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Published on: February 26, 2018

The Simple Solution to Control AR Rifles

Florida has experienced the tremendous loss associated with the Parkland shooting which is now among the 10 deadliest mass shootings in America. It is time for us to come together and implement change so these mass shootings stop.

Many people are coming up with ideas. I have been encouraged by the Governor’s recommendation to restrict the age at individual can buy AR rifles to 21 although 25 would be better. I like the idea of banning AR rifles altogether, but what do we do with the ones that exist?

I like the idea of better background checks and stopping the availability of AR rifles to those with mental illness. We need to be able to stop an evil person who has an AR rifle and starts threatening people before he acts. We should be able to arrest and incarcerate them at that point and confiscate the AR rifle(s). We want to allow police to proactively arrest an evil person seeking to kill one or more with his AR rifle before he strikes.

I want to share an important lesson I learned when I was a young law student. I defended a minor who was charged with the burglary of a home. I was successful in defending the case and winning the trial for him. As a result of that he was released from juvenile court jail and I went on my Christmas vacation. When I returned, I learned he went out before Christmas and killed two people at random coming out of the shopping mall. That was a true wake up call for me and I realized it would not be my calling to go into criminal defense. It made me realize that an evil person will always do evil even when given a second chance, put in a loving home or given help. They will look at you, do evil and say, “You knew I was evil when you tried to help me.”

I see that when there is a tragedy such as a mass shooting there is focus on why the person did it. Was he not schooled properly, not given enough help and so on? It may be interesting to look back but inevitably the person was evil and would commit an atrocious act in the future.

People might say, “He was a ticking time bomb,” “I knew he would shoot up the school someday.” He had a screw loose.” Ok let’s say all those things were known to be true.

Law enforcement can do nothing. Why? They can’t arrest people on possibilities, on crazy likelihoods or suspicions unless the person has put his plan into words written or spoken. Remember the Las Vegas shooter never exposed his plan. So what we need to do is give law enforcement the ability to prevent these tragedies from continuing to occur.

That is why I put my idea out as The Simple Solution. Continue reading →

Published on: July 7, 2017

Causation and Truthfulness in Your DBA Case

By Jo Ann Hoffman & Associates, P.A.

The good news is winning a DBA case on causation is fairly easy. Once you show 1% of the cause of your injury is due to being overseas you can recover 100% of your medical treatment. Section 20a gives you a presumption of compensability on causation where you establish that you were injured and the injury occurred overseas. And certainly if you are truthful and respectful you will probably receive medical and lost wage benefits for a period of time.

IMG_0631-1-300x225 There will come a time when the insurance company conducts a labor market survey to show there are jobs available that you can do. When you meet with the representative of the insurance company conducting the labor market survey, please understand that you must be totally honest in terms of supplying information about your prior jobs even revealing when you were terminated. You must also answer truthfully if you have any felony conviction. Attorneys for the insurance company will subpoena your prior employment records, medical records and criminal records. If you have lied to the labor market survey person, the defense attorney and/or the insurance company doctor, these false statements give the Judge a reason to deny your claim. No one expects you to be perfect, just be truthful. I like to say it would be a very boring world if we were all perfect. Continue reading →

Published on: October 20, 2016

If my employer has less than four (4) employees, am I entitled to benefits if I get hurt on the job?

By Jo Ann Hoffman & Associates, P.A.

Unfortunately, if your employer has less than four (4) employees you may not be entitled to worker’s compensation benefits under Florida Statue Ch. 440. Meaning if you get hurt on the job, YOU may be personally responsible for your medical treatment/bills as well as any and all time missed from work. Now, there are always exceptions to every rule (such as if you are in the construction industry). Under Florida Statute 440.055, [a]n employer who employs fewer than four employees, who is permitted by law to elect not to secure payment of compensation, and who elects not to do so shall post clear written notice in a conspicuous location at each work site directed to all employees and other persons performing services at the work site of their lack of entitlement to benefits under chapter 440. Continue reading →

Published on: April 11, 2016

Drunk Drivers, Car Accidents, 786.125 and Your Case

By Jo Ann Hoffman & Associates, P.A.

An important decision regarding a business’ duty to prevent over serving has been released by the 4^th District Court of Appeal in the case of Stephanie De La Torre, Humberto Miranda and Carla Gallardo, Appellants, vs. Flanigan’s Enterprises, Inc d/b/a Flanigan’s Bar and Grill.

