Tribute to Chief Judge
Karen S. Jennemann
By: Lee Ann Bennett, Clerk of Court
As “editor-in chief,” Chief Judge
Karen S. Jennemann, launched this newsletter in February 2012. Thus, it is only
fitting that the lead article this quarter be a tribute to her!
Click here to read Clerk Bennett's full article.
Hon. Michael G. Williamson becomes our District's newest Chief Judge on October 1, 2015
Click here for the official Press Release.
Meet Laurie K. Weatherford, Chapter 13 Standing Trustee
for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division
Laurie is an honors graduate of the
University of Florida, where she obtained a degree in recreation, and the
Cumberland School of Law. Laurie has been a Gator fan since she was 8 years old, supporting
the worst and the best Gator teams.
Click here to read more.
Tammy Branson is Selected as the Orange County Bar Association's Paralegal of the Year
If you practice in the Middle District with any
regularity, if you have secured a modification for a client in bankruptcy, or
if you have attended almost any bankruptcy bar social event or CLE it is very
likely that you have met Tammy Branson, a paralegal at Branson Law PLLC.
Click here to read Liz McCausland's tribute to Tammy.
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New Handicap Parking Space Location
It took just one limping lawyer in Tampa to get us our own federal courthouse handicap space.
Click here for the complete article.
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THE MEDIATION MINUTE -
Volume No. 2 ( July 2015)
By: Bradley M. Saxton, Esq., Winderweedle,
Haines, Ward & Woodman, P.A.
THE OPENING
SESSION
While mediation has become more and
more common in bankruptcy cases, there appears to be a split among
professionals concerning the importance of the opening session in the
mediation.
Click here for Mr. Saxton's article.
PRO BONO CORNER
 The TBBBA received the 13th Circuit Pro Bono Committee's award to the TBBBA for Best Pro Bono by an Organization. Judge Michael G. Williamson, Edward Peterson, and Jake Blanchard received the award on behalf of the TBBBA.
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2015 Community Legal Services of Mid Florida - Lake County Award Winner
Sam Pennington was awarded the Community Legal Services of Mid Florida, Lake County, Pro Bono Award for 2015. Mr. Pennington helped create the pro bono program for the Mid Florida Legal Clinic relating to bankruptcy issues.
Click here to read the full article.
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Pro Bono Assistance –
from a Courtroom Deputy’s Perspective
By: Pam Arciola,
Judge McEwen’s Back-up
Courtroom Deputy
I've been a case manager for 24 years. Over the years, I've received a number of
calls from pro se debtors seeking assistance by phone and more recently in person
while working the Intake department.
Click here to read Pam's article.
Pro
Bono Spotlight:
Helping Those Who Need to File Bankruptcy
By: Kathy Para, The JBA Pro Bono Committee Chair
Jacksonville
Daily Record - Monday, June 15, 11:16
AM EDT
The Pro Se Bankruptcy Assistance Clinic launched in 2014
continues.
Click here to read full article.
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JUDGES' CORNER
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Community Service Casual Day:
Interns Serve Restaurant Quality
Lunch to Homeless
By: Hon. Catherine P. McEwen
Some of our summer interns changed up their field trip
experience from forays into federal and state courtrooms to a community service
opportunity at Tampa's Trinity Cafe, a restaurant that serves homeless adults
and children in a "sit-down" dining atmosphere.
Click here to read Judge McEwen's article and comments by the interns.
Security
By: Laurie Ellwood, Network Administrator
The Court was sharply reminded last month of just how vulnerable it is to data security
threats. Some of our staff received
the dreaded letter and have taken appropriate steps to protect themselves from
further exposure. However, don’t wait to be the next target.
Click here to access the full article.
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Point and Click
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Dear Point and Click:
Q: I love the convenience of the new eOrder process to upload proposed orders directly into the CM/CF system. Where my difficulty lies is in determining when to use Sua Sponte Order Upload and when to use Single Order Upload. Also, I am unsure how to track proposed orders after I have submitted them. The old system gave a tracking number. Can you shed some light on these issues, please? --- Signed, Trying to get it right
Click here for Point and Click's answer.
