The following article was originally published in the Palm Beach Post by KIMBERLY MILLER – Palm Beach Post STAFF WRITER on Friday, Jan. 17, 2014. Excerpts from the article have been republished for use in the South Florida Law Blog with Roy Oppenheim, Oppenheim Law.
Previous forums, held in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, used attorneys as moderators and accepted spontaneous questions. Daily Business Review Publisher Chris Mobley said this is the first time concern has been raised about using foreclosure attorney moderators.
“The sponsor decided they didn’t want to be involved, the judges decided they didn’t want to have lawyers as moderators, and that’s fine, we’ll find other moderators, and we’ll move on,” Mobley said.
Tension between foreclosure defense attorneys and the judiciary has been on the rise since last spring when the court started setting trial dates on its own for older cases in an effort to whittle down a foreclosure backlog.
Attorneys complain a speedier conclusion has become more important than a fair one.
Palm Beach County Chief Judge Jeffrey Colbath said he meant no disrespect by the request not to have attorneys act as moderators and didn’t want anyone to feel slighted.
“The presentation, as originally proposed, left us with a concern that it could be perceived as a marketing effort by a private entity,” Colbath said.
Previous forums, held in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, used attorneys as moderators and accepted spontaneous questions. Daily Business Review Publisher Chris Mobley said this is the first time concern has been raised about using attorney moderators.
“The sponsor decided they didn’t want to be involved, the judges decided they didn’t want to have lawyers as moderators, and that’s fine, we’ll find other moderators, and we’ll move on,” Mobley said.
Tension between foreclosure defense attorneys and the judiciary has been on the rise since last spring when the court started setting trial dates on its own for older cases in an effort to whittle down a foreclosure backlog.
Attorneys complain a speedier conclusion has become more important than a fair one.
Palm Beach County Chief Judge Jeffrey Colbath said he meant no disrespect by the request not to have attorneys act as moderators and didn’t want anyone to feel slighted.
“The presentation, as originally proposed, left us with a concern that it could be perceived as a marketing effort by a private entity,” Colbath said.
Vocal foreclosure defense attorney Roy Oppenheim, who sponsored an October foreclosure forum and served as a panelist, was scheduled to moderate the event in West Palm Beach. Oppenheim said the October forum was “spicy” but no one felt under attack.
“I think the format has been great. It was a sold out crowd last time. Why change something that’s not broken?” he said. “I’ve been banned from this one and won’t be attending.”
Mobley said the forums are meant to be educational events for lawyers and judges to better understand the process from both sides of the bench.
“It’s helpful to both sides in making the courts more efficient and lawyers more effective, “ he said.
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