers, judges and the faculty of its law schools. Its members share a common interest in laws affecting Florida's businesses, including corporate, contract, bankruptcy, franchise, antitrust, securities, and intellectual property law. The Section also addresses the process for resolving business disputes in Florida, including commercial litigation and alternative dispute resolution.
The mission of the Pro Bono Committee is To achieve 100% participation in Pro Bono Service by Business Law Section members and attorneys in their firms
Make your plans for the The Florida Bar Annual Convention NOW!
Wednesday, June 26- Friday, June 28, 2013 in Boca Raton
More details, including hotel and convention registration
Chair's Message for May
It is with great pleasure and extreme pride that I get to formally brag about the Section’s legislative and leadership accomplishments this year!
As some of you may have heard, but I cannot help repeating, the Section’s special task force - headed up by former Chair of the Section, Lou Conti (2009-2010) – which has been working on the revisions to Florida’s LLC statute for more than 3 years, scored a big win! On Friday, May 3, after an all-out effort by everyone involved to maintain momentum and get it done this year, the Revised LLC Act was passed as the last bill enacted by the 2013 Florida Legislature with 117 yea and 0 nays in the Florida House!
It was (by all accounts) an extraordinary effort by our sponsors Representative Charles McBurney in the House, and State Senator, David Simmons in the Senate (both of whom were incredibly proactive and out there for us), and by our Lobbying team of Bill Wiley, Aimee Diaz Lyon, and Greg Black. Huge thanks also goes to the core group of the LLC drafting task force who have literally been working daily since January to ensure passage, including Lou Conti, Greg Marks, Steve Lear, Gary Teblum, Phil Schwartz, Manuel Utset and Brenda Tadlock.
This has been an unforgettable experience for everyone involved, and the leadership of the Section wants to thank all you and all the other Section members involved (too numerous to mention, but no less important to the cause) for your contributions, patience, and good humor when disagreements arose, or times got tough and the hours long.
While passage of the Revised LLC Act was definitely a sweet and dramatic success for the Section, you also need to know that the outcome of the Revised Uniform Arbitration Act (RUAA) (SB 530/HB 693) was equally in the same category. Suffice to say it took tremendous energy and efforts by lots of folks involved in the Section - with Jon Polenberg, our Vice Chair for Legislation walking the point—to get that bill passed. The legislative sponsors for this bill are Senator Thrasher and Representative Moraitis who deserve our gratitude and admiration for all their support – they are real friends of the Section
In addition to the Revised LLC Act being passed at the 11th hour, we learned late on Friday that all of the Section's nominees to the Inaugural Class of The Florida Bar Leadership Academy have been accepted and will now be our sponsored Fellows to the Academy. This is a tremendous accomplishment for the future leadership of the Section and The Bar - we have every reason to be extremely proud of our colleagues, Jodi Cooke, Doug Bates, Alvin Benton and Kelly Swartz.
Congrats to all of you - you make us proud! I want to thank former Chairs, Mike Higer and Mindy Mora, as well as Chair Elect, Steph Nagin and Secretary/Treasurer, Judge Van Nortwick for their assistance in the review and nomination process. Although our candidates were very strong and deserving, it certainly helped to have the existing leadership of the Section involved in our commitment to this new program! Thanks to all of you.
At the Executive Council Retreat late last month in Napa Valley, a concern (surprising to some, well known to others) was expressed by members of our Long Range Planning Committee (“LRP,”comprised of our former Section Chairs, and this year Chaired by Greg Yadley at my request) that the Section does not have an entirely accurate common understanding of our Committee chairs’ and vice chairs’ total involvement, in the Section, national, regional and local bar organizations, as well as in the Big Bar. As a matter for our Historian, Phil Schwartz and current leadership, we believe that taking inventory of each person’s participation would be helpful in LRP’s future discussions and recommendations for leadership in the Section. To that end, Greg will be following up with each and every member of the Executive Council in this project - the Section will be putting together a service history of the Section, and we are requesting each member to submit a list of all years served on EC, positions held over the years, and any honors or special recognition awarded by, the Section, the Florida Bar, a local Bar association and the ABA. We will also be asking members of the EC for two or three accomplishments the member considers his or her most important contributions to the Section and perhaps a one or two sentence quote about the Section's influence on his or her professional career. This should be a valuable tool for all of us.
Although June is right around the corner, we still have a lot to do before the June meeting, including finalizing the RFP candidates for the Section’s social media platform discussed in greater depth at our January meeting. So, let's finish strong for this Program Year. If you have any items that need to be on the Agenda for the June meeting, please let me know as soon as you can.
Have a great week and see you in Boca in June!
Brian
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2013 Legislative Session Updates
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03/18/13
We are saddened to share the news that our friend and colleague Jim Foster passed away last night.
Contributions in lieu of flowers can be made to the Community Foundation of Central Florida, Inc., 1411 Edgewater Dr., Suite 203, Orlando, FL 32804. Contributions will be used to benefit initiatives for children in Central Florida. Please note on your checks that donations are in memory of Jim Foster.
3/11/13
Business Law Section to Nominate Fellows to The Florida Bar Leadership Academy
As was contemplated by the Section’s Declaration of Support of The Florida Bar Leadership Academy at the Section’s Executive Council Meeting in Orlando this last January, the Section is interested in nominating any member who may be interested and qualified to participate in the Inaugural Class of the Academy.
Applications are available at: http://www.floridabar.org/leadershipacademy and the Section’s nominations and any applications are due by April 1, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. The Executive Committee of the Section will consider making a Section nomination and financially sponsoring such nominee’s application provided we receive your application by not later than 5:00 p.m. on March 20, 2013. Submissions should be directed to Section Chair, Brian K. Gart by email to
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03/07/13
Florida Supreme Court limits the application of the economic loss rule to cases involving products liability. Read the case.
- Winter 2012 Chairs Message
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Legal Opinion Standards Committee
The "Report on Third Party Legal Opinion Customary Practice in Florida, dated December 3, 2011" is now available. To obtain a copy, click here.
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CLE from Your Desk - Free Web Based Streaming CLE Video Seminars for Business Law Section Members are Now Available! Click here to view
The Business Law Section has created a series of streaming video Continuing Legal Education seminars. The seminars may be used as a preparatory aid for the Florida Bar's Business Litigation Certification exam or as stand alone seminars. Each seminar is approximately one hour in length and may be fully completed from any computer with internet access. The programs are being offered to Business Law Section members at no charge. Please take advantage of this valuable Section membership benefit.
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