Effective December 1, courts in several Florida counties have instituted foreclosure diversionary programs. Great news for homeowners struggling to hold onto their property. Setting up a special system for foreclosures was West Palm Beach Chief Judge Kathleen Kroll, ordering all foreclosures to mediation and mapping out steps lenders must go through before any foreclosures are approved.

And on Monday, Chief Judge for the Twelfth Judicial Circuit, Lee Haworth issued a similar plan. Titled “Administrative Order Establishing Standard Procedures for Residential and Commercial Mortgage Foreclosure Actions,” Haworth’s order requires lenders/borrowers to talk to one another at a “confiliation conference” before the foreclosure actually gets rolling.

Haworth sent this to law firms: “In 2006, we had 1,000 foreclosures in Sarasota County. In 2007, we had 4,100. We’re expecting to have 8,000 by the end of this year. It became evident that we had to do something, because of the lack of communication between these sides. If we can get them to talk, maybe we can hold off on some.”

Many more Florida counties are following in Haworth and Kroll’s footsteps.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Floridians are in the wet seat as Hurricane Fay left residents in Central Florida wrecked. The streets flooded and that’s the “good” news out of this soggy saga. The bad news is that alligators and snakes are swimming in the streets, creating a dangerous environment for people.

“We have removed alligators, we have removed snakes and we’ve removed all kinds of wildlife,” Brevard EOC Director Bob Lay told Local 6 News in Orlando. “Our animal services and enforcement officers have been doing this all over the county for the last three days.”

Although forecasters expected the storm to continue a “zigzag course” by hitting the state for a third week, along with Georgia, they didn’t think it would transform into a hurricane over the Atlantic.

No deaths have been reported but people have traded cars for canoes as the storm continues… Just hope they can dodge all the wild life and remember that while force majeure clauses in legal agreements protect homes and businesses after a hurricane, they don’t mean squat to the alligators so beware.

Popularity: 9% [?]

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE ELEVENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
IN AND FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA
JOHN B. THOMPSON ON BEHALF
OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA,
Petitioner,
v.
WAL-MART STORES, INC.,
TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE
SOFTWARE, INC.,
Respondents.
VERIFIED PETITION TO TAKE DEPOSITION BEFORE ACTION
COMES NOW petitioner, an attorney, on his own behalf and on behalf of the
State of Florida as authorized by Florida Statute 60.05, and files this Verified Petition to
Take Deposition before Action, and states as follows:
THE PARTIES
1. Petitioner has been a resident of Miami-Dade County, Florida, continuously
since 1976. He is a citizen of the United States, more than eighteen years of age, and he
is otherwise sui juris.
2. Respondent Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (hereinafter Wal-Mart), is a foreign
corporation registered to do and doing business in the State of Florida, at various retail
stores located in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Wal-Mart is one of the largest, and
possibly the largest in volume of sales, retailer of video games in the United States.
3. Respondent Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (hereinafter Take-Two), is a
foreign corporation doing business in the State of Florida by virtue of a) its distribution
and sale of millions of units of its video games in the State of Florida, most notably the
hyperviolent Grand Theft Auto franchise of video games linked to numerous killings
2
around the country, and b) the direct marketing of its products in the State of Florida
through magazine, retail store, and television advertisements.
THE STATUTORY AUTHORITY FOR THE UNDERLYING ACTION
4. Petitioner plans to bring an action against the respondents herein based upon
their distribution and sale of a violent, interactive video “game” entitled Bully (discussed
more fully infra), which distribution and sale will constitute a public nuisance under
Florida law. The statutory basis for the underlying action is as follows:
5. Florida Statute 823.01 states:
823.01 Nuisances; penalty.–All nuisances that tend to annoy the community, injure the
health of the citizens in general, or corrupt the public morals are misdemeanors of the
second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.083, except that a violation of s. 823.10 is
a felony of the third degree.
6. Florida Statute 823.05 states, verbatim, as follows:
823.05 Places declared a nuisance; may be abated and enjoined.–Whoever shall
erect, establish, continue, or maintain, own or lease any building, booth, tent or place
which tends to annoy the community or injure the health of the community, or become
manifestly injurious to the morals or manners of the people as described in s. 823.01, or
shall be frequented by the class of persons mentioned in 1s. 856.02, or any house or place
of prostitution, assignation, lewdness or place or building where games of chance are
engaged in violation of law or any place where any law of the state is violated, shall be
deemed guilty of maintaining a nuisance, and the building, erection, place, tent or booth
3
and the furniture, fixtures and contents are declared a nuisance. All such places or
persons shall be abated or enjoined as provided in ss. 60.05 and 60.06.
7. Florida Statute 60.05 states, verbatim, as follows:
60.05 Abatement of nuisances.-
(1) When any nuisance as defined in s. 823.05 exists, the Attorney General, state
attorney, city attorney, county attorney, or any citizen of the county may sue in the name
of the state on his or her relation to enjoin the nuisance, the person or persons
maintaining it, and the owner or agent of the building or ground on which the nuisance
exists.
(2) The court may allow a temporary injunction without bond on proper proof being
made. If it appears by evidence or affidavit that a temporary injunction should issue, the
court, pending the determination on final hearing, may enjoin:
(a) The maintaining of a nuisance;
(b) The operating and maintaining of the place or premises where the nuisance is
maintained;
(c) The owner or agent of the building or ground upon which the nuisance exists;
(d) The conduct, operation, or maintenance of any business or activity operated or
maintained in the building or on the premises in connection with or incident to the
maintenance of the nuisance.
The injunction shall specify the activities enjoined and shall not preclude the operation of

