One of many sudden penalties of the COVID-19 pandemic is that I discovered myself in a position to watch a stay courtroom continuing from the consolation of my desk at dwelling (work). The thought of this was completely fascinating to me as a result of there was what I thought of an enormous case and I had a front-row seat.
If you happen to’re in insurance coverage and in Florida, otherwise you’re in any respect excited by circumstances the place a state bar is in search of sanctions in opposition to an legal professional, the case of The Florida Bar v. Scot Strems should catch your consideration. It did mine and I didn’t even know I used to be that excited by watching a authorized continuing designed to determine the
The entire thing lasted two weeks on and off. They streamed over 20 hours of public testimony. The Florida Bar making their case with doc after doc decrying the evils of Mr. Strems and his places of work. The protection responded with witness after witness and paperwork aplenty proclaiming the sainted nature of Mr. Strems and the great work his agency sought to do.
To be totally open, I couldn’t sit by means of all 20 plus hours of testimony. I did sit by means of a number of hours of testimony for each side, the oral determination, and the sanctions listening to to date. I discovered the entire course of illuminating and academic for me. I can relate 4 particular details that I realized throughout this case and in the event you learn to the tip, there are a few different ideas.
It takes rather a lot to get the Florida Bar’s consideration.
The preliminary grievance signifies 18 circumstances the place the agency and Mr. Strems have been sanctioned by a courtroom for his or her conduct throughout first-party fits in opposition to insurance coverage corporations. It additionally mentions that a few of the sanction orders refer again to different sanction orders.
I perceive that the authorized course of can take a very long time. I’ve labored in insurance coverage lengthy sufficient to look at claims that take a number of years to lastly settle. Nevertheless, plainly it’s doable that this might have been taken care of sooner quite than later. As an uninitiated observer of authorized issues, I ponder if the Bar couldn’t have stepped in sooner to take corrective actions.
No matter they did beforehand didn’t have the specified affect. I heard statements the place a courtroom gave a verbal dressing down. It looks as if that was the equal of telling them they have been dangerous and sending them to their rooms to consider what they did. From the testimony I heard, it sounded just like the agency was fined repeatedly. That didn’t appear to work, both. It seems that when somebody is fined and there’s sufficient cash to pay the positive simply, the positive that was presupposed to appropriate conduct turns into one other price of doing enterprise.
Good conduct doesn’t make dangerous conduct okay.
Throughout a number of factors on this case, Mr. Strems made the purpose that his agency did good work and helped folks. That time must be conceded. For most individuals, in the event that they rent an legal professional to characterize them, and the legal professional does a fairly good job in serving to their shopper, the shopper is comfortable. It’s a easy commonplace. Did the client find yourself in a greater place after coping with you than they have been earlier than? In response to that commonplace, I imagine that they did good work and helped folks.
He additionally made the purpose that his agency was concerned in a great deal of charitable work. That is additionally one thing that we are able to be pleased about. Companies ought to provide again to the group nonetheless they will. I can actually say that the oldsters there weren’t all dangerous folks. In reality, I’m inclined to say that they’re in all probability good individuals who did some dangerous issues.
The issue is that nowhere in life will we settle for some form of steadiness between good and dangerous or proper and fallacious. An individual can drive responsibly for 20 years and in the event that they drink, drive, and trigger an accident that kills somebody, they will nonetheless be convicted of DUI, even vehicular manslaughter.
It simply doesn’t work that method and we all know that but as a part of their protection, even whereas they fought the preliminary suspension order, they argued that they have been nonetheless doing good.
In fact, if it’s necessary to do good, it’s additionally necessary to do issues throughout the boundaries that others have put in place. These boundaries make it in order that we are able to all play in the identical sport with the identical guidelines. The agency complained that shutting them down precipitated folks to lose their jobs and that folks wouldn’t have entry to assist in preventing in opposition to their insurance coverage corporations. To that, I submit that they need to have considered that method earlier than issues obtained thus far.
