Archive: April 2019

A devastating fire broke out in the Florida Panhandle on March 30, and would have been reportedly easy to contain, but, instead, spread and caused a significant amount of devastation to homes and other properties due to debris that was leftover from hurricane Michael. According to the reports, the fire burned close to 700 acres just over the weekend, and forced more than 20 homeowners to evacuate; homeowners that will undoubtedly need to file insurance claims in order to try and address the devastation. It all started from a debris burn that got out of control, and as of April 1, was still not completely contained.

In fact, the effects of the Hurricane are so severe as to continue to threaten the health and safety of Florida residents that, on April 2, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order extending the state’s “State of Emergency” status for another 60 days. The counties affected by the extension include Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Okaloosa, Walton, Washington, and Wakulla counties.

When it comes to transactions involving business purchases, it is crucial that the purchasing company conducts due diligence concerning the businesses’ operations and potential liabilities; especially when it comes to human resources and labor and employment law matters. Specifically, it is important to ascertain whether there are risks that could affect the value of the transaction and therefore whether the company needs to engage in activities to mitigate those risks.

While labor and employment issues have not historically presented a significant amount of risk and potential liability, this is changing, and there are now a number of emerging legal issues in this field which have the potential to affect the proposed transaction. Below, we identify some of these risks and discuss how to address them via mitigation strategies.

General Areas of Concern

There are several general areas when it comes to basic labor and employment issues; including but not limited to the following:

On April 13, HD Law Partners participated in the Hillsborough County Bar Association’s 16th Annual 5k Pro Bono River Run and Judicial Pig Roast/Food Festival. Participants ran down Tampa’s River Walk, from Water Works Park to the Tampa Convention Center, then returned to Water Works Park. After the run, participants and non-participants enjoy themed tents and good food at Stetson University’s Tampa Law Center.

The funds raised by the Hillsborough County Bar Association from this event go toward providing pro bono legal services to people in need in Hillsborough County, Florida. The Hillsborough County Bar Association, through its run participants registered for the event, pledged 5,000 pro bono hours.

The firm enjoys supporting the Hillsborough County Bar Association’s goal of supporting individuals in need of legal assistance in Hillsborough County. To learn more about free and low-cost legal aid in Tampa Bay, visit the HCBA’s website for more resources. To see the complete race results, click here

According to new research, although many parents decide to stay together and delay divorcing until their children are older because they think that is better for them, in fact, divorce is actually less harmful if it occurs earlier in childhood.

Of course, when it comes to how a family will react to divorce, experts have long held that that depends upon the family. Exactly how a child will react depends upon what is going on with the family, the child’s temperament, age, and the relationship between the parents. If there is exposure to chronic violence in the home, the consensus has been that parents should get divorced as soon as possible. The same also goes for repeated high conflict in the marriage. Still, for children who come from violent divorces, many experts will recommend that additional steps be taken, such as taking the child to therapy.

As the first major assessment done on the emotional impact of divorce on children, this latest study results specifically indicate that the greatest repercussions from divorce (i.e. behavioral and emotional problems in children) come in early adolescence; i.e., between the ages of seven and 14, especially in boys. Older children are not only more sensitive to relationship dynamics, but they are also more likely to be affected by other consequences of divorce, such as disruption to friendships and schooling. Conversely, for children between the ages of three and seven, the study found no differences whatsoever between children whose parents divorced and those who did not.

Florida citizens upset over their homeowners’ association charging them for painting that had to be done on residences have garnered news headlines of late. This is a common type of dispute that arises between residents and their homeowners’ association; a maintenance service that has been written into residents’ contracts increasing their association dues; and residents being frustrated about it. Is the homeowners’ association in the wrong here?

A homeowners’ association board has tremendous power and every right to follow through with a maintenance requirement like painting residences and charging owners for that requirement. It does not need to take a vote from resident owners first; however, a majority of the homeowners can demand a recall election and elect new board members if they are frustrated by decisions like these.

The Ability to Levy Special Assessments

These types of fees are typically collected each month by homeowners’ associations to assist with improving and maintaining all properties in the association. While already-established fees often cover regular maintenance costs, associations can levy special assessments—like this painting fee—if reserve funds are not enough to cover a large project that’s badly needed.