Let's not rush into this email business...

On Tuesday, June 25, the Florida Supreme Court amended last week’s opinion to change the effective date for mandatory email service from July 1 to September 1, 2012. The rule remains the same in all other respects. In an email announcing the change, the Florida Bar also announced that it would be providing complimentary CLE to all lawyers regarding the change. It did seem that the original effective date was given with extremely short notice. Why? Had the issuance of the opinion been delayed? Does anyone have inside info?

 

July 1 marks beginning of mandatory service by e-mail

In an opinion issued last week, the Florida Supreme Court created Rule of Judicial Administration 2.516 requiring email service of all papers after the initial summons and complaint. New rule 2.515 similarly requires an attorney’s signature block include his or her primary email address, and any secondary email addresses.

The rules take effect July 1, 2012, and apply to all state civil and appellate cases. Note the following specifics:

• Upon appearing in a proceeding, a lawyer must serve a designation of a primary email address (and may designate two secondary addresses) for receiving service.
• If an attorney fails to designate an email address, service may be made on that attorney at the email address on record with the Florida Bar.
• Service by e-mail is deemed complete when the e-mail is sent.
• Service by email is treated as service by mail for purposes of the computation of time.
• E-mail service is made by attaching a copy of the document to be served in PDF format to an e-mail. 
• The subject line of the e-mail must contain the words “SERVICE OF COURT DOCUMENT” in all capital letters, followed by the case number of the relevant proceeding. 
• The body of the e-mail must identify the court in which the proceeding is pending, the case number, the name of the initial party on each side, the title of each document served with that e-mail, and the sender’s name and telephone number. 
• Any document served by email may be signed by the “/s/” format, but the filed original must be signed in accordance with the applicable rule of procedure.
• The e-mail and attachments together may not exceed 5 megabytes in size; e-mails that exceed the size requirement must be divided into separate e-mails (no one of which may exceed 5 megabytes) and labeled sequentially in the subject line.

Search opinions from specific courts - Google Scholar Blog

From the Google Scholar Blog: Google Scholar search now can limit searches to specific courts and jurisdictions.
Search opinions from specific courts - Google Scholar Blog

More Than 100 PowerPoint Tutorials & a Free Template » The Rapid eLearning Blog

Tom Kuhlman has brought together more than 100 PowerPoint Tutorials on his Rapid eLearning Blog. Great stuff.

What kind of dash do I use?

 There are three kinds of dashes in modern computer word processing: the hyphen, the en-dash, and the em-dash. Here's a brief catalog of when and how to use each: 

The hyphen ( - ) is the small­est of these marks. It is also the only one with its own key: next to the 0. It has three uses.

1. It serves to break a word across two lines by syllables.(To maximize the readability of your text, it is recommended that you auto-hyphenate, particularly if you are using full justification. To auto-hyphenate in Microsoft Word 2007, click on the Page Setup Tab, and then the Hyphenation button.)
2. Some mul­ti­part words are spelled with a hyphen (topsy-turvy, cost-effective, bric-a-brac). But a pre­fix is not typ­i­cally fol­lowed with a hyphen (non­profit, not non-profit).
3. A hyphen is used in phrasal adjec­tives (commercial-speech restric­tion, estate-planning attor­ney, law-school grades) to ensure clar­ity.

Dashes come in two sizes — the en dash and the em dash. Just as the letter "m" is about twice as wide as the letter "n," the "em" dash ( — ) is about twice as wide as the en dash ( – ). Like the hyphen, they each have different purposes, and should not be used interchangeably.
.
The en dash has two uses.

1. It indi­cates a range of val­ues, e.g., 1800–1912, 383 So. 2d at 452–455, Exh. A–E. Note: If you begin with "from," don't use an en dash, but use "to" instead, e.g., "from 1800 to 1912."
2. It denotes a con­trast between pairs of words, and is often used in place of "versus,"  e.g., conservative–liberal split, Fischer–Spassky match.
3. It is also used for joint authorship, e.g., Prosser–Keaton textbook.

Be care­ful when cit­ing a source like Local Rule 7-3. That gets a hyphen, not an en dash, because it’s the mul­ti­part name of a sin­gle rule, not a range of rules.

There are several ways to create an en dash:  

• With num lock on, type ALT + 0150 on the number keypad.
• In Microsoft Word, you can also type any word, then type "space, hyphen, space (" - "), then type another word (or any character) and then press space. The hyphen will elongate into an en dash.

The em dash is used for the following:

• To mark an interruption of a thought. E.g., "The last time I saw him—or so I thought—he was in England."
• It can replace the colon, e.g., "The company was awarded the largest contract ever for a prison—a 2048-bed facility."

There are several ways to create an em dash:

• Hold down the alt key and type 0151 on the number pad (make sure num lock is on)
• In Microsoft Word , you can also type two hyphens (minus signs) directly after a word, type another word (or any character) and then press space. The hyphen will elongate into an em dash.

How Facebook Can Make or Break Your Case

How Facebook Can Make or Break Your Case is a nice article outlining how to use Facebook in litigation.

FLORIDA JURORS: NO TWEETING ALLOWED!

On October 21, the Florida Supreme Court approved various changes to the Standard Civil Jury Instructions. All of the changes bear on the use of technology—such as twitter—by jurors. The entire opinion, with all of the amendments appended, can be obtained here.  

IMPORTANT: THESE NEW AMENDMENTS ARE NOT YET REFLECTED IN THE COMPLETE SET OF INSTRUCTIONS, WHICH CAN BE FOUND HERE.

In addition to changes to existing instructions, the amendments include a brand new unnumbered instruction, to be read at the conclusion of the instructions to be read to prospective jurors. That new instruction reads as follows:

QUALIFICATIONS INSTRUCTION

Many of you have cell phones, computers, and other electronic devices. Even though you have not yet been selected as a juror, there are some strict rules that you must follow about using your cell phones, electronic devices and computers. You must not use any device to search the Internet or to find out anything related to any cases in the courthouse. Between now and when you have been discharged from jury duty by the judge, you must not provide or receive any information about your jury service to anyone, including friends, co-workers, and family members. You may tell those who need to know where you are that you have been called for jury duty. If you are picked for a jury, you may tell people that you have been picked for a jury and how long the case may take. However, you must not give anyone any information about the case itself or the people involved in the case. You must also warn people not to try to say anything to you or write to you about your jury service or the case. This includes face-to-face, phone or computer communications. In this age of electronic communication, I want to stress that you must not use electronic devices or computers to talk about this case, including tweeting, texting, blogging, e-mailing, posting information on a website or chat room, or any other means at all. Do not send or accept any messages, including e-mail and text messages, about your jury service. You must not disclose your thoughts about your jury service or ask for advice on how to decide any case. After you are called to the courtroom, the judge will give you specific instructions about these matters. A judge will tell you when you are released from this instruction. All of us are depending on you to follow these rules, so that there will be a fair and lawful resolution of every case.

NOTE ON USE

This instruction should be given in addition to and at the conclusion of the instructions normally given to the prospective jurors. The portion of this instruction dealing with communication with others and outside research may need to be modified to include other specified means of communication or research as technology develops.