Miami legal market

[->Soon]

• Want to ask a lawyer a question-for free?

LegalLine, a monthly help line operated by the Dade County Bar Association and staffed by volunteer lawyers, can answer in English and Spanish a broad range of basic legal questions. September's LegalLine will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesday.Callers, who may choose to remain anonymous, should call, toll-free, 866-596-0399.

Attorneys will address a wide spectrum of legal specialties, including family, probate, criminal, real estate, landlord-tenant and business and immigration law. If appropriate, they'll also refer callers to service organizations.

Here's a sample of commonly asked questions:

• I was arrested a few years ago and I was wondering how to go about expunging my arrest record?

• I'm being sued for child support and I can't afford to pay. What are my options?

• I'm being assessed unfairly by my condo/homeowners association. What can I do about this situation?

• My Dad died and he left money in his bank account. How can I access the contents of the account?

• What is the statute of limitations for?

* Can you practice law in Miami without knowing spanish?

* Are all the babes in Mee-ami money hungry hoochey mommas?

[El_Che]

^^ ummmm what?

[->Soon]

http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2007/12/17/daily17.html?surround=lfn

South Florida ranked No. 1 'judicial hellhole'

 The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) has ranked South Florida as its No. 1 "judicial hellhole" for 2007.

The annual report identifies "hellholes" as the top unfair jurisdictions in which to be sued. South Florida has topped the list for the first time.

"South Florida has a reputation for high awards and plaintiff-friendly rulings that make it a launching point for class actions, dubious claims and novel theories of recovery," the report summary reads.

The report comes a few weeks after a state interest group, Florida Stop Lawsuit Abuse (FSLA), published a study of the impacts of lawsuit abuse on the state's small businesses. Among the findings: 10 percent of small businesses have had to lay off employees, 27 percent have reconsidered expansion and 36 percent have raised prices on goods and services because of the threat of lawsuits.

"Small business is the backbone of Florida, and this issue affects every Floridian as a consumer," FSLA Executive Director Carlos Muhletaler said. "The courts are being used, in some cases, almost like an ATM."

The FSLA study also found that three-quarters of small business owners believe personal injury lawyers who file lawsuits are more interested in making money than helping their clients -- a finding personal injury lawyers bristled at.

"How would a small business owner know what's on the mind of a personal injury attorney?" asked Stuart Grossman, a partner at Grossman Roth, P.A. "This is an absolutely juvenile survey intended to produce no valid data."

Grossman added that his own law firm is a small business, and it makes no sense for lawyers to zero in on small businesses as targets.

Florida Justice Association President Frank Petosa also frowned upon the survey, calling it a "push poll."

"This is a piece of baseless propaganda that tends to get drummed up every year when Legislature is going into session," he said.

The Florida Legislature has passed some tort abuse reform legislation, but Muhletaler said it hasn't been enough to protect small business.

"We're not telling people not to sue," he said. "But this sue-happy mentality is being created by personal injury attorneys, and they are taking away the sense of personal responsibility."

South Florida has made ATRA's list for the last four years. Other "hellholes" this year were Rio Grande Valley and Gulf Coast, Texas; Cook County, Ill.; Clark County, Nev.; and Atlantic County, N.J.

[Prog]

I speak Castilian Spanish (the real Spanish) fluently and I can't even understand the Spanish spoken in Miami; it's some kind of dog language. Their Spanish is so bad it dishonors my ears.

Do you realize that there are two kinds of Spanish? No need to be so rude and elitist just because Castilian Spanish is different than traditional Latin American Spanish. I personally think Castilian Spanish sounds ugly, but that doesn't mean it's a dog language or incorrect.

And almost every latin american country has a different accent and certain vocabulary words. Heck, even in Spain, there are different versions of spanish spoken...


Back to the original topic... im guessing that if "some" spanish is a plus, that someone who is 100% english/spanish bilingual would have an even better shot if all other things were equal...

[El_Che]

I speak Castilian Spanish (the real Spanish) fluently and I can't even understand the Spanish spoken in Miami; it's some kind of dog language. Their Spanish is so bad it dishonors my ears.

Do you realize that there are two kinds of Spanish? No need to be so rude and elitist just because Castilian Spanish is different than traditional Latin American Spanish. I personally think Castilian Spanish sounds ugly, but that doesn't mean it's a dog language or incorrect.

im guessing that if "some" spanish is a plus, that someone who is 100% english/spanish bilingual would have an even better shot if all other things were equal...

Claro. But "some" spanish will still be helpful.

[Startin Up Soon!]

Reviving an old thread!

So I'm pretty interested in working in BigLaw Miami (great weather, fun city, whats not to like?) after graduation but just have a ton of questions that I haven't been able to find answered  anywhere else. 

For starters, are the best places to work there White and Case and Weil?

I'm still hoping to clerk, do these regional offices still offer clerkship bonuses?

