Court Connection: e-Edition

The Court is proud to share the e-edition of the Court Connection.

For readers who prefer to read the newsletter on paper, it can be printed in its entirety by downloading a full-text PDF version.

Click here for the PDF version.

Local Bar Events   Click here for more details.

Local Bar Associations News and events from your local bar association

Tampa Reopens Pro Se Assistance Clinic

The Tampa Bay Bankruptcy Bar reopened its in-person Pro Se Assistance Clinic on June 22, 2022. The Clinic is open on Wednesdays from 2 – 4 p.m. in Room 964 (the Attorney Resource Room) on the 9th Floor of the Sam M. Gibbons United States Courthouse, 801 North Florida Avenue, Tampa, Florida.

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The TBBBA Congratulates Award Winners:   Quentin Poteralski, Lynn Sherman, and Scott Stichter

After a three-year COVID hiatus, the TBBBA hosted its Annual Installation and Awards Dinner on June 8, 2022. The Annual Dinner coincides with transition in the TBBBA’s leadership and is an opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of years past and to look forward to the year ahead.

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Southwest Florida Bankruptcy Professionals Association

By: Jonathan M. Bierfeld, Esq., President SWFLBPA

We are in the process of starting up our normal monthly meetings since more and more hearings are now returning live or are at least Zoom-optional.

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Attorney Volunteer Help Needed: Districtwide Virtual Pro Se Consults are Coming!

By: Hon. Jacob A. Brown

I am honored that Chief Judge Caryl Delano asked me to chair a committee that is working to establish a districtwide virtual platform for pro bono consultations for unrepresented/pro se parties in bankruptcy cases in the Middle District of Florida.

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The Association of Bankruptcy Judicial Assistants (“ABJA”) will present the annual Certified Bankruptcy Assistant Seminar and Exam on October 11-12, and the annual Professional Skills Seminar on October 13-14, at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando. 

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FLMB Law Clerks and Judicial Assistants

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FLMB Welcomes New Law Clerks... Megan Bittakis, Orlando and Taylor King, Jacksonville

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Editors:  Bradley M. Saxton, C. Andrew Roy, and Lauren M. Reynolds, Winderweedle, Haines, Ward & Woodman, P.A., with special thanks to summer associate Phillip Latham for his help with this issue

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Orlando Division's

The Orlando division kicked off its summer by celebrating National Fried Chicken Day with a potluck lunch.

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The Court Connection is published quarterly.  Please submit items for inclusion in the next edition by September 30, 2022 to:

newsletter@flmb.uscourts.gov

More Challenges Ahead...

By: Sheryl Loesch, Clerk of Court

With COVID “somewhat” behind us, the Middle District of Florida Bankruptcy Court continues to face challenges ahead. As if surviving the last two years wasn’t difficult enough, we now face the largest budget cut we’ve faced in a long time. Between now and the end of the fiscal year (September 30, 2022), we must reduce our staffing levels in order to operate with a $1.3 million reduction to our “salaries account,” which takes effect October 1. So a number of our case managers have elected to retire.

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Judge's Corner

Judge Delano Re-Ups for Second 14-Year Term of Public Service

Judge Wilson, Chief Judge Delano, and Judge Williamson

Toasts were in order in the late afternoon of June 15, 2022. Why? Chief Judge Caryl Emerson Delano had been “re-sworn-in” earlier in the day. You see, when a bankruptcy judge nears completion of his or her initial term of 14 years, he or she may request reappointment. Luckily for us, Judge Delano did, and the Eleventh Circuit, which appoints bankruptcy judges, agreed.

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Judge Robson’s Investiture – June 21, 2022

Left to right:  Judge Burgess, Judge Funk, Judge Brown, Chief Judge Delano, Judge Robson, Judge Geyer, Judge McEwen, Judge Vaughan, Judge Jennemann, and Judge Colton

The Honorable Grace E. Robson’s formal investiture ceremony was held in the ceremonial courtroom of Orlando’s George C. Young Federal Annex Courthouse on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. A reception followed at The University Club.

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Welcome to the Middle District’s Two New Bankruptcy Judges:

Hon. Jason A. Burgess & Hon. Tiffany P. Geyer

Please join me in welcoming the Middle District’s two newest bankruptcy judges: Judge Jason A. Burgess (Jacksonville) and Judge Tiffany P. Geyer (Orlando). Judge Burgess and Judge Geyer, both of whom were sworn in as judges in March 2022, bring to the bench a wealth of bankruptcy experience.

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Tampa Attorney Laura M. Gallo Receives Thirteen Judicial Circuit's Outstanding Pro Bono Service by a Lawyer Award

Middle District of Florida Judges Return to In-Person Hearings

With the worst of the pandemic appearing to be over, many of the Middle District’s bankruptcy judges are returning to pre-pandemic procedures for in-person hearings. 

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