Kendall Coffey featured in Attorney at Law



Kendall Coffey

Kendall Coffey was named Attorney of the Month for Attorney at Law Magazine and featured on the cover.  They also put together a wonderful bio for him. 

Miami litigators cleared of all wrongdoing

According to the Daily Business Review Miami litigators Michael Tein and Guy Lewis have been cleared of all wrongdoing in a recent dispute.

The legal issue involved concerned their representation of Tribe members Tammy Gwen Billie and her father, Jimmy Bert, who were involved in a car crash that killed a Miami woman 14 years ago.  Although the woman’s family was supposed to be awarded $3.2 million in 2009 the amount has yet to be paid. 

The two lawyers were accused of wrongdoing over alleged discovery violations in their representation of Billie and Bert and have been cleared of all charges. 

Kendall Coffey, who is representing Lewis  and Tein in front of the bar explains that the two of them were completely cleared.  “The Bar examined the issues thoroughly and carefully, and the result is a complete vindication for Lewis Tein, one of our pre-eminent litigation firms," Kendall Coffey said.

But there is still a dispute that the Bar is monitoring, regarding whether the assertion by Tein and Lewis that the clients- not the tribe- paid their legal fees. 

Why is this an issue?  Read the full article over at the DailyBusiness Review. 

How long did the police spend investigating Trayvon Martin?

Did the Trayvon Martin investigation run its course too quickly?  This seems to be one of the biggest issues that protestors return to again and again, the fact that it only took seven hours and 50 minutes for Sanford police and the state attorney to decide to let George Zimmerman to go home, not charging him with the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

 

According to MSNBC, nearby Lake Mary is a similar town with the same number of detectives (five).  Two years ago a shooting happened in Lake Mary and although eventually no charges were filed that city’s homicide unit called in the county sheriff’s department with its fully staffed crime lab to assist.  That investigation lasted for 16 days. 

 

Was seven hours too quick of an investigation?  Kendall Kendall Coffey, former United States Attorney thinks so.  “When a man with a gun kills someone who is unarmed, certainly should take a lot more than seven hours to reach the bottom line as to whether there's a crime,” he explains.

                                                                                                                                    

The special prosecutor examining the case will be the one to determine the truth of the matter, and is expected to report to the grand jury soon.

It doesn't take much to get away with murder

There a lot of different issues at play in the Trayvon Martin case.  There are the pictures of George Zimmerman’s injuries.  There’s the fact that he refused to stay in his car after the police dispatcher instructed him to.  There’s the mere seven hours that the police held him.  There’s Martin’s innocence and complete right to be exactly where he was.  There’s the confusion over who was calling for help in the 911 call. 

 

But the only issue that matters, according to Kendall Coffey, is who threw the first punch. 

 

This is because the case comes down to a strange Florida law called Stand Your Ground which allows someone to meet force with force if they aren’t engaging in unlawful activity and are attacked in someplace where they have the right to be. 

 

As Kendall Coffey explains, if Martin threw the first punch, no matter if he was scared of Zimmerman, Zimmerman would have had every right to shoot him.  If Zimmerman threw the first punch then he would have been taking part in unlawful activity and could not seek protection under the SYG statute.

 

With such a strange law, apparently all it takes in Florida to get away with murder is getting the other guy to attack you first.

 

Does all the evidence bolster Zimmerman's claim of self defense?

A great deal of evidence has been released in the Trayvon Martin case.  Several weeks ago the case seemed very different, before the stories, the pictures of the injuries, the witnesses accounts, all of which seems to bolster Zimmerman’s claims of self defense.  But does it?

 

Kendall Coffey was asked that very question on MSNBC.  Author of Spinning the Law, he’s an expert at trying cases in the court of public opinion.  But Coffey doesn’t think that the public reaction will change much, although it could affect the case all the same.

 

“This does more good for Zimmerman than it does for the prosecution because it tells us there are very important unanswered questions,” he explains.  “Enough unanswered questions mean unproven facts and... those are the tools of a defense lawyer trying to establish a reasonable doubt.”

Mudslinging and attack ads in the sunshine state

We all know about attack ads. In fact, in an election cycle a certain amount of misleading mudslinging is expected.  But in Florida, at least, some candidates are fighting back.

Back when the recent health care bill was passed Republicans saw a chance to label the Democrats as anti-Medicare.  How?  Well, while the bill actually increases Medicare spending from $560 billion this year to $1.04 trillion in ten years, the health care bill does assume that during that time the program will result in savings of about $500 billion- mostly through increased efficiency.

But rather than explaining all of this, Republicans are just labeling the savings as cuts and telling the public that the Democrats are cutting Medicare by $500 billion.  And they’re using those numbers in a recent set of attack ads.

Not everyone is content to simply get angry at the misinformation, however.  Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat, has embarked upon a quest to get those ads off the air.  In a letter written by his attorney, former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey, he explains that these letters are blatantly untrue.

