Remembering Frank E. Kowalski

Frank E. Kowalski, the 2005 Florida Realtors president and founder and CEO of Metro Dade Realty in Miami, had a 52-year career defined by a spirit of service.

MIAMI – It is with a profound sense of loss that we announce the passing of 2005 Florida Realtors President Frank E. Kowalski, founder and CEO of Metro Dade Realty in Miami.

Frank was a benevolent leader whose tenure was marked by groundbreaking initiatives, such as his advocacy for the Commercial Real Estate Sales Commission Lien Act, which was signed into law in 2005, his commitment to Realtor excellence through Graduate, Realtor Institute training for new licensees and his support for integrating technology tools into the profession.

Frank KowalskiFrank’s 52-year career was defined by a spirit of service and a commitment to excellence. Always a champion for what he believed in, he used his leadership roles to make a difference where it counted most. In 1980, as the youngest president in the Miami Board’s then-60-year history, he vigorously fought against double-digit interest rates. After four hurricanes hit Florida shortly before he took office, he pledged to help Realtors impacted by the storms get their businesses back up and running – and, true to his word, he did. He was named Florida Realtors’ 2007 Realtor of the Year for his tireless contributions to his community as well as local, state and national real estate associations.

“Our hearts are heavy as we remember Frank Kowalski, a true icon in the Florida real estate industry,” says Gia Arvin, 2024 Florida Realtors president. “His visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to excellence have left an indelible mark on our profession. From his advocacy for crucial legislation to his dedication to Realtor training and technology integration, his presence was a powerful influence on all our leaders who followed him. Our deepest condolences go out to Frank’s wife, Norma, his son and business partner Frank J. Kowalski, and the rest of his family during this difficult time.”

Our association is just one of many organizations honored to be part of Frank’s legacy.

He was founding president of the Florida Council of Residential Specialists, national CRS president and former chairman of the Florida Real Estate Commission, held leadership roles in the Miami Association of Realtors® and the National Association of Realtors®, and was a long-time contributor to the Realtors Political Action Committee. He also dedicated 46 years of his life to serving as an independent insurance broker, safeguarding the futures of countless individuals and families throughout South Florida. 

Frank E. Kowalski will be laid to rest Monday, April 1, at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn South, 11655 SW 117th Ave., Miami, FL 33186. A viewing is scheduled for 10 a.m., followed by a service at 1:30 p.m.

© 2024 Florida Realtors®

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March Is For The Girls

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Ed. note: This is the latest installment in a series of posts on motherhood in the legal profession, in partnership with our friends at MothersEsquire. Welcome Sarah Waidelich to our pages. Click here if you’d like to donate to MothersEsquire.

March is one of my favorite times of the year — as a lifelong basketball fan and a former Division III college player, there is nothing quite like the madness of this month. The sheer volume of games compressed into such a short time span, combined with the unpredictable upsets and unforgettable moments, truly encapsulates the essence of the sport.

This year is particularly special to me, as it feels like women’s sports — and in particular, women’s basketball — are finally getting the attention they are due, thanks to the incredible year and career of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. Clark has broken most offensive records of note, and on March 3, 2024, she broke Pete Maravich’s 54-year record to become the all-time leading scorer in NCAA basketball (men’s or women’s). And she’s not done yet.

As remarkable as Clark’s season and career have been, what I have found most inspiring is what she has done for women’s basketball as a whole. Clark is the biggest story of this season for women’s and men’s basketball. Girls and boys are clamoring for a picture or autograph from Clark. The AP reported that Iowa road games saw a 150% increase in average attendance. More people are watching women’s games than men’s games.  The New York Times reported that women’s sports would generate more than $1 billion in revenue this year, up about 300% from a 2021 estimate.

As we head into the NCAA National Championship tournaments, the women’s competition is getting as much, if not more, attention as the men’s. Even Shaquille O’Neal is more closely following the women’s tournament. Considering all of this, it’s astonishing to recall that until 2022, the NCAA declined to promote or utilize its “March Madness” trademark for the women’s tournament.

