Hon. Fleur J. Lobree is our latest Featured Speaker!

Our latest featured speaker is Judge Fleur J. Lobree from the Florida Third District Court of Appeal!

Judge Lobree will speak at our upcoming Persuasive Appellate Brief Writing and Oral Argument 101 program on June 26 & 27, 2024. During this program appellate judges and seasoned appellate practitioners will walk the beginner appellate practitioner through both areas of appellate practice in state and federal appellate courts.

Judge Fleur J. Lobree was appointed to the Court by Governor Ron DeSantis on April 25, 2019. She previously served as an Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court Judge in the criminal division from February 2013 through January 2015, and as a Miami Dade County Court Judge in the criminal and civil divisions from April 2011 through January 2013. Apart from her work on the bench, Judge Lobree has been an assistant state attorney, an associate with Hicks, Anderson and Kneale, a career law clerk for the Hon. Rodolfo Sorondo, Jr., and an assistant attorney general.

In 2021, Judge Lobree was the recipient of the Miami-Dade Bar Mario P. Goderich Legal Ethics Award. In 2014, she received the Dade County Bar Association Alan R. Schwartz Judicial Excellence Award. In 2016, Judge Lobree received a MADD Prosecution Award of Honor. Judge Lobree was listed among the Top Government Attorneys by the South Florida Legal Guide from 2007 through 2011. The Dade County Bar Association gave her a Put Something Back Pro Bono Service Award in 1996 and a Special Public Service Award in 1991. She earned a Davis Productivity Award in 1993 for work in Homestead as an ombudsman in insurance disputes following Hurricane Andrew.

In service to her profession, Judge Lobree is a member of the Appellate Court Rules and Criminal Court Steering Committees. Previously, she spent six years as a member of the Florida Bar Criminal Procedure Rules Committee, including serving as its Chair and liaison to the Appellate Court Rules and Rules of Judicial Administration Committees. She also volunteered on a Florida Bar Grievance committee. Judge Lobree has trained attorneys and law enforcement officers on topics such as Extraordinary Writ Proceedings, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment Law, Ethics and Professionalism, Frye Hearings, Search Warrant Issuance and Execution, and Sunshine Law.

Judge Lobree was born in Evansville, Indiana and raised in Miami, Florida. She is a 1992 graduate of the University of Miami School of Law. She devotes free time to mentoring students through the Florida Bar law related education and Miami Dade Bar school programs committees. Since 2007, she has been a member of Save Our Sisters dragon boat racing team, created to raise awareness about breast health and enable breast cancer survivors to discover or regain fitness after treatment.

We are so glad to have her join us!

John Querio is our Latest Featured Speaker!

Our latest featured speaker is John Querio from Horvitz & Levy!

John will be speaking at our upcoming 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Boot Camp: The Nuts and Bolts Webinar on September 26 & 28. He most recently spoke at our previous 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Boot Camp in November of 2021 where attendees praised his teaching efficiency and knowledge on the topic.

We’re excited to have him back with us!

Additionally, John is co-author of the leading treatise on civil appeals before the Ninth Circuit, the Rutter Group’s Ninth Circuit Civil Appellate Practice. Because John is speaking at our 9th Circuit program, along with co-author Peder Batalden, the Rutter Group will give attendees at that program 40% off the Guide.  Attendees will learn how to take advantage of this discount during the seminar.

John is a partner at Horvitz & Levy, where he has worked on dozens of civil appeals in state and federal court. He has special expertise in federal, civil, and appellate procedure. John has argued numerous appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

John’s proficiency in a wide range of practice areas, including commercial contract disputes; arbitration and class actions; defense of claims based on professional conduct (including the anti-SLAPP statute and First Amendment issues, legal malpractice, and malicious prosecution); defense of insurance coverage and bad faith litigation; products and premises liability defense; civil rights litigation defense; and punitive damages. 

Due to John’s extensive experience in appellate procedure, he has counseled many significant companies on appellate matters, including Ford Motor Company, State Farm, American General Life Insurance Company, Hospital Corporation of America, QBE Insurance Corporation, Travelers, Kiewit, Dow Chemical Company, Philip Morris, and San Diego Gas & Electric Company. 

