I am excited to be one of the featured speakers at the next Florida Lawyers Network (FLN) Luncheon on November 30th. My presentation will provide an overview of the Florida Lien Law.

FLN is a statewide network of highly-skilled and well-qualified lawyers in each area of practice throughout Florida. Each Member must have at least five (5) years of experience and must be well-versed and knowledgeable in his or her designated area of practice.

Only three (3) attorneys in each area of practice are selected for membership in each Chapter, and this gives FLN great diversity while maintaining essential exclusivity.

Since FLN first began, hundreds of members of the Florida Bar have joined one of many “FLN – Chapters” and qualified and seasoned attorneys that are ready, willing and able to build long-term connections with experienced members of the Florida Bar are invited to learn more about this outstanding network of professionals.

Leonardo Ortiz has once again been named to the Florida Rising Stars list in Construction Litigation in Florida for 2016. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state receive this honor. The selection for this respected list is made by the research team at Super Lawyers.

Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a rigorous multi-phased process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates, and peer reviews by practice area.

The Rising Stars list are published nationwide in Super Lawyers magazines and in leading city and regional magazines across the country. For more information about Super Lawyers, go to superlawyers.com.

I am excited to be the featured speaker at the Noon Leads Group meeting on July 12, 2016 at the Greater Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. My presentation will focus on tips for hiring a contractor to work at your home or business.

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has three Leads Groups that are dedicated to developing strong business relationships among chamber members; the groups are comprised of only one representative from a specific business category, thereby ensuring that no competition exists for business leads within the groups.

The Noon Leads Group meets every Tuesday at noon and most meetings feature a guest speaker whom provides a lite lunch for the group.

I have previously written about the fantastic experience I had participating in Leadership Hollywood Class 38. Leadership Hollywood is in its 40th year, which makes it one of the oldest leadership programs in Florida. I am proud to announce that I am serving as one of the chairpersons for the Leadership Hollywood Media Day taking place on April 19, 2016. I have the privilege of serving as chairperson along with Tina Buccellato and Raelin Story. Tina is the Executive Director of Muzart Studios in Downtown Hollywood. Raelin is the Director of Public Affairs and Marketing for the City of Hollywood.

Our team has coordinated a fantastic Media Day Program for Leadership Hollywood Class 40 that will include visits to Miami Herald, Channel 10 Studios, and Cox Radio. This programs will provide the class members an invaluable experience into the inner workings of print, television, radio, and digital media market in South Florida.

In prior posts, I have noted the importance of having an experienced construction attorney reviewing your claims. This issue is again highlighted in a recent decision from the Eleventh Circuit of Appeals styled Thomas v. Burkhardt, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 454 (January 28, 2016 11th Cir.) . In this case, Mr. Thomas served as a subcontractor to Thorington Electrical and Construction Company (“TECC”) on a federal construction project in Alabama. TECC and Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America (“Surety”) provided a payment bond for the project pursuant to the Federal Miller Act.

Mr. Thomas completed his work on the project in March 2006 but TECC only paid approximately $90,000, about half of what Mr. Thomas was owed. In January 2008, Mr. Thomas filed suit against TECC in Alabama state court to collect the remaining balance. In September 2008, Mr. Thomas first notified Surety that he intended to file a claim against the Miller Act Payment Bond for the project. In October 2008, the Alabama state court entered a final judgment against TECC in the amount of $99,172.77. Mr. Thomas was unable to collect on his judgment against TECC and in February 2009, Mr. Thomas submitted a claim form along with a copy of the state court judgment to the Surety. In August 2009, Surety notified Mr. Thomas that it was denying his claim because it was not timely filed under the Miller Act.

In 2012, Mr. Thomas filed a federal lawsuit against Surety seeking to recover the amount of the state court judgment against TECC. The federal district court granted summary judgment in favor of Surety ruling that Mr. Thomas’ claim was time-barred because he failed to file suit within one year of completion of his work at the Project in accordance with the Miller Act. On appeal, Mr. Thomas did not dispute that his claim was untimely under the Miller Act but instead argued the state court judgment should be binding on Surety under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Eleventh Circuit of Appeals rejected this argument because only federal courts may determine a surety’s liability on a Miller Act bond. Therefore, federal courts have established that the Full Faith and Credit Clause does not apply to a state court judgment that would bind a surety on a Miller Act payment bond. Accordingly, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the summary judgment ruling against Mr. Thomas.

The unfortunate result of Mr. Thomas being unable to collect $100,000 could have been avoided by him consulting a construction attorney when he completed work at the project. A construction attorney would have been aware of the one year statute of limitations and advised him to file suit against TECC and Surety in federal court under the Miller Act as opposed to filing suit in the state courts.