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“A Toast to Judge Hodges” Federal Bar Association ReceptionBy Robert S. GrisctiSenior Judge William Terrell Hodges wasrecognized for his 40 years (and counting) of serviceas a United States District Judge at “A Toast toJudge Hodges” reception at the Thomas Center inGainesville on November 2, 2012. The event waspresented by the North Central Florida Chapter ofthe Federal Bar Association.Judge Hodges was roasted and toasted by hiscolleague, Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals JudgeGerald Bard Tjoflat, as well as by friends and formerlaw clerks from Gainesville and statewide.Appointed by President Richard Nixon to theUnited States District Court for the Middle District ofFlorida in 1971, Judge Hodges served as Chief Judgeof the Middle District from 1982 to 1989 and now sitsin the Ocala Division of the Middle District of Florida.As a Senior Judge, he resides in Gainesville, Floridaby choice -- he is a true Gator fan.A few of Judge Hodges’ many accomplishmentsand recognitions were mentioned at the reception byStephanie Marchman, his former law clerk and priorFBA Chapter President: Chair of the District Judges Representativesof the Judicial Conference of the UnitedStates and Chair of the Judicial Conference’sExecutive Committee, the principal policymaking body for administration of the UnitedStates Courts;Chair of the Committee on Pattern JuryInstructions of the Eleventh Circuit,responsible for developing the pattern juryinstructions for the Eleventh Circuit;Chair of the United States Judicial Panelon Multidistrict Litigation, responsiblefor coordinating litigation with commonquestions of fact in the federal courts acrossthe nation;2002 recipient of the Edward J. DevittDistinguished Service to Justice Award,an honor bestowed annually by the UnitedStates Supreme Court to one Article III judgeof national stature.Judges Tjoflat and Hodges entertained theaudience with stories from the federal bench andplenty of humor. Judge Hodges reminisced aboutsuch topics as past conversations and contactswith Supreme Court Justices, including “The Chief,”Page 4William Rehnquist. Recalling one instance, JudgeHodges was once asked to make a “2 pm sharp” callto The Chief, who, Judge Hodges later learned, hadhiked to a payphone from a country retreat for thepre-scheduled call.A measure of the respect and admiration forJudge Hodges is reflected in the attendance at theevening reception of members of the federal benchand bar from throughout Florida, joined by manyGainesville and Ocala judges, lawyers and students.Sponsors for the event were the national FederalBar Association, the University of Florida Levin Collegeof Law and the Eighth Judicial Circuit Bar Association;from Jacksonville, Bedell, Dittmar, DeVault, Pillans& Coxe, P.A.; Sheppard, White & Kachergus, P.A.;Smith Hulsey & Busey; Akerman Senterfitt; and theJacksonville Chapter of the Federal Bar Association;from Tampa, Thompson, Sizemore, Gonzalez &Hearing, P.A. and the Tampa Bay Chapter of theFederal Bar Association; from Clearwater, Johnson,Pope, Bokor, Ruppel & Burns, LLP; from Orlando,Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell; from Tallahassee,Holland & Knight LLP; and from Gainesville, Avera &Smith, LLP; N. Albert Bacharach, Jr., P.A.; Scruggs &Carmichael, P.A.; Law Offices of Gilbert A. Schaffnit;Larry Turner, Peg O’Connor and Ron Kozlowski; DellGraham; Law Firm of Robert Griscti, P.A.; Donnelly &Gross, P.A.; Fine, Farkash & Parlapiano; Law Officesof Rush & Glassman; and James H. Sullivan III. TheNorth Central Florida Chapter of the FBA thankseveryone for their attendance and support.U.S. Senior District Judge Hodges & U.S.Magistrate Judge Lammens. Photo courtesy ofUniversity of Florida Levin College of Law

