FLORIDA RECORD

PHILADEPHIA -- A jury has ordered Johnson & Johnson's (J&J) Janssen Pharmaceuticals unit to pay $70 million in compensatory damages to a 16-year-old Tennessee male who has developed large breasts as a result of being prescribed and ingesting the drug Risperdal.

TAMPA – Tampa attorney Dennis A. Lopez was appointed to the Florida Bar Code and Rules of Evidence Committee earlier this month. Lopez joins 44 other Florida attorneys serving on the committee, which plays an important role in determining the rules that govern the admission and consideration of evidence in Florida's courts.

LAUDERHILL – Caribbean Premier League (CPL) cricket returned to Florida following dismissal of a lawsuit and a request for an emergency injunction by the USA Cricket Association (USACA) to stop six CPL teams from participating in a tournament staged at Central Broward Regional Park in late July.

TALLAHASSEE – Florida's Supreme Court on Aug. 30 is scheduled to hear oral arguments regarding the clarity of statements insurance companies include in no-fault auto insurance policies regarding the amount and method they use to reimburse medical services providers for treating patients injured in auto accidents. Differing opinions in recent lower court decisions paved the way to the Supreme Court hearing.

TALLAHASSEE – The 1st District Court of Appeals on July 26 denied a suggestion for certification that would have enabled a lawsuit in which Citizens for Strong Schools, Fund Education Now and several individual plaintiffs were seeking to bypass the appellate court and proceed directly to the Florida Supreme Court.

Residents of Monroe County will be represented by a new Senator in the State Congress come November elections, when that latest Congressional redistricting goes into effect.

MIAMI – Philadelphia-based Cozen O'Connor recently announced that it had acquired most of Feldman Gale, a Miami-based law firm that specializes in intellectual property (IP).

DELAND – Judge Ray Lee Smith, now a couple of weeks into his newly appointed seat on the bench of Florida's 7th Judicial Circuit, had some advice for up-and-coming attorneys and public service during a recent interview.

TALLAHASSEE – The Florida State Supreme Court recently began wading into the issue of differences in local communications services tax rates levied on satellite TV and cable TV services providers.