News

January 19, 2007 -- Rob McNeely Moderates Entertainment Law Panel in Miami -- The McNeely Law Firm's Rob McNeelyl moderated a panel on piracy in the entertainment industries during The Florida Bar's Mid-Year meeting in Miami.  Sponsored by the Entertainment and Sports Law Section of the Bar, Mr. McNeely's panelists included representatives from the Recording Industry Association of America, the Motion Picture Association of America, private practice, and an Estefan Enterprises.  Mr. McNeely also shared his experiences as lead attorney in federal court trademark litigation.

January 9, 2007 -- Rob McNeely Begins Fifth Year as Entertainment Law Professor -- For the fifth consecutive year, Mr. McNeely is teaching his popular Entertainment Law course at The Florida State University College of Law.  Approximately 70 students are enrolled and will spend the semester learning about this complex but exciting field of law.

November 15, 2006 -- The McNeely Law Firm Wins Appeal in Animal Law Case -- Florida's First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee today reversed a trial court ruling in an animal law case, agreeing with The McNeely Law Firm that the trial court erred by finding it lacked personal jurisdiction over an out-of-state corporate defendant.  In the underlying case brought by The McNeely Law Firm, Catherine Garris, a resident of Monticello, Florida, sued the animal shelter in Thomasville, Georgia, for the unauthorized destruction of two of her dogs she had placed in the shelter's care.  The shelter argued that even though the two cities are less than 30 miles apart across the Georgia-Florida state line, and even though the shelter had regular business contacts and advertising in Florida, the shelter could not be sued in Florida.  The trial court agreed and dismissed the case.  The McNeely Law Firm appealed on Ms. Garris's behalf and prevailed on appeal.  The case has now been remanded to the trial court to proceed. 

November 3, 2006 -- Rob McNeely Updates Nearly 200 Entertainment Attorneys on Entertainment Law at Conference in Cancun, Mexico -- Rob McNeely spoke on developments in entertainment law to entertainment attorneys from around the country at the 18th Annual Southern Regional Entyertainment & Sports Law Conference in Cancun, Mexico.  Mr. McNeely provided an overview of various appellate cases in 2006 and the October 2006 decision from the Register of Copyrights concluding that ringtones fell under the compulsory licensing provisions of the U.S. Copyright Act.

July 14, 2006 -- Rob McNeely Addresses the 2006 Section Leadership Conference of The Florida Bar -- Rob McNeely addressed about two dozen leaders of the various sections of The Florida Bar on lobbying techniques at the 2006 Section Leadership Conference of The Florida Bar in Tallahassee.  Mr. McNeely's lobbying efforts have resulted in favorable reforms in family law matters since 1996. 

May 28, 2006 -- Florida Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Re-Elect Rob McNeely Treasurer -- Rob McNeely will serve another year as Treasurer of the Entertainment and Sports Law Section of The Florida Bar at the Section's annual retreat Memorial Day weekend in Daytona Beach.  The Section has nearly 1,000 members.

May 3, 2006 -- Rob McNeely Speaks on Music Piracy to Tallahassee Women Lawyers -- Rob McNeely delivered an hour-long presentation titled "Music Piracy: Market Impact and the Law of Digital Music Technology" to about 50 lawyers and friends at the 23rd Annual Luncheon CLE Series of Tallahassee Women Lawyers on May 3, 2006.  Drawing from his popular class in Entertainment Law at The Florida State University College of Law, Mr. McNeely delivered an entertaining and enlightening presentation about the history of music piracy on the Internet, from before Napster through the present day, including an analysis of the legal theories and market impacts of the growth and development of digitally distributed musical content.

April 28, 2006 -- Rob McNeely Speaks on Florida Child Custody Law to Members of the Tallahassee Bar Association -- A group of about 20 Tallahassee lawyers listened to Rob McNeely as he explained various intricacies of Florida's child custody laws and child custody litigation during a meeting of the Tallahassee Bar Association on April 28, 2006.  Mr. McNeely stressed the importance of lawyers educating themselves about both consensus and alternative research into child development in discussing residency alternatives with clients, opposing counsel, and courts, and about the importance of treating each case individually.

March 22, 2006 -- Rob McNeely Testifies on Child Support Bill on Behalf of The Family Law Section of The Florida Bar -- At the invitation of the leadership of the Family Law Section of The Florida Bar, Rob McNeely lent his considerable expertise in child support law to testify in support of a bill aimed at providing more fairness and accuracy in the creation of presumptive child support amounts.  Mr. McNeely urged the state House Committe on the Future of Florida Families to approve a bill eliminating some of the current inequities in Florida's child support guidelines.

March 21, 2006 -- Rob McNeely Addresses Students on Music and Radio Panel -- Rob McNeely spoke to about 40 undergraduate and law students during a panel sponsored by the Entertainment and Sports Industries organization at the FSU law school.  Mr. McNeely discussed marketing a song to radio, payola, and recent events in hip-hop, rap, and urban music.

