A Tale of Two AGs -- Pam Bondi vs. Dan Gelber.

Happy Monday, kids!

Did you watch a bunch of show business kids making movies of themselves, you know they don't give a....

Oh well, you know the rest.

(Lost Wages)

Remember the last election?

As they say, these things have consequences.

That's why at the same time Miami Beach mensch Dan Gelber is helping foreclosure lawyer Marc Ben-Ezra "provide support with quality control and to help evaluate policies and procedures," whatever that means, the actual AG, Pam Bondi, is doing something really important -- stopping felons from ever voting again:

Attorney General Pam Bondi says it is too easy for felons to regain their civil rights in Florida and wants new restrictions, including a waiting period of up to five years before they can seek clemency.

“I don’t believe that any felon should have an automatic restoration of rights,” said Bondi, a former Tampa prosecutor elected in November. “I believe you should have to ask, and there should be an appropriate waiting period.” (ed. note -- right after the next election!)


Bondi’s proposal, set to be formally discussed at a March 9 Cabinet meeting, would reverse a major change that took place in April 2007 at the urging of former Gov. Charlie Crist, who said the civil rights restoration process in Florida was too cumbersome and cruel to many ex-offenders.

Crist’s changes streamlined the restoration process to allow tens of thousands of felons to regain their right to vote, sit on a jury and obtain various state licenses without having to undergo a lengthy review and hearing process.

 See what happens when people vote (except released felons)?

While the poor people sleepin'
With the shade on the light
While the poor people sleepin'
All the stars come out at night

11th Circuit Conducts Erie Analysis of Bremen Analysis of Krenkel Factors.

I'm sick of the law this afternoon.

Law, law, law.

I could note the 11th Circuit's surprise enforcement of a forum selection clause that sends Alabama customers to Cook County, IL -- where the Court is laying off employees left and right, so I'm sure they'll be real happy to see a new case where they have to apply Alabama law to an Alabama contract dispute.

I could point out Marc Ben-Ezra laying off 236 employees, and it's all his (former) client's fault:

Ben-Ezra & Katz, in a memo released by a company spokesman, said the firm was "forced to take this action after Fannie Mae surprisingly terminated its relationship with the firm." In a notice sent five days ago, Fannie Mae officials said all exisiting foreclosures, mediations and bankruptcies needed to be transferred to other loan servicers by Tuesday, citing "document execution" issues.

It's ok Marc, I've had "document execution" issues too, but I usually blame the Gin Gibsons and try to make it right in the morning.

Oh hail, let's talk George Shearing.

George was born both blind and British -- two massive limitations that he somehow managed to overcome.

I loved George's unique phrasing -- what he called "locked hands," which created a harmonic block chord effect that was mesmerizing and fascinating to watch.  His quintet pretty much played everything, and made everything their own.

I vividly recall seeing George at the original Sunrise Musical Theater sometime in the mid to late 70s, where he did a solo gig that was just out of this world.

In fact, one of his best albums was titled "Out of This World," a 1970 effort where Shearing tried to "get hip" by covering some modern tunes, including "Hey Jude" and "Here, There and Everywhere."

It didn't matter -- he could have played selections from the NYC Yellow Pages for two hours and it would have sounded just as good.

RIP Old Man.

Judge Cohen Lando Lowers the Boom on Marc Ben-Ezra.

I don't get why banks think the rules of evidence don't seem to apply to them.

Their argument on missing/misfiled/wrong docs is always basically "but come on, judge."

Would this work for anyone else?

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Maxine Cohen Lando expressed her displeasure Friday in a case that involved a property in Homestead with a $265,134 foreclosure judgment issued in July.

Lando said the so-called original note and original mortgage were filed months after the bank said those documents were lost.

"That in itself is a fraud upon the court," Lando wrote in an order to show cause as to why she should not hold Ben-Ezra & Katz attorneys in contempt.

But, she added, the action "pales in comparison" to the fact that the mortgage and note are to a different property in Lehigh Acres, and that the documents are improperly signed and notarized. Lando said her verbal contempt finding on Friday would be followed by a written order.

Although Marc Ben-Ezra, 44, was not the direct attorney handling the case, the homeowner's attorney Maria Mussari said the judge ordered the owner or head of the firm to appear. Ben-Ezra has no disciplinary history with the Florida Bar.

It's way past time there is some accountability not just in foreclosure work but with all sworn evidence submitted  -- if it doesn't fit, don't submit.

Marc's firm says it was trying to fix the problem:

In a statement late Thursday, the law firm acknowledged it had found "technical paperwork issues," but added that "there is no issue of whether the information in the affected files is correct. No homeowner has been hurt because of this."

The firm said it was correcting the issues. "Fannie Mae did not give us the chance to execute that plan," the statement said.

Is this blaming the client?