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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The 2^nd US Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a class again lawsuit against McDonalds brought by two children who claim eating there made them obese. The case is pending in New York City for those eager members with referrals.

BAR NEWS

If you have an article, opinion, news or other information for publication in the Bar News, please fax or email the information to Paul R. Berg, 772 562-2870 pberg@cpvlaw.com

THE BAR WEBSITE

The Bar Website is maintained on a near daily basis. It has the Judicial Assignments and other notices at http://irclaw.org/events.htm - Check it and print the notices and Court Administrative Orders. Members should check the membership directory to verify or correct their address, areas of practice, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, etc. Send corrections or modifications to the Webmaster via e-mail at ircbar@gate.net.


	INDIAN RIVER COUNTY BAR NEWSLETTER FEBRUARY 2005

	Next Bar Meeting: 12 Noon, February 11, 2005, 2^nd Friday 14^th Avenue Steakhouse, Vero Beach, Downtown Speaker: Jim Bowdish, Esq. will speak on the need for additional judges in the 19^th Judicial Circuit Next Bar Board of Directors Meeting: February 22, 2004, 12 Noon 4^th Tuesday 817 Beachland Boulevard IRC Bar Association Contacts: G. Russell Petersen, President – russellpetersen@mindspring.com Paul Berg, Newsletter Editor - pberg@cpvlaw.com Carroll Palmer, Webmaster - ircbar@gate.net

	LOCAL NEWS It is a pleasure to announce that John M. Stewart of Stewart & Evans, P.A., Vero Beach, Florida has been elected to serve as the President of the Young Lawyer's Division of the Florida Bar for the 2006/2007 Bar year. In June 2005 John will be sworn in as President-elect and in June 2006 will take office as President. John has been actively serving on the Young Lawyer's Division Board of Governors of the Florida Bar since 1999. He has served as the Chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee and as Chair of the Practice & Professional Enhancement/Practice Trends Committee. In addition John is a member of the Indian River County Bar Association and a member of its Board of Directors since 2003; he is a member of the American Bar Association and also serves on the Board of Directors of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee of the Trial Lawyers Section of the Florida Bar, he also serves on the 19^th Circuit Grievance Committee. John is also a Florida Supreme Court Certified Mediator in Civil Litigation.

	The purpose of the Young Lawyer's Division is to assist the Florida Bar in its purposes; to stimulate and encourage the interest and participation of YLD members in the programs of the FL Bar, to provide a full and complete program of activities designed to be of interest and assistance to YLD members and to serve as a medium for fostering discussion and free interchange of ideas relative to the duties, responsibilities and problems of YLD members, to enhance the image and reputation of the legal profession and the Fla. Bar and to serve the public through state-wide and local community projects and activities.

	Presently there are over 18,000 lawyers who are members of the FL Bar YLD and this group constitutes the largest division of the FL Bar. To qualify as a “young” lawyer one must be a member of the FL Bar in good standing, be under the age of 36 or have not been admitted to practice of law in any jurisdiction for more than five years, regardless of age. The YLD was set up by the Fl Bar to represent the views of young lawyers in FL. The YLD is committed to improving the professional lives of FL's young lawyers through its programs, education, public service programs and the like.

	An ever increasing part of the YLD has been to monitor national and statewide trends that affect the legal profession. Issues such as multi-jurisdictional practice, multi-disciplinary practice, review of the advertising system and disciplinary systems and the unbundling of legal services have been studied and debated at length. These issues have the potential to drastically impact the future of the legal profession; therefore the YLD will continue to analyze and monitor them with the goal of protecting the profession and its clients.

	The Board of Gov. of the YLD consists of approximately 50 members representing all 20 of Fl's Judicial Circuits together with 3 members representing more than 1,000 or so young lawyers outside of the State of FL. In addition, the Board is made up of appointed officers along with a President and a President-Elect. Each Board member is elected by the young lawyers in their respective Circuits to serve for a term of two years. The Board meets seven times a year all throughout the State.

	Patrick MacRae has joined the Law Office of E. Steven Lauer, P.A. in Vero Beach, as an associate attorney. Patrick has a Masters Degree in Business from the American Graduate School of International Management in Phoenix, Arizona, and received his J.D. from Nova Southeastern University. Patrick worked for a number of years in New York and Buenos Aires, Argentina as an international pension fund financial manager. Prior to joining Mr. Lauer's firm, Patrick was a felony trial attorney for the Public Defenders offices in Miami, Vero Beach, and Fort Pierce.

	BOARD TAKES ACTION
	The Board of Directors voted unanimously at its January meeting to establish a cutoff date of December 1 for inclusion on the roster of members, listing on the website, and all other rights of membership in the Association.

	This move was designed to eliminate problems that have arisen in the past. The Board encourages all members to pay dues timely to maintain benefits such as inclusion on the website, the collegial and networking advantages of monthly meetings and the yearly Christmas extravaganza.

	GOVERNOR BUSH APPOINTS ROBERT E. BELANGER TO THE NINETEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COURT Governor Jeb Bush announced Monday, December 13, the appointment of Robert E. Belanger to the 19^th Judicial Circuit Court. Belanger will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Cynthia G. Angelos. Belanger, 46, of Palm City, is currently an assistant state attorney for the 19^th Judicial Circuit. Prior to that, he was an ssociate with Svete, McGee & Carrabine Co, L.P.A. from 1990-1994. In addition, Belanger served in the United States Marine Corp. from 1986-1990. Belanger received his undergraduate degree from John Carroll University in 1981 and his Juris Doctor from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1986.

	Other News Chief Judge Considering End to Circuit Civil Jury Trials at the Fort Pierce Courthouse The New Chief Judge, William Roby of Stuart, is considering moving all circuit civil cases and civil jury trials from the Fort Pierce courthouse to the satellite courthouse in Port Saint Lucie. The SLCBA Executive Committee opposes such a plan and we request you as a member of the bar to write to the editor of the Tribune and the Port St. Lucie News, and the Hometown News, to let them know where you stand on this issue. We oppose it.

	COMPUTER TIPS Undoing an AutoCorrect in Word. Sometimes, Word's AutoCorrect feature can be a hassle if you do not want what you are typing to be changed. If you type something that is AutoCorrected, you can easily undo the AutoCorrect. To do this: * Type what you want to type, and let Microsoft Word AutoCorrect it. * Press the Backspace key. Now, what you type will be exactly the way you want it. *Running the grammar check.* If you want to check the grammar of your Word document, you have to choose what type of checking you want to have done. * Go to the Tools menu in the toolbar, and pick Options. * Then select the Grammar tab (at the top of the screen). * Then you have to click the down arrow that is to the right of the Use Grammar and Style Tools list box to view the lists. * You can now choose the type of testing that will correspond to the type of document you have. Submitted by Carroll F. Palmer

	IN CASE YOU MISSED IT The 2^nd US Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated a class again lawsuit against McDonalds brought by two children who claim eating there made them obese. The case is pending in New York City for those eager members with referrals. BAR NEWS If you have an article, opinion, news or other information for publication in the Bar News, please fax or email the information to Paul R. Berg, 772 562-2870 pberg@cpvlaw.com THE BAR WEBSITE The Bar Website is maintained on a near daily basis. It has the Judicial Assignments and other notices at http://irclaw.org/events.htm - Check it and print the notices and Court Administrative Orders. Members should check the membership directory to verify or correct their address, areas of practice, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, etc. Send corrections or modifications to the Webmaster via e-mail at ircbar@gate.net.