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Coffee Talk (Sara/Mana)
For whom the bell tolls - Louis Rukeyser
When Charles and Kim Githler want to recognize a friend, they really go all out.
The Githlers, owners of Sarasota-based InterShow, organized a recognition of financial journalist and TV personality Louis Rukeyser at the closing bell ceremony of The New York Stock Exchange on Monday, June 27. A special plaque along with gifts from NYSE was presented to William S. Rukeyser, who accepted on behalf of his brother. Forbes magazine also contributed to the festivities.
The Githlers have been friends of Rukeyser for many years, largely through their association with him and the Githlers' Money Shows, the national investment seminars held each year in Orlando and elsewhere. In a release issued by the Githlers they said of Louis Rukeyser: "Thanks to his work as a pioneering investment educator, today's individual investor is savvier, smarter and more self-reliant."
Sarasota was well represented at the occasion. Along with the Githlers was Sarasota investment manager Bob Stovall, now with Wood Asset Management.
SAR suit dismissed
Real estate agent Lois Hekker's antitrust lawsuit against the Sarasota Association of Realtors Inc. and its 2004 board of directors has been dismissed without prejudice. Profiled in the Review's Dec. 17 cover story, Hekker was suing the association for restraint of trade, saying it was wrong for the association to make access to Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data and universal-access lockbox keys contingent on membership.
On Wednesday, June 28, Judge James Moody Jr. dismissed the suit based on Hekker's severe illness. The ruling didn't cite specifics of Hekker's illness, and Coffee Talk was unable to reach her.
Spearheading the suit was Hekker's attorney David Barry of the San Francisco firm of Barry & Associates. Barry had a reputation for brining antitrust action against Realtor associations nationwide. Calls to Barry were not returned before deadline.
Curt Singleton, chief executive officer for the Sarasota association, says he thinks the suit is dead, but he acknowledge that with the way the judge dismissed it a refiling is not impossible.
Court records back online by summer?
The Committee on Privacy and Court Records issued a draft proposal on court records on the Internet with recommendations that fall mostly in favor of open-record advocates.
Clerks of court have been barred from showing judicial records over the Internet since March 2004, when Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Harry Lee Anstead issued a moratorium because of privacy concerns. The committee was created to review the issue and make recommendations.
Among the 24 issues discussed in the draft report are protections from posting family, juvenile, drug court, psychological and probate records. But, aside from contradictions in the text, most of the recommendations for the redaction/protection of confidential information are left to filers and affected parties rather than clerks of court.
The committee recommends that the Legislature enact laws to protect personal information housed by state agencies and data companies.
"I think possibly we could be right back to where we were with access," says Sarasota Clerk of Court Karen Rushing.
"How far back we can go on records will depend on what they choose as exemptions," Rushing says. "If we didn't treat them as exempt records before we may have to open the records going forward. I think it is certainly a good attempt to give as much access as possible."
A final proposal might be ready by summer.
Learning ethics in Sin City
The Sarasota County Bar Association is planning a continuing legal education trip to Las Vegas from Sept. 23-26. In Vegas, the bar plans to hold two CLE meetings: one on professionalism and one on ethics. Members of the Manatee County Bar Association are also invited. Members will stay at the Manadalay Bay Resort and Casino.
"This is just a great opportunity to develop camaraderie outside of the courtroom and the daily practice of law," says Sue Revell, executive director of the Manatee County Bar Association.
For reservations or more information, contact Kate Halvorsen 953-2612 or [email protected].
Bar trouble
Rumors swirled for months that the Tampa office of the Florida Bar had lost several of its senior attorneys, including Tom DeBerg and Steve Whelan. High employee turnover was reported to have brought a slowdown in the investigation and prosecution of lawyers accused of wrongdoing.
Well, it's true.
Tony Boggs, director of the bar's legal division, confirms that four of the six Tampa prosecutors quit in recent months.
To help the Tampa office, Miami bar prosecutors took over investigations in the 20th Circuit, which includes Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties. And the Orlando bar office has also pitched in on some investigations.
"One office of the bar system is suffering certainly," Boggs says. "But the system has 27 lawyers in it. Investigations are continuing."
DeBerg, who now practices family law as well as lawyer defense with Solomon Tropp PA in Tampa, says it was just time to leave. "I had been there 19 years - a long time," he says.
Stephen Whalen, also a longtime bar prosecutor, joined former bar prosecutor David Ristoff at his New Port Richey law firm, Williams Ristoff & Proper PLC.
Prosecutor William Thompson also left. And Coffee Talk hears bar counsel Debra Davis is leaving later this month. Davis could not be reached for comment.
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