Happy New Year, may this new year bring you all happiness, success, and many more fond memories that you will cherish forever. We are very excited to see you at the Marital & Family Law Review Course taking place on January 21-22 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Conference Center! The Section, in conjunction with the Florida chapter of the AAML, has and continues to work tirelessly to implement on-site measures to ensure the safety and well-being of all attendees, volunteers, staff, speakers and sponsors. The Section is so very thankful for everyone who is working around the clock to make this Course a success, especially in the face of a constantly changing pandemic: Michelle Klinger Smith (Chair of the Sectionâs Review Course Committee), Kristin Kirkner, Jerry Rumph, Jr., Julia Wyda and the Program Administrator, Susan Stafford.
2022 promises to be a year that the Section travels far and wide! The Sectionâs Out-of-State Retreat will be taking place at the Vintage House at Estate Yountville in Napa Valley, California from April 20 - April 24. The Chairs of the Out-of-State Retreat Committee, Trish Armstrong and Andrea Reid, have organized a fantastic bouquet of events to uncork after the travel from the East to the West Coast. Our Sectionâs true aficionados will not want to miss this Retreat!
If one of your resolutions is to become more involved with the Section this year, we look forward to seeing you at the Sectionâs in-person Committee Meetings taking place on Thursday, January 20 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Conference Center in Orlando! There are over 20 different Committees, from Equitable Distribution to Continuing Legal Education Committees, or Childrenâs Issues to Diversity and Inclusion Committees, there truly is a Committee for everyone and a chance for you and your practice to grow while also building lifelong friendships with incredible people.
âWrite it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.â - Ralph Waldo Emerson
Heather L. Apicella, Chair, 2021-2022
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A partnership between the Florida Bar Family Law Section and the AAML Florida Chapter, the Marital and Family Law Review Course is one of the largest CLEâs in the Southeast. Learn more HERE, and view the two-day conference schedule below. We look forward to seeing many of you next week!
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Section Chair, Heather Apicella, delivered oral argument before the Florida Supreme Court in December on the recently changed Amendments to Rules Regulating The Florida Bar re: Board Certification (Rules 6-3.5, 6-3.6, and 6.10.3.)
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The Family Law Section is hosting our Out-of-State Retreat in Napa Valley, California at the Vintage House at The Estate Yountville, California, Wednesday - Sunday, April 20-24, 2022. We're offering a few, select sponsorship opportunities for this 'Do Not Miss' event, but LIMITED SPACE is available, so please reach out to us now for details!
We truly value each and every one of our sponsors. Thank you for helping our committed volunteers as we work on supporting the Family Law Sectionâs mission!
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It's that time of the year! We are now accepting nominations for the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar's 2022 Alberto Romero Making a Difference Award and will do so through April 28, 2022. The Award recognizes the work of Section members and affiliates who provide outstanding pro bono services, engage in significant volunteer community activities that improve the lives of Florida's children and families and encourage other Section members to volunteer. Recent recipients of this distinguished award are Harriet Williams of Tallahassee (2019), Kim Rommel Enright of West Palm Beach (2020) and co-winners, Sarah Kay and Caryn Stevens (2021.)
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The Chair, on behalf of the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar, presents the Alberto Romero Making a Difference Award at the annual awards and installation luncheon at The Florida Bar Annual Convention in June. For more information, please contact Robin Scher at membership@familylawfla.org or by calling (561) 626-5640. You can download the nomination form HERE.
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We know sometimes you can't make a scheduled CLE, so we've made many of them available online, OnDemand.
From Co-parenting and Business Valuations, to Legislative Updates, and even How to Get Paid, there's a wide range of resources available to enhance your practice, at your convenience!
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By: Philip J. Schipani, Esq., B.C.S.
Schreiber v. Schreiber, 47 Fla. L. Weekly D84b (Fla. 5th DCA 2021)
This case is a cautionary tale regarding the proper proof required to sustain an award of fees. The Former Husband appealed an order awarding the Former Wife $52,513.39 in fees for the work of two law firms which represented her in the lower divorce action. There were two hearings regarding fees. The first hearing, wherein the was no transcript available, was deemed by the lower court to have resolved only entitlement. The lower court instructed the Former Wife to provide the Former Husband invoices from the Former Wifeâs lawyers and if the parties could not agree on an amount, the Former Wifeâs counsel was to set a hearing on the issue of reasonableness. Because there was no transcript of this hearing, the Court could find no error regarding the first hearing.
Subsequently, the Former Wife failed to provide the Former Husband with invoices or set a hearing on reasonableness of fees. After six months the trial court sua sponte rendered an order requiring the Former Wife to provide the Former Husband with invoices within two weeks and ordered a hearing be set on reasonableness if the parties could not reach an agreement.
At the second hearing, the Former Wife did not admit any billing invoices into evidence, nor did prior counsels who previously represented the Former Wife appear. The Former Wifeâs only evidence consisted of testimony of an expert who referenced several pages of notes and a chart, outlining the varying attorneyâs hours and rates, that had not been provided to Former Husband or to the lower court. The lower court properly sustained the Former Husbandâs hearsay objection.
In the Final Judgment, the trial court rejected Former Wife's claim for fees for two of her attorneys, but awarded fees for the others, finding them reasonable. From the total amount of fees awarded, the trial court subtracted $6,486.61 owed by Former Wife to Former Husband under previous court orders, leaving a total owed by Former Husband of $52,513.39.
The Court reversed the fee award holding that the Former Wife did not present substantial competent evidence. âFormer Wifeâs failure to adduce competent evidence of fees resulted in a complete lack of evidence on which a fee award could be properly based and requires reversal.â The Former Wife did not present any properly authenticated fee affidavit of testimony from any of Former Wifeâs attorneys, nor did the Former Wife introduce into evidence or even proffer any time sheets or billing records.
