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Coffee Talk (Tampa)
Help disabled or oneself?
South Florida attorney Todd Shulby and his disabled client Johnny Long are at it again: They recently filed about more 15 lawsuits against Tampa Bay area businesses, alleging numerous violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Local attorneys have accused the Plantation lawyer of ambushing business owners because they send no notification of a problem prior to the filing of the lawsuit, says Ford & Harrison attorney Todd Aidman.
The newest defendants include Kane Furniture Corp., Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. and Bob Evans Farms Inc.
While it is true the businesses are usually in technical violation of the ADA, Aidman says, they don't always realize it.
In most instances, the companies don't have the financial wherewithal to pay a defense attorney to handle the case, he says, adding: "They try to engage in a quick settlement with the plaintiff's attorney."
Aidman says Shulby has requested as much as $15,000 in fees.
"If the goal is to have compliance, a lot of times that could be achieved by sending a demand letter prior to the filing of a lawsuit," he says. "These cases aren't supposed to be about attorneys' fees, they're supposed to be about compliance with the ADA."
D-day coming?
A federal hearing officer could rule within days on a civil fraud complaint with possible repercussions for Raymond James Financial Inc.
In July, the Securities and Exchange Commission granted an extension until Sept. 15 to the hearing officer, who is considering whether Raymond James condoned misconduct by a former broker affiliated with the firm in Rhode Island.
Dennis S. Herula is in federal prison. But the ex-broker placed the broker-dealer unit of St Petersburg-based Raymond James in the position of being the first firm to face an SEC fraud complaint in a decade.
If a decision goes against Raymond James Financial Services Inc., the SEC has asked the hearing officer to order the broker-dealer to pay $16.5 million in restitution to clients. Also, the SEC wants Raymond James Financial Services to halt office expansion until the broker-dealer improves supervision of independent contractors, as Herula was.
The more than 3,800 independent contractors affiliated with Raymond James are a major revenue source for the firm.
Raymond James denies wrongdoing, and Tom James, the firm's chairman and chief executive, has criticized the SEC for overzealous enforcement.
Two months ago, Herula's boss settled with the SEC. David L. Ullom, who ran the Cranston, R.I., office of Raymond James, agreed to pay a $100,000 civil penalty and accept banishment from securities industry for a minimum of one year.
Ullom, 67, of Greene, R.I., was fired by Raymond James in 2002, according to the SEC.
Katrina hits Regions
Regions Financial Corp. has banking operations along the Gulf Coast, including in the Tampa and Sarasota areas but also in Louisiana and Mississippi.
The Birmingham, Ala.-based bank told a recent investor conference that it has a loan exposure of $1.3 billion in the Hurricane Katrina disaster zone.
The biggest component of that total is commercial loans, $700 million, with consumer and mortgage loans adding up to another $200 million a piece.
Jacqueline Reeves, a Florida-based banking analyst for Ryan Beck & Co., says in a research report that Regions is letting some borrowers defer payments on these loans, out of respect for their circumstances.
Regions is also waiving late charges and deferring payments on mortgages for 90 days.
"The company has a lot of experience with hurricanes and Katrina is teaching them even more," writes Reeves.
Oh, yes.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reports one New Orleans area branch of Regions has re-opened in the office of a competitor. In fact, the Omni Bank branch in Jefferson Parish is temporarily hosting operations for four other banks, in addition to Regions.
Regions expects credit losses and non-performing assets to increase by around $50 million over the next few quarters. That could cause shave between seven and nine cents off earnings later this year or in early 2006.
As a consequence, Reeves is cutting her profit forecasts for this year and next. For 2005, she sees Regions earnings per share declining from $2.40 to $2.36. The EPS for 2006 goes down to $2.60 from $2.65. Reeves continues a rating on Regions stock of "market perform," meaning Ryan Beck expects the shares to stay in line with the rest of the banking industry over the next 12 months.
Money well spent
Over the past two years, the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority spent nearly $127 million on the construction of an outbound baggage handling system with security enhancements. Completed last year, this high-speed network operates with about four miles of conveyors.
So was the money well spent?
The National Construction Management Association of America seems to think so. Just recently the national trade group honored Skanska USA Building Inc. for its construction work on that Tampa International Airport project. The trade group awarded the general contractor a project achievement award in the category of public projects with construction values in excess of $100 million.
Sorry state of childcare
Working parents in Florida who haven't been thrilled with the quality of early childhood education will find a lot of confirmation in a new study.
Low wages are attracting few college graduates to the field, according to the Economic Policy Institute. In 1980, 12% of early childhood educators at Florida learning centers have a four-year college degree. Last year, the Florida share was up to 13%. Nationally, about 18% of early childhood educators had four-year degrees.
Only Tallahassee (22%) and Sarasota (20%) had bigger shares of college-educated childcare instructors among Florida metropolitan areas than the national average. Tampa's share was 14% and Fort Myers' was 9%.
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