It’s not my fault doesn’t work.
Within the evolution of his regulation agency, Mr. Strems went from a scrappy particular person lawyer with himself, one staff member, and grit on his facet to the pinnacle of a reasonably large agency, with attorneys, different authorized employees, help employees, and a management construction. He took fewer circumstances and set supervisors over others in order that he may give attention to the upper precedence issues. That’s factor. I find it irresistible when a small enterprise grows past simply a few folks.
Nevertheless, when a few of the prices contended that attorneys at his agency have been performing badly, he tried to say it wasn’t his fault. He did the perfect that he may to regulate folks, however you may’t power folks to adjust to guidelines or tradition.
Since I by no means labored for them, I can’t say straight what the tradition was for sure, however I can touch upon what got here out in the course of the case and the way I’ve seen issues work in different places. Some folks will adapt their model to accommodate the tradition the place they work. Some folks will work in a spot and if the tradition grates in opposition to them, they’ll go work some other place. For essentially the most half, folks solely keep at a spot in the event that they really feel like they will’t go away, or the tradition suits them.
Management can not merely divest themselves of duty for the actions of their staff. Leaders should take duty for what occurs inside their staff. If there’s a downside that the chief is aware of about, the chief wants to handle it or endorse it. If there’s a downside that the chief doesn’t learn about, the chief has failed. If somebody on my staff isn’t performing, it’s my fault and my duty to repair it.
That is definitely not the tip of the story.
The oral determination has been handed out and the arguments have been made for the sanctions requested by each side. The Bar is asking for everlasting disbarment and the protection is asking for a short-term suspension. This course of is way from over.
Either side will push for what they need till there are a remaining ruling and order, however that’s not as we speak. Even when this case is over, the story is way from completed.
What’s going to the Bar do subsequent? Will they take this case as a possibility to take a look at how they regulate their business? Will they take a look at their processes and discover locations that must be up to date? Will they contemplate how they monitor the conduct of the legal professional below their purview? Will or not it’s enterprise as regular for the Bar in that they’ll not often take motion? Who is aware of? This story continues.
It’s definitely not the tip of the story for Mr. Strems. It issues little if he’s as scurrilous an legal professional because the story that has been instructed to date. He may be disbarred. That doesn’t essentially imply that he’s by no means going to have the ability to apply regulation. He may be disgraced. That doesn’t essentially imply that he’s persona non grata endlessly.
What do you assume will occur if he got here out and held a press convention and made this assertion? “I’ve come right here as we speak to say that I settle for the findings of the courtroom in opposition to me. I’ve performed fallacious and I’m sorry. I can see the place my actions and failure to behave have harm folks, together with the folks of Florida, my household and buddies, the individuals who trusted me sufficient to work for me, and the insurance coverage market on this state. ”
As I discussed, that is one thing that I by no means anticipated to occur. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are alternatives to be taught issues that I didn’t assume I might have the ability to be taught, not to mention that I might be excited by. In that vein, let me provide you with two extra issues that I realized.
Watching stay (and recorded stay) courtroom on YouTube is method cool.
It was tremendous cool to take a seat and take heed to the arguments. I discovered it fascinating to look at this complete factor play out. It was far more civil than I anticipated. There have been no red-faced attorneys yelling. There was nothing dramatic about it. It was a really civil process. Sure, I meant that pun. No have to thank me.
Watching courtroom proceedings is far more boring than TV makes it out to be.
On the similar time, it was so boring. The Bar legal professional listed truth after truth, quoted transcript after transcript and went on and on about this case and that case. He put paperwork on the display screen, and everybody sat there and skim them. Then the protection began and requested sure or no query after sure or no query. Hour after hour of one-word solutions was adopted by lengthy readings of extra paperwork and such.
I imply, Mr. Strems sat there sipping his espresso more often than not and didn’t even spill a drop.
It was so boring, however I realized rather a lot and may’t await the following episode to go stay.
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Florida