I am a lifelong basketball fan. I was playing year-round by the time I was 10. It was my first true love, and I was fortunate enough to continue my career in college, at the small engineering school I attended. As a young girl, I worshiped the likes of Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi — incredible players in their own right.  But neither of them captured the imagination of the country like Caitlin Clark.

This year may mark a sea change. Because as fabulous as Clark is, a wave of exceptional players is coming up behind her. Junior Angel Reese led LSU to the national championship over Iowa last year and is poised to make another run this year. Freshman Juju Watkins at the University of Southern California is averaging more points per game than Clark did in her first year. The landmark changes with Name, Image, and Likeness deals offer substantial opportunities for increased visibility and exposure for female athletes. There is every reason to believe that the attention Clark has brought to the game, and the talent following in her wake, will continue to capture the attention of the country.

My basketball career ended almost 15 years ago, and I am now a practicing lawyer and a mom of two little boys. I am filled with gratitude knowing that my sons will grow up in a world where women’s sports are finally receiving the recognition they’ve long deserved. It brings me immense happiness to think that they will have remarkable athletes like Clark to admire and look up to.

Clark’s popularity also gives me hope that other segments of American society, including the legal profession, can make great strides in reaching gender equality. Bloomberg reported in January of this year that for the first time, a slim majority of law firm associates are women.  The same report also found that women make up 40% of all attorneys at private firms — another record.

These statistics resonate deeply with my own career in private practice. A decade ago, as I was starting my career focused on patent law, the sense of being the only woman in the room was palpable, and it only seemed to intensify as I progressed. However, in recent years, we’ve  made real strides in recruiting and retaining women for our IP Department, even within this traditionally male-dominated field of patent law. Just as Clark’s achievements pave the way for future women athletes, the success of more women in the legal industry continues to provide a clearer path for those who will follow.

There is still much work to do to achieve true gender equality, and to ensure society and our institutions value women’s efforts as much as men’s.

But this year, March is for the girls.


Sarah Waidelich is a partner at Honigman LLP in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  She focuses her practice on intellectual property litigation, with a particular focus on patent litigation, and is a Lateral Hiring Partner for the IP Department. Sarah is the mom of two beautiful little boys, and in her free time she enjoys traveling with her husband and sons, baking, and watching sports. You can contact Sarah directly at swaidelich@honigman.com

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Veiled Glory

Judge not, by outer countenance the merit of the goal…

The above picture from

as a child, to the sorrowful images of the Greatest Love Story!

John 12:27-28

Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say?

 ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? 

No, it is for this purpose that I have come to this hour.

  Father, glorify Your name!”

Then a voice came from heaven:

 “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

Judge not, by outer countenance the merit of the goal

One facet of a circumstance does not reveal the whole

The Saviour of the soul could see beyond salvation’s price

Beyond the awful cost as He became sin’s sacrifice

While gaping throngs reviled and railed and jeered what appeared loss

The darkness of the hour veiled the glory of the cross

Love’s agony of grief and pain in mingled passion poured

Redemption’s unrelenting gain and glory of the Lord

Fret not the trouble that this world can never overcome

But look to where God’s love unfurled the hope of Christendom

Beyond the gory cross, the empty grave, beyond death’s toll

The glory of the resurrected Saviour of the soul

© Janet Martin

John 12:44-50

Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only,

 but in the one who sent me. 

45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.

 46 I have come into the world as a light,

 so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, 

I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 

48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; 

the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.

 49 For I did not speak on my own, 

but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.

 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life.

 So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

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SMFS Members Publishing News: Motel: An Anthology

SMFS list members are published in the recently
released book,
Motel: An Anthology. Published by Cowboy Jamboree Press,
the book is available at
Amazon.

 

Nils Gilbertson with “The Morningstar.”

 

M.E. Proctor with “A Redhead and a Green
Car.”

 

 

Amazon Description:

On lost, lonely highways,
deep in the American heartlands and skirting the shady edges of cities, once
ubiquitous motels have faded, some into ruin, others transformed from way
station to permanent residence. 
MOTEL captures the heartbreak, desperation and indeed magic of motels.