And stations have “a duty to protect the public from the spread of false information and deliberate deception,” writes Coffey.

Not that such letters will have made much a difference so far.  Several stations have rejected the letter from Coffey and will continue showing the messages.  But it’s nice to have someone who is willing to fight back.

Kendall Coffey Biography

Kendall Coffey

Kendall Coffey is a founding member of the Miami-based law firm Coffey Burlington, PL, which handles matters in Florida and throughout the entire U.S.. Coffey also currently serves as the Chair of the Federal Judicial Nominating Commission for South Florida. Appointed by both of Florida's United States Senators, he presides over the 21-person commission that selects individuals to be considered by the White House to become U.S. federal judges and U.S. Attorney for South Florida. Mr. Coffey served during the 1990s as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, the nation's largest federal prosecution office.

As U.S. Attorney, he was responsible for thousands of federal criminal prosecutions as well as civil lawsuits involving the United States. After his public service, he resumed private law practice with major litigation roles in such high profile cases as the Elian Gonzalez international custody battle, and the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election Recount.

Today, Kendall Coffey’s law practice areas of specialty include business disputes and litigation, national and international litigation, fraud cases, enforcement of contracts and loan agreements, government disputes and defense of criminal investigations. Along with representing business companies, Coffey Burlington focuses on assisting business people with their financial as well as personal disputes.

He is annually recognized as one of Florida Trend’s Legal Elite, Florida “Super Lawyer,” and South Florida Legal Guide’s “Top Lawyers”, recognized by the National Law Journal as one of its Lawyers of the Year for 2000, as Member of Gore Legal Team.

A frequent teacher and guest lecturer, he has been Guest Legal Analyst providing legal commentary for international networks: CNN International, Telemundo, Univision, Canadian Broadcasting Company; national networks: CNBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, FOX, MSNBC and NBC; and several local television channels.

Currently, he appears as a legal analyst and consultant for NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo. As a teacher, Mr. Coffey is adjunct faculty member for University of Miami School of Law, Florida Constitutional Law (2008 – present), Florida International University (Administrative Law 2011), and Trial Advocacy Program (1991 – 1993).

PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS

Kendall has written several books that have acquired national acclaim. These books are:

1.Florida Foreclosures: Remedies, Defenses, and Lender Liability – provides comprehensive coverage of the law as well as the legal strategies for lenders and borrowers embroiled in litigation. The title features a detailed examination of foreclosure procedures from the inception of default all the way to the impact of foreclosure appeals by compiling an analysis of the practical consideration, the legal principles and the hundreds of Florida decisions that govern the foreclosure process.

2. Spinning the Law: Trying Cases in the Court of Public Opinion – In this book Kendall Coffey writes with lucidity, knowledge and insight. Many entertaining examples and explanations of high profile cases make this book “Spinning the Law” an ideal reading for everyone who like to read about celebrity legal problems. This book also much recommended to lawyers, public relations professionals, journalists, and media students.

Some of Kendall’s other works include:

·      Contributing Author: Real Property III (Chapter on Construction Loan Agreements) The Florida Bar Law Journal

·      The Troubled Construction Loan (Chapter on Contractors), Wiley & Sons (1991)

·      Conozca A Los Estados Unidos, - Chapters on Legal System, Role of Prosecutors and Public Corruption (2009)

Educational Career

University of Florida (J.D., graduated first in March, 1978 class)

Florida Blue Key; Phi Kappa Phi; Order of the Coif, Member, Moot Court

Article Editor and Senior Student Works Editor, University of Florida Law Review (1977-1978)

University of Florida – B.S. Degree with honors (1975)

Miami Dade Community College

Palmetto Senior High School

Career in Public Sector

U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Florida (1993-1996)

Law Clerk to Hon. Lewis R. Morgan, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit (1978)

Career in Private Sector

Founding member of Coffey & Wright, L.L.P., concentrating in complex litigation at trial and appellate levels, in federal and state courts

Founding member, Coffey, Aragon, Martin & Burlington (1988-1993)

Director and Shareholder, Greenberg, Traurig, headed firm’s banking litigation division (1984-1988)

Associate, Greenberg, Traurig (1978-1984)

Kendall Coffey has also involved with charitable activities and was named as Valor Awardee in 2006 by the American Diabetes Association.

BAR ADMISSIONS

Florida; Supreme Court of Florida; U.S. District Courts, Middle, Northern and Southern Districts of Florida; U.S. Courts of Appeals, Second, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits; Supreme Court of the United States

From Emily: Having been positively influenced by Kendall's latest book “Spinning the Law” I proceeded to gather more information about Kendall's personality and career path. Some of this has already been in the public domain, albeit scattered. In this Blog I will be adding more information about him in order to create a compendium on Kendall that may be useful to the general public as well as law professionals. Your suggestions and comments are welcome.