Mary Hladky

July 28, 1999 | Law.com

Less than two months after federal prosecutors suffered a stinging defeat in the Port of Miami trial, they return to the courtroom Monday to take another stab at alleged public corruption. Last spring's trial sought convictions against former port director Carmen Lunetta, port businessman Neal Harrington and California bond underwriter Calvin Grigsby. A U.S. District Judge halted the case, saying prosecutors had presented insufficient evidence to convict the three on charges of stealing public money.

By Mary Hladky

5 minute read

February 25, 2000 | Law.com

White & Case's decision to boost starting pay for first-year associates a whopping 35 percent has plunged South Florida's firms into an unprecedented tumult.

By Mary Hladky

6 minute read

September 23, 1999 | Law.com

Chemical giant DuPont Co. has gone on the offensive. Growers who claim the DuPont fungicide Benlate 50 DF damaged or destroyed their crops filed more than 600 lawsuits in the early 1990s. Then, six years later, the growers returned to court and claimed DuPont's settlement in the first slew of cases amounted to fraud and racketeering. Recently DuPont cried foul, saying the growers have no right to sue the company again. The growers are breaching their settlement agreements with DuPont, the company says.

By Mary Hladky

3 minute read

April 08, 1999 | Law.com

Lawyers representing growers whose crops were damaged or destroyed by a DuPont fungicide are raising the stakes yet again in litigation against the chemical giant. New evidence has surfaced that DuPont knew its Benlate 50 DF was a faulty product, but concealed that information, according to an April 1 pleading. The new information concerns matters that have been part of earlier trials, but supposedly provides stronger proof that DuPont lied and hid information.

By Mary Hladky

3 minute read

August 13, 1999 | Law.com

Legal assistnace organizations in Florida face a grim year. A significant amount of their funding comes from the Florida Bar Foundation's Interest on Trust Accounts, or IOTO -- a breakthrough money-raising program copied by the rest of the country. Although foundation officials have been able to dip into reserves to keep from reducing grants, the pool is empty and cuts are looming. Next month, foundation leaders will meet to decide how to divvy up the remaining money.

By Mary Hladky

5 minute read

December 15, 1999 | Law.com

Federal prosecutors violate court rules when they ask to shorten the sentences of defendants who provide information about other crimes, contends a group of Miami defense lawyers. Terming the actions illegal, the lawyers are asking judges to grant their clients new trials or to bar the testimony of cooperating witnesses. They maintain that prosecutors often ask for sentence reductions well after the one-year limit allowed by court rules, giving cooperating witnesses time to invent false testimony.

By Mary Hladky

6 minute read

July 02, 1999 | Law.com

Eight years after Exxon dealers marched into court contending the oil giant cheated them out of discounts for more than a decade, their class-action suit is finally going to trial today in Florida. The stakes are huge: Some 10,000 dealers in 36 states are seeking $1 billion in damages. Until two weeks ago, even more was on the line. The dealers were also seeking $2 billion in punitive damages, but U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold killed that request in a July 20 ruling.

By Mary Hladky

5 minute read

May 28, 1999 | Law.com

One fact is undisputed in the massive Port of Miami corruption trial: Money was flying everywhere. There was $25,000 of what prosecutors contend was taxpayers' money that went to the Masters golf tournament, $10,000 to the Miami Seaquarium, $10,000 to the FedEx Orange Bowl, $22,000 to Royal Caribbean Cruises, $58,000 to a fireworks company and $9,200 to a caterer. Co-defendants Carmen Lunetta, the former seaport director, and Calvin Grigsby, a San Francisco financier, got their own share of the wealth.

By Mary Hladky

7 minute read

November 01, 1999 | Law.com

Few defense lawyers can claim they whipped government prosecutors twice in six months. But the team of Theodore V. Wells Jr., Albert J. Krieger and Scott A. Srebnick did it representing a California bond dealer in two high-profile public corruption cases. Was it skill? Tactics? Luck? Problematic cases? The answer: All of the above. They faced experienced prosecutors. But in both cases, the government saw their witnesses undermined by the defense.

By Mary Hladky

6 minute read

January 26, 1999 | Law.com

By By Mary Hladky

9 minute read