Popularity: 7% [?]

Title XLVI CRIMES

Chapter 823 PUBLIC NUISANCES

823.01 Nuisances; penalty.–All nuisances that tend to annoy the community, injure the health of the citizens in general, or corrupt the public morals are misdemeanors of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.083, except that a violation of s. 823.10 is a felony of the third degree.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Disclaimer: This is part of the 2006 version of Florida Statutes and it is offered for general information purposes. The statutes on this site should not be relied on without reviewing your legal situation with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer and making sure you are using the appropriate version of the statute for your case. The provisions applicable to your potential claim may or may not be the version that was in effect at the time of the incident because some changes to statutes are retroactive and some changes are not. Other statutes and other case law interpreting or applying these statutes may also apply to your case.

(The information on this site applies to Florida only)

768.16 Wrongful Death Act.–Sections 768.16-768.26 may be cited as the “Florida Wrongful Death Act.”

History.–s. 1, ch. 72-35; s. 105, ch. 2003-1.

768.17 Legislative intent.–It is the public policy of the state to shift the losses resulting when wrongful death occurs from the survivors of the decedent to the wrongdoer. Sections 768.16-768.26 are remedial and shall be liberally construed.

History.–s. 1, ch. 72-35; s. 106, ch. 2003-1.

768.18 Definitions.–As used in ss. 768.16-768.26:

(1) “Survivors” means the decedent’s spouse, children, parents, and, when partly or wholly dependent on the decedent for support or services, any blood relatives and adoptive brothers and sisters. It includes the child born out of wedlock of a mother, but not the child born out of wedlock of the father unless the father has recognized a responsibility for the child’s support.

(2) “Minor children” means children under 25 years of age, notwithstanding the age of majority.

(3) “Support” includes contributions in kind as well as money.

(4) “Services” means tasks, usually of a household nature, regularly performed by the decedent that will be a necessary expense to the survivors of the decedent. These services may vary according to the identity of the decedent and survivor and shall be determined under the particular facts of each case.

(5) “Net accumulations” means the part of the decedent’s expected net business or salary income, including pension benefits, that the decedent probably would have retained as savings and left as part of her or his estate if the decedent had lived her or his normal life expectancy. “Net business or salary income” is the part of the decedent’s probable gross income after taxes, excluding income from investments continuing beyond death, that remains after deducting the decedent’s personal expenses and support of survivors, excluding contributions in kind.

History.–s. 1, ch. 72-35; s. 66, ch. 77-121; s. 40, ch. 77-468; s. 1, ch. 81-183; s. 3, ch. 89-61; s. 1, ch. 90-14; s. 1167, ch. 97-102; s. 107, ch. 2003-1.

768.19 Right of action.–When the death of a person is caused by the wrongful act, negligence, default, or breach of contract or warranty of any person, including those occurring on navigable waters, and the event would have entitled the person injured to maintain an action and recover damages if death had not ensued, the person or watercraft that would have been liable in damages if death had not ensued shall be liable for damages as specified in this act notwithstanding the death of the person injured, although death was caused under circumstances constituting a felony.

History.–s. 1, ch. 72-35.