Alternative Dispute ResolutionMediation: Potential Differences When Comparing the Plaintiff’s Room to the Defendant’sRoom in Circuit Civil MediationsBy Chester B. Chance andCharles B. CarterWe’ve been asked to addresssome of the differences betweenthe plaintiff’s room and thedefendant’s room in a mediationinvolving a personal injury claimwith an insurance carrier.First, we thought we wouldprovide some observations withrespect to some differences whichmay characterize the plaintiff’s room. If you would like toemail your thoughts on the subject matter of this articleplease send any emails to cartercdpa@bellsouth.net.Plaintiffs are often confused by legal issues.The typical plaintiff attends mediation for the first timein their life. They typically do not understand legalissues including comparative negligence, proposalsfor settlement, legal relevance, causation, etc. Theplaintiff's attorney, the mediator and the defenseattorney need to keep this difference in mind whendiscussing the importance of various facts and legalissues.Plaintiffs often come to the mediation withemotions including grief, anger and/or frustration.The defense attorney and the insurance adjusterrarely come to the mediation with anything akin to theemotional burden a plaintiff may have at mediation.The defense must be sensitive to these emotionalfactors. The mediator should be prepared to discussthe emotions the plaintiff is feeling.Plaintiffs often come to mediation with highexpectations for a monetary resolution. Theseexpectations are often illogical and unreasonable giventhe plaintiff may have never been involved in a personalinjury case and has no way of knowing the value ofsuch a case, especially considering factual and legalissues which may be present. Often a plaintiff evaluatesa case in terms of what they “want” or “need” to gointo their pockets. Although it’s true, “if you ain’t gotnothing, you got nothing to lose”, still, what someoneneeds or wants may be irrelevant from a fact and lawevaluation perspective.Plaintiffs often suffer from optimistic overconfidence. They look at facts that help their case andchoose to ignore facts which may hurt their case. Sincethey lack experience in litigation, their over-confidencemay have no basis in fact or logic.The defense can address some of the aboveDecember 2012differences between the defenseroom and the plaintiff’s room inseveral ways. First, meet with theplaintiff’s attorney and discusswhat type of mediator his or herclient may need. Will the plaintiffbe more responsive to a male,female, older person, youngerperson, etc?The defense should beprepared at mediation. The moreprepared in presenting your position, the more likelythat position will be conveyed to the claimant andthus reduce expectations, deflate optimistic overconfidence, provide explanation of legal and factualissues which are more readily understood, etc.The defense should bring documents,photographs, and exhibits to the mediation. A pictureis often worth a thousand words in conveying an issue.The defense should be prepared to addressemotional components such as grief, anger, etc.Consider whether a full apology or a partial apologywould be beneficial and appropriate.Often emotions may be addressed with a nonmonetary resolution. Consider whether your client,if your client is a corporate entity, may be willing toaddress some issues raised in the case through inservice training. Think outside the box on non-monetaryissues which may deflate emotions.Most importantly, all involved in the mediationshould have patience. It takes time to explain relevancy,legal issues, risk, cost of litigation, etc., with someonewho may never have been involved in a lawsuit intheir life. Patience and understanding may be the finalingredient, which resolves a claim.Jesse Smith, Ben Steinberg and EJCBA PresidentDawn Vallejos-Nichols share a laugh at Cedar KeyPage 5

Important Wage and Hour Laws for EmployersBy Paul Donnelly, Donnelly & Gross, P.A.What is the minimumwage? Effective January 1,2013, the Florida minimumwage will increase to 7.79 perhour, a 1.5 percent increasefrom 2012 due to the changein the Consumer Price Index.While the federal minimumwage is 7.25 per hour, theFlorida minimum wage, 7.67for 2012, is subject to annualinflation reviews and adjustments under the FloridaConstitution and statutes. The adjusted Floridaminimum wage, which takes effect every January1 for the calendar year, is posted on the Agencyfor Workforce Innovation and the Department ofRevenue websites by October 15 of each yearprior to the effective date of the adjusted minimumwage. Written notice of the adjusted minimumwage and the effective date is mailed to employersregistered in the unemployment compensationdatabase by November 15 of each year.When is overtime pay due? Generally,federal law requires payment of overtime pay, atthe rate of one and one-half times the regular rateof pay, for all hours worked after 40 in a workweek.Certain employees are exempt from the overtimepay requirements. The most common exemptionsare executive, administrative, professional,and outside sale employees who meet certainsalary, duties and responsibilities requirements.To avoid liability, the employer needs to ensurethat employees treated as exempt are properlyclassified, accurate records of employees’ hours ofwork are kept, and wage deductions to not reducewages below the minimum wage and overtimerequirements.What are the child labor restrictions onhours of work? Minors are subject to heightenedstandards, including restricted time and hours ofwork, under both federal and Florida law. Minorsunder thirteen may not work except in the FloridaLegislature as a page, in the entertainmentindustry, or in domestic or farm work for theirparents or guardian. Fourteen and fifteen yearolds may work up to fifteen hours per week whilesixteen and seventeen year olds may work upto thirty hours per week. There are additionalrestrictions on the time of day and number of hoursper day and per week that minors may work whileschool is in session. And, no minor may work morethan four hours without a 30 minute meal period.Paul A. Remillard, Certified MediatorNow available in Jacksonville,Pensacola, Gainesville and PanamaCity at no travel cost to the participants.Recognized as one of the mostexperienced and successfulmediators by the National Academy ofDistinguished Neutrals, Mr. Remillardhas mediated over 2,000 disputes.Also, recently inducted into theNational Association of Elite Mediators.Contact our office at 850-656-7821 orremillardlaw@comcast.netAnne & Jake Rush at Cedar KeyPage 6

President's MessageContinued from page 1branches of our tree for the past 10 years or so.It all began because my husband Mike hatedChristmas – oh, not the true meaning of Christmas,but the commercial aspects of it – overspending thefrantic running around at the last minute to get a tie forUncle Harry and the dusting powder for Grandma – thegifts given in desperation because you couldn’t think ofanything else.Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year tobypass the usual shirts, sweaters, ties and so forth. Ireached for someth

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