In this decision, the Plaintiffs, Stephanie De La Torre, Humberto Miranda and Carla Gallardo, were injured when their vehicle was hit by a drunk driver. The injured persons filed a complaint against Flanigan’s, which owns and operates the restaurant at which the drunk driver had been drinking at prior to the accident.

blog The trial court dismissed the complaint, finding that section 768.125, Florida Statutes (2011), protects businesses such as Flanigan’s from any liability for injuries caused by intoxicated patrons, as long as certain conditions are met.

The facts of this case, are unfortunately, not uncommon. The Defendant went to the restaurant, Flanigan’s, on the night of December 2, 2011. While there, the Defendant was over served by employees of Flanigan’s. The Defendant became intoxicated and the employees of Flanigan’s tried to sober the Defendant up. Later on, the Defendant left the restaurant in her own vehicle, and while on her way home, crossed into oncoming traffic, and struck the Plaintiffs’ vehicle.

An important part of this case, is the fact that Flanigan’s maintained internal policy designed to prevent drunk patrons from driving away from the business, by in effect taking the car keys away from the intoxicated patrons and insuring that the drunk patron left in either a taxi or with a sober driver. Continue reading →

Published on: January 26, 2016

Jo Ann Hoffman, Esquire’s Early Stock Market Experience

By Jo Ann Hoffman & Associates, P.A.

In yesterday’s blog we referenced Attorney Hoffman’s early experience in successfully picking stocks in which to invest. An IBD Special Report from June 29, 2001 explaining her methodology. Jo Ann Hoffman’s expertise in business has been said to help her obtain the best possible settlements for her clients. Firm-Photo-2014-1024x731 Her team work together with each client to obtain the best settlements.

Continue reading →

Published on: January 25, 2016

The Price of Oil Must be Set to Save Your Retirement Investments

By Jo Ann Hoffman & Associates, P.A.

If you review the graph at the bottom of this article you will see that as the price of oil goes so goes your investments. My solution is to stabilize the stock market and global economies by having the U.S. set the price of oil at $45 per barrel. At the current price of plus or minus $30 per barrel, oil companies are losing money by pumping oil. In Ohio, it costs approximately $900,000 to drill a 4800 foot well that produces both oil and natural gas. The bankers are calling in the loans extended to the oil drillers and of course the oil drillers can’t pay so they will go belly up. The wells will not be maintained and the weak wells with little production will have to be shut in (sealed off) by the state as they are abandoned or else it will cause pollution. The taxpayer will pay that shut-in expense and the unpaid financial loans will bring down the financial institutions’ profit. All will cause greater economic turmoil and our stock market will fall further if oil pricing isn’t stabilized. Why not ask the Saudi’s to stabilize oil? They only produce 1/9th of the world’s oil so they can’t do it alone. The United States leads in oil production and we must lead the way. Consider the below chart showing oil production by country. Even though some of the 13 Nation OPEC countries along with Russia are talking about not producing more oil (premised on other large producers such as Iran, Iraq joining), the Unites States needs to be a part of such an agreement as we are the number one oil producer right now.

Continue reading →

Published on: February 28, 2014

The Oscars on 3/2/2014 Remind Me of my Experience on the Red Carpet at the SAG Awards!

By Jo Ann Hoffman & Associates, P.A.

My friend, who is a doctor and an actress with a membership in the Screen Actors Guild, secured two tickets to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards and I was invited. This involved flying to Los Angeles, picking up our two tickets which had our names and instructions on arrival and attendance along with our limo passes to the Awards. We had to purchase a limo as you don’t want to arrive at the Awards in your Hyundai rental car.

You’re instructed to arrive at the Awards which took place at the Shrine Convention Center in downtown Los Angeles by 3:30 p.m. You have to be in your seats by 4:30 p.m. as the show begins promptly at 5:00 p.m. There are yards of bright red carpet flowing from the street where you’re dropped off into the Awards center gala. When you are dropped off at the red carpet, the people there open your doors and you have arrived! There are crowds of people in the area of the limousine drop-off and you know when a big star arrives because there’s lots of cheering.

I, along with my friend and other people who were invited, stood along the sides of the red carpet where we would take pictures of celebrities as they passed down the red carpet. The stars were arriving for about 45 minutes. You knew when a big star arrived because you could hear the fans that were blocked off on the other side of the street cheering. A big cheer went up for Oprah, who certainly has a big presence when she arrives and walks down the red carpet. Rita Moreno arrived and, at 82, would accept her Lifetime Achievement Award. She certainly had a dazzling outfit on and a wonderful presence as she walked down the carpet. Morgan Freeman was there as well and received big cheers.

Continue reading →