768.20 Parties.–The action shall be brought by the decedent’s personal representative, who shall recover for the benefit of the decedent’s survivors and estate all damages, as specified in this act, caused by the injury resulting in death. When a personal injury to the decedent results in death, no action for the personal injury shall survive, and any such action pending at the time of death shall abate. The wrongdoer’s personal representative shall be the defendant if the wrongdoer dies before or pending the action. A defense that would bar or reduce a survivor’s recovery if she or he were the plaintiff may be asserted against the survivor, but shall not affect the recovery of any other survivor.

History.–s. 1, ch. 72-35; s. 1168, ch. 97-102.

768.21 Damages.–All potential beneficiaries of a recovery for wrongful death, including the decedent’s estate, shall be identified in the complaint, and their relationships to the decedent shall be alleged. Damages may be awarded as follows:

(1) Each survivor may recover the value of lost support and services from the date of the decedent’s injury to her or his death, with interest, and future loss of support and services from the date of death and reduced to present value. In evaluating loss of support and services, the survivor’s relationship to the decedent, the amount of the decedent’s probable net income available for distribution to the particular survivor, and the replacement value of the decedent’s services to the survivor may be considered. In computing the duration of future losses, the joint life expectancies of the survivor and the decedent and the period of minority, in the case of healthy minor children, may be considered.

(2) The surviving spouse may also recover for loss of the decedent’s companionship and protection and for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury.

(3) Minor children of the decedent, and all children of the decedent if there is no surviving spouse, may also recover for lost parental companionship, instruction, and guidance and for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. For the purposes of this subsection, if both spouses die within 30 days of one another as a result of the same wrongful act or series of acts arising out of the same incident, each spouse is considered to have been predeceased by the other.

(4) Each parent of a deceased minor child may also recover for mental pain and suffering from the date of injury. Each parent of an adult child may also recover for mental pain and suffering if there are no other survivors.

(5) Medical or funeral expenses due to the decedent’s injury or death may be recovered by a survivor who has paid them.

(6) The decedent’s personal representative may recover for the decedent’s estate the following:

(a) Loss of earnings of the deceased from the date of injury to the date of death, less lost support of survivors excluding contributions in kind, with interest. Loss of the prospective net accumulations of an estate, which might reasonably have been expected but for the wrongful death, reduced to present money value, may also be recovered:

1. If the decedent’s survivors include a surviving spouse or lineal descendants; or

2. If the decedent is not a minor child as defined in s. 768.18(2), there are no lost support and services recoverable under subsection (1), and there is a surviving parent.

(b) Medical or funeral expenses due to the decedent’s injury or death that have become a charge against her or his estate or that were paid by or on behalf of decedent, excluding amounts recoverable under subsection (5).

(c) Evidence of remarriage of the decedent’s spouse is admissible.

(7) All awards for the decedent’s estate are subject to the claims of creditors who have complied with the requirements of probate law concerning claims.

(8) The damages specified in subsection (3) shall not be recoverable by adult children and the damages specified in subsection (4) shall not be recoverable by parents of an adult child with respect to claims for medical negligence as defined by s. 766.106(1).

History.–s. 1, ch. 72-35; s. 2, ch. 81-183; s. 1, ch. 85-260; s. 2, ch. 90-14; s. 1169, ch. 97-102; s. 1, ch. 2002-44; s. 66, ch. 2003-416.

768.22 Form of verdict.–The amounts awarded to each survivor and to the estate shall be stated separately in the verdict.

History.–s. 1, ch. 72-35.

768.23 Protection of minors and incompetents.–The court shall provide protection for any amount awarded for the benefit of a minor child or an incompetent pursuant to the Florida Guardianship Law.

History.–s. 1, ch. 72-35.

768.24 Death of a survivor before judgment.–A survivor’s death before final judgment shall limit the survivor’s recovery to lost support and services to the date of his or her death. The personal representative shall pay the amount recovered to the personal representative of the deceased survivor.

History.–s. 1, ch. 72-35; s. 1170, ch. 97-102.

768.25 Court approval of settlements.–While an action under this act is pending, no settlement as to amount or apportionment among the beneficiaries which is objected to by any survivor or which affects a survivor who is a minor or an incompetent shall be effective unless approved by the court.

History.–s. 1, ch. 72-35.

768.26 Litigation expenses.–Attorneys’ fees and other expenses of litigation shall be paid by the personal representative and deducted from the awards to the survivors and the estate in proportion to the amounts awarded to them, but expenses incurred for the benefit of a particular survivor or the estate shall be paid from their awards.

History.–s. 1, ch. 72-35.

Popularity: 15% [?]