Q: When
submitting a paper for filing in CM/ECF, how do I know when the paper is
actually filed. There are times that I’m
working late at night to meet a deadline, and it would be helpful to know when
the system deems my paper filed.
Click here for Point and Click's answer.
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COURT SERVICES
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Online
Continuing Learning Education (CLE)
By:
Marco A. Eguía, Web Programmer
The United States Bankruptcy Court for
the Middle District of Florida is proud to offer Continuing Learning Education
(CLE) credits for attorneys registered in the Middle District of Florida.
The online, self-paced presentations
consist of virtual CLEs (recordings of live training sessions). The presentations are available 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week and cover a wide range of legal topics relevant to
bankruptcy attorneys.
Click here for the full article and a short tutorial.
Click here to access the CLE training videos.
“DeBN”
By: Gull Weaver, Deputy-in-Charge (Jacksonville)
On June 29, 2015, the "Debtor Electronic Bankruptcy
Noticing" or "DeBN" program went live. The program offers Debtors the opportunity to
request receipt of court served orders and court generated notices via email,
instead of through U.S. mail.
Click here for the complete article.
Florida Local Professionism Panels
by Anna Wiand, Law Clerk
The Florida Supreme Court directed circuit judges throughout the state to create local professionalism panels to address complaints of unprofessional attorney conduct. Read More
Click here to access The Florida Bar's list of contacts for each local professionalism panel.
Click here to access The Florida Bar's list of local administrative orders establishing panels.
 CASE LAW UPDATE
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Book
Three in the Stern Jurisdiction
Trilogy: Wellness International v. Sharif
By: Hon. Michael G. Williamson
Last July I wrote an article for the Court Connection titled, “Book Two in
the Stern Jurisdiction Trilogy: Executive Benefits v. Arkison.”[1]
I noted that the problem Stern created
is it did not instruct us on how to deal with Stern claims which, while defined as core, cannot constitutionally
be decided by bankruptcy courts. And because Stern claims also are not considered statutorily to be non-core,
they arguably could not be decided by the non-core procedures in 28 U.S.C. § 157(c). In Executive Benefits, the Supreme Court
closed this so-called gap by holding that
Stern claims may be adjudicated as non-core within the meaning of § 157(c)
based on the severability provision found in title 28.[2]
This severability provision closes the gap created by Stern claims.
Click here for Judge Williamson's complete article.
_______________________
[1]
http://www.flmb.uscourts.gov/newsletter/volume3_issue3.pdf.
[2]
Executive Benefits Ins. Agency v.
Arkison, 134 S. Ct. 2165, 2173 (2014).
The Supreme Court’s Ruling in Harris v. Viegelahn
Reaches Into Debtors’ Attorneys Pockets
By:
Douglas W. Neway, Esq., Chapter 13 Trustee
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Harris v.
Viegelahn, 2015 U.S. LEXIS 3203 (May 18, 2015) has had an appreciable and
immediate impact on pending and future chapter 13 cases. As a standing trustee, I am in regular
communication with chapter 13 trustees throughout the country and when the
Supreme Court ruling in Harris came down, trustees nationwide were
scurrying to revise their internal procedures to comply with the ruling.
Click here to read full article.
Analysis of Case Law
By: Bradley Saxton, Esq. & C. Andrew Roy, Esq. of Winderweedle,
Haines, Ward & Woodman, P.A.
Supreme
Court Cases
Bullard v. Blue
Hills
Bank , 135 S. Ct. 1686
(May 4, 2015)
A bankruptcy
court’s order which denied confirmation of a chapter 13 plan but permitted the
debtor leave to amend is not a “final”
order that could be immediately appealed by the debtor.
Harris v.
Viegelahn, 135 S. Ct. 1829
(May 18, 2015)
Undistributed
chapter 13 plan payments made by a debtor from his or her wages and held by the
chapter 13 trustee at the time of the conversion of the case to chapter 7 must
be returned to the debtor and not distributed to creditors.
