The John Chapman Law Firm, PA

09/01/2023

John Chapman Law Firm is celebrating its 12th anniversary today!

02/25/2023

Working with colleagues to become better mediators at this year’s Mentoring Academy. Really enjoying the interactive roll-playing format!

02/17/2023

The firm represented a female contractor (not local) in a dispute with a business over payment of her bill. The business owner (a man) felt he could intimidate my client and bully her into foregoing the final payment due. When she refused, he sued her and alleged hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue. The case went to trial in December. We just received the judge's judgment, and she ruled in favor of our client on her claim for the unpaid invoice and against the owner on ALL his claims. A very satisfying result for the client and for the firm!

09/01/2021

Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the firm today. Can’t believe it’s been ten years!

09/10/2020

For those of you involved with leasing, be aware that a bill signed into law by DeSantis on June 27th has done away with the requirement for two witnesses for a lease in excess of a year. Now no witnesses are required for any lease, regardless of the duration.

03/13/2020

The chief judge has entered an order as a result of Corona: All jury trials have now been suspended for at least two weeks. All hearings are encouraged to be conducted by telephone.

12/16/2019

The results from the recent Sarasota Bar Association Judicial Poll are in and show just how fortunate we are to have such good judges in the 12th Judicial Circuit (Sarasota, Manatee and Desoto Counties). Almost all judges had overall scores greater than 4 on a 1-5 rating in nine categories. Only two judges had scores under 4 and they were in the high 3's.

02/14/2019

If you have a Florida corp or LLC make sure you file your annual report and pay the renewal fee!

02/04/2019

Newest cool Chapman Firm swag - nametag lanyard that is also a 3 way phone charger cable!

02/04/2019

Proud sponsor of the Suncoast Chapter of the Paralegal Association of Florida's Annual Meeting!

01/10/2019

10/19/2018

I had the opportunity to be interviewed regarding the proposed Constitutional Amendments 1 and 2.
http://www.snntv.com/2018/10/18/voting-on-constitutional-amendments-one-and-two/

08/15/2018

Happy to support the local chapter of Florida Public Relations Association!

07/31/2018

Interesting case about the FARBAR "As Is" contract and what can happen if you get cute with the deadlines. Here the loss of a $285k deposit and $850k in attorney fees!
https://www.leagle.com/decision/inflco20180613143

SALTER J. Richard Diaz and Ana Santisteban Diaz Buyers appeal a final summary judgment regarding claims and counterclaims in...20180613143

07/11/2018

I'm guessing that the issues faced by a small law firm are not drastically different than any other small business.

01/12/2018

01/12/2018

01/12/2018

10/08/2017

10/04/2017

Love this. Finally someone is reigning in the bs class action settlements. Court reverses settlement in Subway lawsuit over 12" subs!
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=6fe9aa09-25b8-495b-b09f-91656bf472c9&utm_source=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed&utm_medium=HTML+email+-+Body+-+General+section&utm_campaign=Florida+Bar+subscriber+daily+feed&utm_content=Lexology+Daily+Newsfeed+2017-10-04&utm_term=

“A class action that ‘seeks only worthless benefits for the class’ and ‘yields [only] fees for class counsel’ is ‘no better than a racket’ and ‘should…

09/25/2017

Attending Clio Cloud Conference in New Orleans!

08/18/2017

If you short-sold your house in the last five years, the recent case of Whitney Bank v. Grant, Case No. 1D16-5112 (Fla. 1st DCA 2017), may be some cause for concern. Here the Court held that five-year statute of limitations period in Florida Statute section 95.11(2)(b), and not the one-year statute of limitations of Florida Statute section 95.11(5)(h), applies in actions for deficiency proceedings arising out a short sale. Some lenders, while agreeing to a short sale, did not also agree to waive any right to later assert a claim for a deficiency.

So, unless you received such a waiver (which became the norm rather than the exception) you may still be open to a lawsuit for the deficiency - the difference between the amount owed and the amount that the lender was paid from the sale.

09/13/2016

This recent case points out the risk of communicating with your attorney using your work email.

Email communications between plaintiff and his attorneys regarding the pending litigation were not protected by attorney-client privilege to the extent that the emails were forwarded by the plaintiff to his work email account and then accessed by the plaintiff on his employer's communication system. The Court held that plaintiff had no reasonable expectation of privacy regarding the emails because the employer had a policy that (i) expressly limited personal use of the employer's communication systems, (ii) banned the use of the communication system for personal business or personal gain, (iii) reserved the employer's right to access and monitor employee use for any purpose (iv) warned employees that they had no expectation of privacy in emails transmitted over the company system and (v) required employees, including plaintiff, to certify compliance with the policy by signing an acknowledgement form. Bingham v. Baycare Health System 2016 WL 3917513 (M.D.Fla. July 20, 2016)

05/20/2016

Interesting case - the broker got sued for it's sales agent's failure to disclose defects in her home that she was selling as listing agent. Here the seller and the broker are legally one in the same.

Goodman v. Rose Realty West, Inc., --- So. 3d ----, 2016 WL 2744975 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016).
A real estate broker is liable for the acts of his or her sales agent in failing to disclose defects in a home which materially affects the value of home, and the broker is not insulated from liability merely because the sales agent is also the seller of the home.

04/10/2012

I am pleased to announce that I have just received the AV Preeminent Peer Review rating from Martindale-Hubbell. This rating is based on confidential opinions of lawyers and judges who have ranked me at the highest level of professional excellence in terms of both legal ability and ethical standards.