The Soto Law Group, P.A.

Soto Law Group 20 th Anniversary May 2017 On the 20 th Anniversary of the Soto Law Group, P.A., we pause to thank our clients, friends and colleagues who have supported us during these past 20 years. We have been fortunate to represent both multi-billion dollar businesses and family owned enterprises always striving to deliver an effective solution to problems, small or complex. In the days to come we will be reaching out to personally thank the clients who have been with us during the last 20 years and with good fortune for the next 20 years. Now is not the time to reminisce of war stories, deals and trials [there are plenty of those] but to reflect that it has been a successful journey starting almost 30 years ago by the firm’s founders and carrying forward to this day and all along the way supported arm in arm by colleagues and friends. We look forward to continuing our valued relationship as a trusted advisor. Sincerely, The Partners, As...

Jury Verdict : For Immediate Release Jury Orders Contractor To Pay Medical Facility Owner  2 Million Dollars             Partners, Felena R. Talbott, Esq., and Oscar E. Soto, Esq., successfully tried to Jury Verdict a post completion construction defects action against the General Contractor of a 25 million dollar medical facility in Miami Dade County, Florida.  The Owner argued that certain items of work were not properly constructed nor repaired during the warranty period. The cost of remediation exceeded 2 million dollars. The General Contractor asserted that the work was inspected and approved despite contemporaneous project records identifying deficiencies in the work.  The claims at trial centered around improper supervision, coordination and construction of a below grade multi floor garage and the HVAC system at the project.  The Trial Judge has entered a Final Judgment on the Jury Verdict.   ...

Winning an impressive 71% of the popular vote, on November 8, 2016, voters approved the Florida Medical Marijuana Legislative Initiative, also known as Amendment 2. Amendment 2, which went into effect on January 3, 2017, rewrote Florida’s constitution to allow for the medical use of marijuana for individuals with certain debilitating medical conditions. Amendment 2 defines these debilitating medical conditions as follows: cancer, epilepsy, glaucoma, positive status for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, or other debilitating medical conditions of the same kind or class as or comparable to those enumerated, and for which a physician believes that the medical use of marijuana would likely outweigh the potential health risks for a patient. Amendment 2 did not legalize the recreational...

LABOR & EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE GROUP Employers!  This is an important update to our previous newsletter concerning changes in the FLSA overtime regulations. The final version of the rule has been published! Here's what you need to know: The new rule was issued on May 18, 2016. As we stated in our last newsletter, this rule changes the FLSA regulations concerning exemptions from overtime pay for executive, administrative, professional, outside sales, and computer employees (cumulatively, "Workers").[ [1] ] Salaried Workers earning less than $913 dollars per week or $47,476 annually are now nonexempt and eligible for overtime pay. This salary threshold will increase every three years. The increase is based on the 40th percentile of the weekly earnings of full-time salaried workers in the lowest-wage Census region, which currently happens to be the South. Predictions for the first update, scheduled for January 1, 2020, est...

LABOR & EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE GROUP EMPLOYERS! The time has come to prepare your business for upcoming changes in federal overtime regulations. Generally, the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) requires that most employees receive “overtime pay at time and one-half their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek .” [1]   However, Sections 13(a)(1) and 13(a)(17) of the FLSA provide an exemption to this rule for the following employees: 1.     employees who are employed as bona fide executive, administrative, or professional employees; 2.      computer professionals; 3.      highly compensated individuals; and 4.      outside sales employees. In order to qualify, these employees must meet certain criteria for their job duties and be paid at least $455 per week or $23,600 annually. In March of 2014, President Obama issued an executive order directing the Unite...

                                   This is the sixth installment in a ten-part series analyzing critical construction clauses.  This installment analyzes the “Pay If Paid” and “Pay When Paid” clauses. My first five articles can be found on our blog at   http://sotolawgroup.blogspot.com/ . A.       Overview and Background It is hard to understate the significance of the “Paid If Paid” provision (also known as the “Contingent Payment Provision”) and its less draconian counterpart, the “Pay When Paid” provision. The “Pay If Paid” Provision permits a general contractor to place the risk of an owner’s nonpayment upon its subcontractor notwithstanding the fact that the subcontractor fully performed its obligations and would be otherwise entitled to payment. A properly worded “Pay If Paid” provision can be a lifesaver for a general cont...