The Court only remanded to enforce the Wifeâs outstanding obligation to the Former Husband of $6,486.61 which is left unpaid with the reversal on appeal. The Court did not remand for the Former Wife to present competent evidence of her attorneysâ fees as a party must have presented some competent evidence of fees at the fee hearing in order to justify remand for another opportunity to prove fees after reversal. See, e.g., Ali v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 264 So. 3d 1096, 1097 & n.1 (Fla. 5th DCA 2019); Gunn v. Ubbels, 101 So. 3d 420, 421 (Fla. 5th DCA 2012); Nicol v. Nicol, 919 So. 2d 550, 551 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005); Shortes v. Hill, 860 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 5th DCA 2003); Simpson v. Simpson, 780 So. 2d 985, 988-89 (Fla. 5th DCA 2001); Kranz v. Kranz, 737 So. 2d 1198, 1203 (Fla. 5th DCA 1999); Viera v. Viera, 698 So. 2d 1308, 1309 (Fla. 5th DCA 1997); Wiley, 485 So. 2d at 3; Stewart v. Hughes Supply, Inc., 440 So. 2d 476 (Fla. 5th DCA 1983).
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By: G. Robert McLain, Esq.
Video doorbells are becoming ubiquitous. Nearly 8 million of them were purchased in 2020 alone, more than double the number sold just two years earlier. The trend is projected to continue. As video doorbells become more common, family law practitioners should consider how they fit into their practice.
Calling a video doorbell a âdoorbellâ is a little misleading. The device may include a doorbell, but it is in reality an audio-enabled security camera that can be trigged by motion, on-demand through a smart phone, computer, or AI hub (e.g., an Echo Show). Or, occasionally, when someone presses the doorbell. The doorbell is secondary feature. Its primary purpose is to create audio-video recordings of everyone who approaches the front door.
Virtually all video doorbells include cloud storage as a paid option for a modest monthly price (Ring is $3 per month), and some also offer local storage (for example, the Eufy Pro 2k lets you save to an SD card). The potential as a source of evidence should not be overlooked. Disputes about when a pick-up or drop off happened, and what was said need not be a matter of he-said she-said. Violations of protective injunctions can be documented. In many contexts, it may be wise to counsel your clients to consider installing a video doorbell, not only as a source of evidence but as a prophylactic. People tend to behave better when others are (or may) be watching. Practitioners should also consider including video doorbell recordings as part of their routine discovery requests. Video recording could, for example, help substantiate a claim of substance abuse.
Attorneys should be aware of, and counsel their clients about, Floridaâs wiretapping law. Fla. Stat. § 934.01 et seq. Florida law requires the consent of all parties involved before recording any oral communication. Recording or using an oral communication in violation of the statute is a felony, is inadmissible as evidence, and can also be the basis of a private cause of action. However, Fla. Stat. § 934.02 defines âoral communicationâ as including on those âuttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that such communication is not subject to interception under circumstances justifying such expectationâŠ.â If there is no reasonable expectation of privacy, the oral statements recorded by a video doorbell are not covered by the statute. In cases in which a video doorbell was installed and used in the marital residence pre-divorce, neither party can credibly claim an expectation of privacy. Similarly, if the conversation or comments occur in a driveway visible from the street, they are unlikely be to be deemed private. Regardless, client would be well advised to use the stickers and signs included with most video doorbells to notify those on their property that audio and visual security recordings are being made.
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Anastasia Garcia currently serves on the Family Law Sectionâs Executive Council, is a member of the Sectionâs Legislative Committee and is a Co-Chair of the Sectionâs Ad Hoc Diversity & Inclusion Committee.
In addition to dedicating her time on the Executive Counsel and Legislation, Anastasia is a member of Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, Childrenâs Issues Committee, Ad Hoc Nomenclature Committee and is a past member of the Legislation Committee.
Anastasiaâs invaluable engagement with the Section for many years has been memorialized in her multiple publications. In the Spring of 2003, Anastasia co-authored Bankruptcy and the Family Attorney in the Family Law Sectionâs Commentator with attorneys practicing in the area of Bankruptcy and Creditorâs Rights. She also authored What is a Guardian ad Litem? âUnderstanding the Proper Role of a Guardian in Family Cases, published in the Winter 2015 Commentator, and Unshackling Guardians ad Litem from the Constraints of Floridaâs Hearsay Rule published in the Fall 2016 Commentator.
ï»żAnastasia further served the Publications Committee as Co-Editor of the Commentator in 2018 and 2019. In recognition of her enthusiasm, initiative and outstanding service to the Section, Anastasia was a recipient of the Sectionâs Rising Star Award in 2019.
Anastasia believes that her practice had greatly benefitted from absorbing information and education from fellow colleagues in the Section. She strongly suggests becoming involved with the Section as Family Law is a unique area to practice and Section membership provides the opportunity to improve on this niche practice area. Her words of wisdom are to only take on what you can handleâjump on a committee if you truly have the time to dedicate to it. Family Law includes a small group of lawyers so we should all be mindful of our relationships and professionalism with our colleagues.
We thank Anastasia for her years of involvement and dedication to the Section.
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We are so grateful to our Section sponsors! Thank you for your ongoing support of our members and mission.
If your business would like to reach nearly 4,000 Family Law professionals through our various communications platforms and in-person and virtual events, we invite you to consider Section sponsorship. To learn more about benefits and levels, email sponsorship@familylawfla.org or click HERE to learn more.
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If you have a topic of interest regarding Family Law and you'd like to submit an article for our monthly e-Newsletter, FAMSEG, or our quarterly publication, The Commentator, email publications@familylawfla.org for more information. Thank you for your interest in contributing to our member publications!
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