Orlando Sentinel Lauren Ritchie column
By Lauren Ritchie, Orlando Sentinel | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Races for county judge seats are typically dull affairs, but a group of personal-injury lawyers mostly from
Why would out-of-town lawyers with limited business in these parts want Neal gone? Their unofficial leader would have voters believe that his goal is simply to improve the judiciary -- he said he's helping
Neal, a 59-year-old former secretary who put herself through law school, was appointed to the bench in
Against her, these 15 to 20 attorneys are backing a
The owner of the
One said that a friend in an
"He said, 'You're very well liked, and everybody knows you. There's a group that doesn't like
He said he declined.
If
What's with throwing around the big bucks? Pucylowski wouldn't answer -- he said his conversation with Azcano was "private" before he hung up.
The other choice, family lawyer
Wow! Why would attorneys from outside
Reached by telephone,
Perhaps the answer can be found in history.
This group, led by
Copeland and 16 other lawyers dumped about
Fourteen of those same lawyers also contributed directly to Plogstedt's opponent, for a total of more than
And the reason Plogstedt was targeted? Copeland claimed she "hadn't done a good job."
Or, could Plogstedt's mistake have been her refusal to rubberstamp high lawyer fees in the multiple thousands for personal-injury claims that generally didn't top
Copeland and the other lawyers practice in this niche field that began exploding with lawsuits in 2006.
Here's how it often works: The personal-injury lawyer finds a case in which a bill, often for a few hundred dollars from a chiropractor or radiologist, has been denied by an insurance provider after a traffic accident. The lawyer sues, and if a judge rules that the insurance company must pay any amount of the medical bill, then the insurer also is responsible for the all legal fees. Sometimes, the driver involved in the accident isn't even aware that a lawsuit has been filed and typically doesn't get any award.
Personal-injury lawyers say insurance companies aren't playing by rules and paying for the care they should. Insurance companies say the only reason the cases are being filed is so that lawyers can collect wild fees.
Those are precisely the kind of cases that Neal handles in
Court records in
But that's not why Copeland, who chairs two political committees that gave
He said he had a "bad experience" with Neal in one case.
"She just simply refused to follow the law, went and created her own rules and law to apply to the case," he said. "To me, that's the worst kind of judge."
Neal said Florida's Code of Judicial Conduct prevents her from commenting on her opponent's tactics or responding to criticism about any single case. However, her endorsements speak for themselves. Sheriff
"
Borders called her "a great judge" and pledged to ask his supporters to vote for her, and McKee said she is "fair, impartial and always professional."
Neal's campaign treasurer,
"In this race, they should," Schroth advised.
Archer, 40, said he was neither recruited nor promised money to run against Neal. However, 17 personal-injury attorneys have contributed to his campaign and all but one of them also gave either to Copeland's ECO or directly to Plogstedt's opponent. So far, Archer has one contributor from
Archer said he is friends with
Copeland said he was happy to help Archer because Archer graduated from
"The question was asked, 'Would I be able to find funding to run my race?'" Archer said. "He said he would be happy to chair the campaign and make some phone calls. He never offered anything solid."
However, in early May, Copeland's firm filed a motion asking Neal to recuse herself from handling about 25 cases filed by his firm. Part of the motion stated, "As Campaign Committee Chairman, it will be
So far, Copeland and his friends haven't yet told us benighted primitives out here in the sticks which candidate to choose.
Copeland said "rumors" that he promised Archer
"I intend to raise more money now that someone is attacking him," Copeland said.
Asked who attacked Archer, Copeland wasn't sure, but he said he finds it "sickening" that anyone would judge Archer on his long hair and beard, which he cut and shaved when he filed for judge. Copeland said he increasingly likes "the kid" as he get to know him better.
"I encountered a problem in
On Wednesday, we'll take a look at the candidates and their qualifications.
[email protected]. Lauren invites you to send her a friend request on
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