Wellness Int’l Network, Ltd. v. Sharif, 135 S.Ct. 1932
(May 26, 2015)
Parties can
expressly or impliedly consent to a bankruptcy court adjudicating Article III “Stern” claims, and such consent does not
run afoul of the separation of powers and the vesting of the judicial power in
Article III courts only.
Click here to read the complete case analysis summaries.
 LOCAL BAR ASSOCIATIONS
News & Events from the local bar associations
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CFBLA News:
Annual Bankruptcy Seminar – On April 23, CFLBA hosted its Annual Bankruptcy Seminar
at the Embassy Suites in Downtown Orlando.
The Seminar focused on Bankruptcy in a Recovering Economy. Approximately 120 attendees enjoyed
presentations from guest speakers focusing on a wide variety of bankruptcy
topics, including Ponzi schemes, developing Chapter 11 issues, mortgage
modification, and student loans. Planning
is already underway for the 2016 Annual Seminar.
Table for Eight – Justin Luna and his wife Victoria hosted
another successful Table for Eight on April 30.
The dinner was “Margaritaville” themed and fun was had by all.
Luncheons – At CFBLA’s May luncheon, Jordan DeLoach presented on the
Cancellation of Indebtedness Income. Jordan’s
informative presentation provided needed insight into the intersection of
taxation and debt forgiveness. At
CFBLA’s June luncheon, Joe Towne presented on Time-Barred Debt, providing an
outline of the current case-law surrounding statutes of limitations, statutes
of repose, FDCPA, and other laws. All
luncheon materials are available on CFBLA’s website (www.cfbla.org).
eExhibit Training – On July 1, the Orlando Division Bankruptcy
Court hosted a live training regarding the new eExhibit filing system as part
of the Court’s Brown Bag Series. Immediately
following the Training, CFBLA members enjoyed a happy hour at Ember.
JBBA News:
The Jacksonville Bankruptcy Bar Association will host its annual Seminar on August 21, 2015, at the Sawgrass Marriott in Ponte Vedra, Florida. Click here for the JBBBA registration form and Seminar agenda.
 Events
Events around the Middle District
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Fort Myers:
August 27 @ Noon: SWFBPA Monthly Luncheon
September 24 @ Noon: SWFBPA Monthly Luncheon
October 29 @ noon: SWFBPA Monthly Luncheon
Jacksonville:
August 21: JBBA Annual Seminar @ Sawgrass Marriott Resort
Orlando:
August 20 @ noon: CFBLA Monthly Lunch @ Gray Robinson (Speaker/Topic: Hon. Alice Blackwell - The Intersection of Bankruptcy and State Courts)
September 2 @ noon: Brown Bag Lunch @ USBC (Topic: Chapter 13 Procedures)
September 20: Fall Festival @ Mead Gardens
September (TBA): Table for 8 hosted by C. Andrew Roy and Jamie Blucher (Crab Boil)
October 15 @ noon: CFBLA Monthly Lunch @ Gray Robinson (Topic: Orlando Economic Development)
Tampa:
August 26 @ noon: Junior Lawyer Mentoring Program with Judge McEwen @ USBC 5th Floor Training Room (Topic: Mortgage Foreclosure Wars: Lessons from Experienced JEDTIs - Jurists Engaged in Defense of Title Integrity)
September 8 @ noon: TBBBA Monthly Luncheon
October 13 @ noon: TBBBA Monthly Luncheon
November 18 @ noon: Junior Lawyer Mentoring Program with Judge McEwen @ USBC 5th Floor Training Room (Topic: Best Practice for Bankruptcy Paralegals)
Statewide:
October 1-2: The Florida Bar Business Law Section's Inaugural Business Lawyers in the Courtroom
October 8: BLES Gala Fundraiser
November 4 @ 2:00 pm: Bench Bar Conference
November 5 @ 8:00 am: View from the Bench Tampa, FL
November 6 @ 8:00 am: View from the Bench Miami, FL
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