Will I be disadvantaged career-wise if I start in Miami instead of a more traditional city (NY, DC, etc)?

How difficult is it to get an offer in Miami?  My spanish is a bit rusty but I'm sure I can bring that back to speed if I need to.  I have zero connections to the region though!  As for my background, I'll be a 1L SA at a V30 firm in NYC and was HYPSM UG and am HYS for LS.  Will that make up for the lack of regional connections?  Looking through the associate profiles in Miami, it seemed like most came from Florida schools and NALP told me that Weil Miami doesn't even recruit at HYS...

TIA!

[jillibean]

I'm in Miami now and before I got here I was dreading the idea of having to learn Spanish. It is true that wherever you go, people speak Spanish. In fact, no matter how white/asian/black you look they will still speak to you in Spanish first and switch to English (if they know it). However, in courtrooms they speak English, at firms they speak English, at school they speak English.... get the idea? You really don't need to know Spanish unless you are doing something immigration related, international, or public-interest where most of your clients will speak another language. Creole is another biggie down here, so if you know French that may be attractive to some employers but I really wouldn't worry about that part.

As for firms, White & Case, Greenburg, Ackerman, Carlton Fields, Hunton & Williams....
If you aren't at a Florida school be prepared to give a good explanation as to why you are interested in working in Miami (other than the weather). You won't be disadvantaged by starting your career in Miami unless you decide to move somewhere else later. You would be at a disadvantage wherever you go afterwards just because you don't have any roots in that area. That is why most people advise you to work where you plan on being at in the long term.

[Startin Up Soon!]

Thanks for the response!  How about Weil? 

[iahurricane]

I'm in Miami now and before I got here I was dreading the idea of having to learn Spanish. It is true that wherever you go, people speak Spanish. In fact, no matter how white/asian/black you look they will still speak to you in Spanish first and switch to English (if they know it). However, in courtrooms they speak English, at firms they speak English, at school they speak English.... get the idea? You really don't need to know Spanish unless you are doing something immigration related, international, or public-interest where most of your clients will speak another language. Creole is another biggie down here, so if you know French that may be attractive to some employers but I really wouldn't worry about that part.

As for firms, White & Case, Greenburg, Ackerman, Carlton Fields, Hunton & Williams....
If you aren't at a Florida school be prepared to give a good explanation as to why you are interested in working in Miami (other than the weather). You won't be disadvantaged by starting your career in Miami unless you decide to move somewhere else later. You would be at a disadvantage wherever you go afterwards just because you don't have any roots in that area. That is why most people advise you to work where you plan on being at in the long term.

I guess this post takes back all your previous ones on this thread from years ago saying spanish is required to even get an interview in miami?

[iahurricane]

I would have to disagree that Spanish is a requirement. It certainly helps, especially if you want to do international work but it definitely is not a requirement. There are also several strong litigation and bankruptcy practices.

I wouldn't think it was either.  Spanish is certainly spoken in Miami, but it's hardly the dominant language. 

Yes, it is the dominant language spoken in the city. Spanish is the first language of 66.75% of the City of Miami's hosueholds.

http://www.mla.org/map_data_results&state_id=12&county_id=&mode=&zip=&place_id=45000&cty_id=&ll=&a=&ea=&order=r

In all of Miami-Dade County, it is the primary language of 59.25% of households:

http://www.mla.org/map_data_results&state_id=12&county_id=86&mode=geographic&zip=&place_id=&cty_id=&ll=top&a=&ea=&order=r

And the most watch television station in Miami? It isn't FOX, ABC, CBS, or NBC...it's the Univision affiliate:

http://www.univision.net/corp/en/pr/Miami_21062004-2.html (old PR, but it's still #1).

Keep in mind that even if it's the first language of most people in the City, that doesn't necessarily mean it's the "dominant" lanaguage.  Overall, I'm sure more people speak English than speak Spanish.  (Most Spanish-speakers will speak both.)  More importantly (for Biglaw), the people at the top of the socio-economic ladder will mainly speak English.

This is Miami. If you are at the top of the socio-economic ladder in Miami, you definitely, without a doubt, speak Spanish. The most expensive areas in Florida, like Coral Gables, are primarily Spanish speaking areas. If you go into a high-end store like Gucci or Nordstrom, you will be greeted in Spanish and the signs are in Spanish. The wealthiest people in Miami are typically Hispanic, and, more specifically, Cuban and Venezuelan.

My mom works with a client in Miami in a different industry who is ridiculously wealthy, but speaks very little English.

Hispanics in Miami aren't the lower-income types that are typical of other largest, urban areas.

This just isn't true. In fact, Coral Gables is the one area of Miami that I've never, ever had a problem meeting someone who didn't speak english. Its really the poorer areas of town where you go into a subway and the workers can't even speak english and you have to point to what you want.