John has also represented cities, counties, and peace officers in federal civil rights actions; major hospitals and providers in healthcare matters; and large insurers in coverage disputes. He has worked with major trade associations to position cutting edge issues for appellate review, including the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar, the Washington Legal Foundation, the California Hospital Association, and the California New Car Dealers Association.

Thank you for joining us again, John!



Janet Schorer is our Latest Featured Speaker

Our latest featured speaker is Janet Schroer from Hart Wagner!

Janet will be speaking at our upcoming 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Boot Camp: The Nuts and Bolts Webinar on September 26 & 28. She previously spoke at our 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Boot Camp, where attendees gave her rave reviews for her teaching skills and terrific materials. 

We’re excited to have her back with us!

Janet is a partner at Hart Wagner, where she frequently serves the firm’s clients in the Oregon Court of Appeals and Oregon Supreme Court, and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  She also represents her clients’ business, professional and personal interests before various trial courts and professional licensing agencies.

Over the course of her career, Janet has handled well over 50 cases to final decision in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  She has argued over 30 cases and taken them to final opinion in the Oregon Supreme Court, and argued over 130 cases resulting in opinions in the Oregon Court of Appeals.  She has also handled appeals in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, Idaho Supreme Court, Nevada Supreme Court, and Washington Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.

Janet defends doctors, lawyers and other professionals in Oregon state and federal trial courts. She also handles all aspects of professional malpractice, commercial litigation, products liability and general litigation.

Janet also represents Oregon professionals in matters involving their licensing Boards. She works frequently with the various Oregon professional licensing Boards.

Thank you for joining us again, Janet!



Brendan Begley is our Latest Featured Speaker!

Our latest featured speaker is Brendan Begley from Weintraub Tobin!

Brendan will be speaking at our upcoming 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Boot Camp: The Nuts and Bolts Webinar on September 26 & 28. He most recently spoke at our Covid 19 Employment Litigation: Liability, Privacy, and Arbitration Webinar where he was praised by attendees for how direct and concise his presentation was.

We’re excited to have him back with us!

Brendan is a shareholder at Weintraub Tobin, who spearheads the firm’s Appeals and Writs group, and is a member of the firm’s Litigation, Labor & Employment, Trust, Probate, and Elder Abuse Litigation groups.

Throughout his career, Brendan has worked on class actions and managed entire cases, including conducting witness interviews, preparing and responding to written discovery, arguing related motions, taking and defending scores of depositions, prevailing on numerous anti-SLAPP and dispositive motions, mediating many cases, and second-chairing trials to successful verdicts. At the appellate stage, he has handled both briefing and oral argument before all appellate courts, from the California Court of Appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Before Weintraub Tobin, Brendan served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable John M. Gerrard, Associate Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court, and later as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Connie M. Callahan, Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Thank you for joining the program, Brendan! We are excited to have him back.

Summary Judgment Motions – Tips from the Trenches

Our speakers are always providing our attendees with helpful tips for their practice, and Karen Kimmey of Farella Braun + Martel is no exception!  When she speaks at our CLE programs, Karen provides great handouts. She provided one on Summary Judgment Motions not too long ago.

Our blog readers can take 50% off our Superior Court and Federal Court Boot Camp audio packages with the coupon code 50MSJ

Here are a few simple tips to improve your briefs:

MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT 

Practice Tips

  • Think strategically about whether to file for summary judgment regardless of odds of winning. What are you goals?D Do you want to educate your judge? Are you trying to preview your opponent’s evidence? Always remember to consider the cost and effort involved in a Motion for Summary Judgment – it can get very expensive for your client.
  • Spend more time on your Separate Statement of Facts
    • Too often this is an afterthought for counsel – but the judges and their law clerks read these thoroughly. It is the document most relied-upon by many judges and clerks, so be careful with it, and make it easy for the court to find your references and cites.
  • Include only those facts in your Separate Statement that are truly “material”
    • The Court may assume it is material if it is in your Separate Statement
    • Each fact should be discrete and independent
  • Focus on your introduction and headings
    • Explain in a couple sentences what relief you are seeking and why you are entitled to it
    • Use argumentative headings to guide the argument
  • Do not bother with a long recitation of summary judgment standards – they know what it is. Save the space and word count for your argument.
  • Simplify if you are seeking summary judgment and complicate if you are opposing it
  • Start the process early – it takes a lot of time to prepare the papers