Charlie Crist, Plaintiffs' Lawyer!

Oh heavily tanned one, you could have picked a better time what with all these silly legislative proposals your successor is kicking around, but welcome back anyways to the profession of law.

(h/t here)

Charlie Crist Gets A New Job!

The tan one is taking a job at Morgan & Morgan, that big time PI firm upstate:

Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has joined Morgan & Morgan. While serving in office, Crist was often referred to as “the People’s Governor.” His dedication and commitment to the people of Florida will remain the same as he works with the firm’s mass tort and class action department, fighting “for the people.” Crist said, “It's truly a privilege for me to have this opportunity to work all over our beautiful state. John Morgan has set up an incredible firm of very gifted people and it's truly an honor and a privilege to have this day come.” 

Morgan & Morgan was founded in 1988 with a single office and three attorneys; the firm has since grown into one of the largest in the southeast with 13 offices and over 170 lawyers, with a staff of more than 500 people. The growth and success of the firm can be attributed to a steadfast commitment to representing the people, not the powerful. It is this focus that appealed to Crist: “It’s really such a natural transition for me; to be with Morgan & Morgan and work with my dear friend John Morgan… he really is all about the people. That’s what I’ve always tried to do and aspire to do as a public servant. Now I’ll do it in the private sector.

I'm happy for him and think he'll do quite well at PI  (assuming Rick Scott will still allow people to sue) -- he's affable, easy going, quick on his feet and connects well with people.

Not everyone, of course, is thrilled.

For example, early Rubio-booster NRO thinks this is just, well, tacky and icky for any self-respecting elitist lawyer who should instead make big bucks representing mega corporations at [fill in the blank] BigFirm (perfectly ok by me btw):

All of which explains why some of my (admittedly, and archly, white-shoe) lawyer pals said yesterday when Morgan & Morgan announced its newest partner, “Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Hold on.

Just who are these "lawyer pals" -- Winthorpe's former friends at the club?

"And she stepped on the ball!"



And let me clue these condescending white-shoe ninnies in on something -- in Florida we actually have some prominent GOP conservative types who make a lot of money doing plaintiff's work -- Dean Colson for one comes to mind.

This means, you know, they actually have to interact with -- gross -- real human people, some of whom are poor, desperate and victimized, and try to help them with their problems and hope these lawyers get paid somewhere down the line and, even then, only if they are successful.

(This type of stuff never happens in white-shoe world).

If memory serves, as a matter of fact, former Senator and GOP chairman/original Hispanic poster boy Mel Martinez was a longtime partner at  -- yikes! -- Orlando PI firm Wooten Kimbrough.

What in the world would these "archly white-shoe lawyer pals" think of that?

(On second thought, don't answer that.)

3d DCA Watch -- Exciting New Changes in the Bunker!

Slim pickings inside the concrete hall of justice, kids.

Maybe it's because while the 1st DCA fends off calls by Governor Crist and Alex Sink to have the JQC investigate its letter-writing Chief Judge, our own Robed Ones have been delighting in a new coffee pot in the attorney's lounge which - rumor has it -- apparently includes genuine vending machine paper coffee cups with a wild card on the bottom!

Extravagant, even decadent perhaps, but the denizens who toil inside the bunker deserve nothing less.

So enjoy your flat screen empty, granite top missing, 100% African Sapele wood-free 3d DCA roundup:

Deno v. Lifemark Hospital:

Why would anyone voluntarily arbitrate under this med mal statute?

Barnett v. Bank of America:

Am I reading this wrong or did the bank allegedly try to intentionally injure its Bay Harbor employees?

Centennial v. Dolomite:

Judge Schwartz, in a vigorous dissent, has an aggravated case of "law of the case."

I had this once.

May I suggest some hydrocortisone cream and a nice oatmeal bath?