Think Paris, TexasFool for LoveWild at Heart. Even Bonnie and Clyde. This anthology is full of stories that pay homage to the essence of
motels in all their beauty and pathos. Characters and stories of grit and
glory, the brutal and banal.

As motels fade from popularity and even existence, this volume attempts to
capture them before they’re gone altogether…and all their stories with them.
Of the twenty-eight stories in MOTEL, there’s no two stories that are similar. Like a motel, these stories are
neighboring rooms. None in them are the same, but here they are, together.

Cowboy Jamboree Press

good grit lit.

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That’s A Whole Lotta Nonequity Partners

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Ed. Note: Welcome to our daily feature Trivia Question of the Day!

According to reporting by ALM, which Biglaw firm saw the nonequity tier of partnership increase by a staggering 51% in 2023 — in a year where many Biglaw firms increased their nonequity partnership ranks, this is the largest increase documented so far?

Hint: The firm had a stellar year last year with revenue up 18% and profits up by 19%.

See the answer on the next page.

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Travis Scott Rejects Responsibility For Poor Astroworld Management

Silhouette of gavelIf you followed the CIRCUS MAXIMUS that was the 2021 Astroworld Festival, there was a part of the back of your brain that saw each resulting news article that went, “Yeah, somebody is gonna get sued for that.” If you haven’t, here’s a rundown. On November 5th, 2021, a Travis Scott concert turned tragic. Mismanagement led to crowd crush that killed 10 people and spawned a slew of religious conspiracies:

Since then, the question of who to blame has taken on legal significance. Several of the attempts to hold someone accountable have been levied against Travis Scott. He’s arguing that the blame isn’t on him. From Law360:

Rapper Travis Scott, the safety director of the 2021 Astroworld Festival and other defendants have asked a Texas judge to free them from a slew of lawsuits stemming from the concert’s fatal crowd crush, with roughly two months until the first plaintiff is set to go to trial.

In a 67-page motion for summary judgment for the more than 1,500 cases in multidistrict litigation created to handle claims stemming from the disaster, Scott wrote Monday that the Astroworld attendees can’t hold him liable for their injuries because no “special relationship” existed between himself and the concertgoers.

Legally speaking, his position makes sense. When determining tort liability, establishing a duty of care is a threshold issue. The average concertgoer attends a rap concert to see a master of ceremonies, not a masterful hour-long presentation on public safety that would make OSHA proud. When concerts go bad, it is fair game to blame the artist. But when concerts go as bad as they did at Astroworld, you blame whoever was in control of the venue. That probably wasn’t Travis. It is even harder to put the blame on him once you look at his behavior during the concert:

[H]e stopped the show himself three times to “get a temperature check” because he “felt something was going on,” but said he didn’t see anyone unconscious or receiving medical attention during those times, according to the deposition excerpts.

“I can’t see that far,” Scott said of his view from the stage, according to court documents. “I can barely even see, like, you know, past the front row.”

During one of his voluntary stoppages, Scott asked for a light to be shone on someone who was climbing a tree in the crowd so he could make sure “he was cool,” according to the deposition. Another time, he stopped the show and pointed to “red and blue lights” in the audience, which he later found out was a medical cart, according to the transcripts.

Even if there wasn’t a legal duty, the events would suggest that he still cared for his fans. The safety director of Astroworld — someone you’d expect to be held accountable for what happened — had this to say:

“Based on [Seyth] Boardman’s view at the time, there was no likelihood of serious injury,” he wrote in his brief. “Boardman had worked many live music festivals before with similar crowds, and none had resulted in multiple deaths from compression asphyxia, let alone the tragedy that unfolded at Astroworld.”

He added that he had worked two previous Astroworld festivals at the same venue without problems.

“Based upon his experience of over 25 years, nothing about the event was unusual leading up to the injuries,” Boardman wrote. “Given its similarity to the prior two Astroworld festivals and many other festivals and outdoor concerts, the evidence establishes conclusively that, when viewed objectively, the festival did not involve an extreme risk of harm.”

