Wanna be a gators fan
 

Insurance defense is still always strong. There are plenty of firms doing very well. It's such a big state you need to figure out where you'd want to live to know exactly how good the opportunities are.

The Florida Bar pass rate is lower than most other places, but it's not particularly challenging if you take bar review.

Gray, Harris & Robinson
 

Co-Founder Leaving Law Firm

Gordon H. "Stumpy" Harris, of the Orlando-based 175 lawyer firm Gray, Harris & Robinson, is leaving. He will open a practice with his son, Bruce Harris, and Kurtis T. Bauerle.

Wanna be a gators fan
 

Thanks.

I'm really interested in the Tampa Area most specifically.

I hated bar review, but I guess if I am serious I'll have to suffer through again.

How old is he? That firm has been around a while. I have not been particularly impressed in my dealings with them (although I have not dealt with them that much).

Unfortunately, many of us have had to sit and take the Florida Bar when moving from other jurisdictions. It sucks, but I found that it was easier than New York's.

Out of State Bar / Insurance Defense
 

Did you study from afar or sit once you got to Florida?

Heading South, insurance defense is still huge. Firms didn't ratchet up their personnel the way they did in other areas, so they haven't been hit by the same layoffs. Fowler White has a huge practice group, with more than 50 lawyers the last time I checked. They are part of the general Litigation Department. You can finf more information
here.

Racial Discrimination in Housing?
 

I saw this in this morning's paper:

Neighborhood residents fight bylaws, say association is fostering racial bias

By Milton D. Carrero Galarza
Staff Writer
Posted October 11 2003


Miramar · Dozens of residents in a predominantly black Miramar neighborhood are accusing their homeowners association of secretly implementing new bylaws that could be used to discriminate.

Outraged, more than 94 minority owners in the 173-home Franklin Farms community, located near Douglas Road and Miramar Boulevard, have formed a coalition to reverse the new rules, which forbid residents from giving, leasing or selling their homes without the association's approval.

There are five minorities on the nine-member board that approved the rules change.

While such reviews are not uncommon, the association must disclose its criteria for approval, said Gary Poliakoff, whose law firm specializes in real estate law. Race, nationality, religion or disability cannot be considered.

But the association's president, Nancy Holloway, has refused to disclose the criteria to the homeowners, saying it is a "private thing" determined on a case-by-case basis.

There are no interviews. Race is not part of the application, "but if you can tell what color they are by their name, that's fine and dandy," said Holloway, a community activist known for helping the disadvantaged.

Cecil Wray, a Jamaican-American who is vice president of the association, says the board has no specific criteria, just a goal to keep out people of "questionable character."

The lack of criteria worries the homeowners, who fear the board might not let them give their homes to family members or sell them to a minority buyer.

The new rules come as Miramar undergoes a dramatic demographic change. Once an Italian-American enclave, today 43 percent of its 95,921 residents are black; 30 percent are Hispanic. It is the only city in Broward County to have a Jamaican-American majority on its city commission. The city has the only neighborhood in Broward where 75 percent of residents don't speak English as a first language.

The controversy erupted about six weeks ago , when Marlene Campbell, a black police officer, was cited for putting up a "for sale" sign in front of her house. Campbell said she has seen other signs around the neighborhood and thought Holloway was singling her out.

Out of State Bar / Insurance Defense
 

Thanks.

This is very helpful.


And I wonder, exactly what is questionable character?

I mean damn, you'd think they'd keep all the lawyers out right?

I studied after I started working and after I had moved down. It was extremely unpleasant. I worked all day, and studied at night and on the weekends. I was extremely tired there for a few months.