Legal Briefs (Tampa edition)

Legal Briefs (Tampa edition)

Holland & Knight hires

four associate attorneys

The Tampa office of Holland & Knight LLP has hired the following four associates:

Brent Bigger, a commercial litigator, who graduated from Bradley University and earned a law degree from the Stetson University College of Law.

John Guard, a commercial litigator, who recently completed a clerkship with U.S. District Judge James S. Moody Jr. A graduate of Florida State University, he earned a law degree from the Tulane University School of Law.

Paul McDermott, a commercial litigator, earned bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Florida.

William R. Rohrlich II, who practices tax law, graduated from Texas A&M University and earned a law degree from the South Texas College of Law.

Phelps Dunbar staff

donates to victims

The staff in the Tampa office of Phelps Dunbar LLP recently collected $2,740 for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

The money, earmarked for victims of Hurricane Charley, will be used to provide food, clothing and shelter.

Gregory Yadley to chair

national subcommittee

Gregory C. Yadley, a partner in the Tampa office of Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP, has been appointed chairman of the American Bar Association subcommittee that is studying the impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on smaller publicly-traded companies. He practices in the firm's corporate practice group and chairs its corporate law department.

Yadley also recently participated in the 2004 SEC Government-Business Forum on Small Business Capital Formation in Washington, D.C. This forum focused on Sarbanes-Oxley and other issues affecting capital formation by smaller companies.

Applications for vacant

2nd DCA job due Oct. 22

The 2nd District Court of Appeal Nominating Commission will accept applications until Oct. 22 for the vacancy created with the appointment of Virginia M. Hernandez Covington to the federal bench. Interviews are tentatively scheduled for Nov. 23 at the Tampa campus of the Stetson University College of Law.

Applications are available via the Internet at the Florida Bar Web site (http://www.flabar.org).

For more information, call Jack P. Brandon, commission chair, at (836) 676-7611.

Stetson inducts 17

into Hall of Fame

The Stetson University College of Law recently inducted the following legal professionals into its Hall of Fame:

Edith M. Atkinson, 1922 graduate, the school's first female graduate to become a judge.

Charles and Eleanor Dana - for their financial contributions.

Richard T. Dillon, 1957 graduate, the school's former law dean.

J. Ollie Edmunds, 1928 graduate, the school first law school graduate to become its president.

Bruce Jacob, 1959 graduate and former law school dean.

Frederick B. Karl, 1949 graduate, the former Florida Supreme Court justice who has served in numerous public roles.

Elizabeth A. Kovachevich, 1961 graduate, the only woman in her graduating class who now serves as a U.S. district judge.

Calvin Arnold Kuenzel, who taught for nearly four decades at the law school.

James Nemec, a 1936 graduate, and Ruth Nemec, for their financial generosity.

Perry Nichols, a 1937 graduate and former president of the American Trial Lawyers Association and the International Trial Lawyers Association.

Harold L. "Tom" Sebring, a former law school dean.

William Reece Smith Jr., a distinguished law school professor who also served as president of the American Bar Association.

Dean Lewis Tribble, a former law school professor who later became its dean.

William Amory Underhill, a 1936 graduate who served as a law school trustee from 1977-86.

W. Gary Vause, the law school's late dean.

Lawyers recommend retention

of Florida Supreme Court justices

The state's lawyers overwhelmingly recommended the retention of Florida Supreme Court justices Kenneth B. Bell and Raoul G. Cantero III who are up for reelection Nov. 2.

In addition, lawyers support the retention of all state appellate judges up for reelection. The secret ballot, mailed in August, asked whether a judge should be retained for another six-year term under the merit retention system.

Only 4,503 lawyers of the state's nearly 75,000 licensed litigators responded. About 80% voted for Bell, while 84% recommended retention of Cantero.

Judicial poll results for the 2nd District Court of Appeal in favor of retention: Charles Canady, 79%; Patricia Kelly, 83%; Stevan Northcutt, 89%; Craig Villanti, 82%; and Douglas Wallace, 85%.