January 10, 2006 -- Rob McNeely Begins Fourth Year Teaching Entertainment Law at FSU College of Law -- Expanding the course from two hours to three hours, reducing the class size from 70 to 36, and adding curricula in film, television, and theater, Rob McNeely began teaching his 13-week course in Entertainment Law at The Florida State University College of Law.  This year is Mr. McNeely's fourth consecutive year teaching the course as an adjunct professor of law.

November 11, 2005 -- Rob McNeely Provides Music-Related Copyright Law Update to 150 Lawyers in Puerto Rico -- Enjoying another fantastic Southern Regional Entertainment and Sports Law Conference, this time in Puerto Rico, Rob McNeely took time away from chatting poolside with old friends and new to update the conference on music-related copyright cases.  The cases included the U.S. Supreme Court opinion in the music piracy case known as Grokster, and various music sampling and copyright infringement cases.

September 30, 2005 -- Local News Articles Features The McNeely Law Firm's Efforts to Save 53 Cats -- A local newspaper, Apalachee Tortoise, today featured an article about a misguided lawsuit by the City of Tallahassee to declare as a public nuisance a client's back yard cat kennel.  The client, Susan Sallie, cares for cats who would otherwise be killed and provides them with loving, humane treatment.  Read the article, "Angels That Purr."

August 29, 2005 -- Rob McNeely Included in "Who's Who in American Law" for 5th Consecutive Year -- Congratulations to Rob McNeely for being selected for the 5th consecutive year for inclusion in "Who's Who in American Law," published by Marquis Who's Who.  Mr. McNeely has been included in several "Who's Who" publications over the years for his work both in entertainment law and family law, recognizing him as a continued leader in both fields.

August 23, 2005 -- Law Firm Retained, Sues Miami-Dade on Behalf of Dog Owner Whose Golden Retriever, "Cowboy," was Killed at the Animal Shelter -- The McNeely Law Firm today filed suit on behalf of its new client, Anays Rodriguez-Porras of Miami, for the intentional and outrageous destruction of her family dog, Cowboy.  Targeting the Miami-Dade Animal Services Department ("the shelter"), the Miami-Dade Police Department (which supervises the shelter), and Miami-Dade County (which hires and fires shelter employees), the lawsuit seeks damages for intentional infliction of emotional distress, conversion, wrongful disposition of Cowboy's body (he was incinerated before Mrs. Rodriguez-Porras could claim him), negligent hiring, and negligent supervision.  The events leading to the lawsuit received substantial media attention in the Miami area.  Click here for an early TV report on the story. 

July 31, 2005 -- Florida Supreme Court Relies On, Quotes Rob McNeely in Landmark Child Custody Case -- A unanimous Florida Supreme Court this summer rejected a creeping effort by some courts to make child custody modifications even harder than they already are.  The supreme court ruled the standard in all child custody modifications is whether there has been a "substantial change of circumstances" and whether the change would be in the child's or children's "best interests."  The court rejected a revision to that standard promoted by the Second and Third District Courts of Appeal that required a party to seeking a modification to prove that not making the change would be "detrimental" to the child or children. 

In explaining its ruling, the supreme court relied on and quoted reasoning attacking the "detriment" standard first written by Rob McNeely in 1998 in his chapter on child custody, published in The Florida Bar’s continuing legal education book, "Florida Dissolution of Marriage." 

For more on this news, including a copy of the opinion from the Florida Supreme Court, click the Wade v. Hirschman link to the left.

July 9, 2005 -- "Professor" Rob McNeely has accepted an invitation to teach for the fourth consecutive year his popular Entertainment Law course in Spring 2006 at The Florida State University College of Law.  The course will be expanding from a two-credit to a three-credit course, and Professor McNeely will be adding sections on film, theater, sports, television, and book publishing into the pre-existing curriculum on music law.  Visit the website for the FSU College of Law.

July 7, 2005 -- Rob McNeely has accepted an invitation to be appear as a panelist on "Copyright Law Update" at the Southern Regional Entertainment, Sports Law, and Intellectual Property Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, November 10 -14, 2005.  This annual conference features entertainment and sports law attorneys and industry leaders from around the country.  Click here to learn more about the conference or register to attend.

May 29, 2005 -- Rob McNeely was a guest speaker at the EASL annual retreat on the "Role of the Lawyer" in the entertainment industries in Florida.

May 28, 2005 -- Rob McNeely was elected Treasurer of the Entertainment and Sports Law Section of The Florida Bar at EASL's annual retreat in Boca Raton.  To learn more about EASL, visit here. 

(Note: We began this feature in late May 2005.  For multiple "News" items prior to that time, call us!  850-656-7780)