Lawsuits to square responsibility are likely to continue.

Travis Scott Says He Had No Duty Over Astroworld’s Safety [Law360]


Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.


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Some Florida Cities Face Greater Climate Risks

Some coastal Florida cities face greater climate risks, including wind, rain and heat. Understanding such risks helps buyers and sellers make informed decisions about investments and sales.

MIAMI – Images of neighborhoods devastated by natural disasters have become commonplace in recent years, but a new study finds that properties in some U.S. cities are especially imperiled.

The 2024 Realtor.com Housing and Climate Risk Report found that more than 44.8% of the country’s homes face at least one kind of “severe or extreme climate risk” from either flood, wind, wildfire, heat or air quality. The total value of those homes is nearly $22 trillion, according to the study.

“It’s important for people to fully understand the climate risks that a home faces not only in the present, but in the future, so they can make the most informed decision for one of the biggest purchases and investments they will make in their life,” said Realtor.com’s Mausam Bhatt, chief product and technology officer, in a statement.

Realtor.com recently rolled out climate factor risk scores using data from the First Street Foundation, a nonprofit climate technology company, that forecasts the likelihood of a given disaster over the next 30 years.

When it comes to the total value of homes at risk of flooding, the greater Miami area ranks first, with a total value of $323.9B, followed by New York ($265.2B) and Tampa ($126.2B). New Orleans leads all cities when it comes to share of property value at risk.

Unsurprisingly, cities affected by hurricane season are also the most threatened by extreme wind. When broken down by total property value, Miami is first, followed by Houston and New York. As for cities where 100% of the homes are at extreme risk from wind, Baton Rouge, Charleston, Houston, and Tampa are among 15 major metros spanning Florida, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Louisiana.

When it comes to property values, the top three major metros threatened by wildfire are all in California – Los Angeles ($447.9B), Riverside ($445.2B) and San Francisco ($256.4B). Colorado Springs, Colorado is first when it comes to the share of value threatened (76.4%).

As for extreme heat, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach area in Florida has the highest total value under severe heat risk, while a number of cities including Austin, Texas; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Jacksonville, Florida; Houston, Texas; and Tampa, Florida all have a 100% share of value.

The San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley area has the highest total value of properties at extreme air quality risk, while 100% of homes in the following cities face severe air pollution: Fresno, California; Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, California; Spokane-Spokane Valley, Washington; and Stockton, California.

“Specifically, with high risk of wildfire and hot weather, it is not surprising to find markets with the highest total value of homes at risk from severe and extreme air pollutants are predominantly concentrated in California,” according to Realtor’s report, where you can see more on the methodology.

A Harvard study released earlier this year found that it’s not just homeowners who face potentially dangerous – and costly – climate hazards. Researchers with Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies found that millions of rental units face climate- and weather-related threats.

“Environmental hazards such as wildfires, flooding, earthquakes, and hurricanes increasingly jeopardize the health and safety of renters and threaten to damage or destroy housing,” the American Rental Housing Report reads. “About 41 percent of the nation’s occupied rental stock (18.2 million units) is located in areas exposed to substantial weather- and climate-related threats as measured by expected annual economic losses for multiple hazards, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Risk Index.”

According to NOAA, the U.S. has experienced 377 weather and climate disasters since 1980 that cost at least $1 billion. Without addressing the human toll, the cost in damages for those events exceeds $2.670 trillion, NOAA says.

© 2024 WFLA, Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Can Shohei Ohtani’s Gambling And Theft Controversy Provide Him With Tax Relief?

During an interview last week, Shohei Ohtani’s English translator, Ippei Mizuhara, said that he had accrued $4.5 million in gambling debt and that Ohtani had offered to loan him the money to pay it.

A few days later, the Los Angeles Dodgers fired Mizuhara. Ohtani then made a statement claiming that Mizuhara stole the money by accessing his bank account and transferring the money to a bookie. He also denies that he was involved in gambling of any kind.

The MLB announced that an investigation is going on to determine whether any improper sports betting has occurred.

In addition, the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division in Los Angeles has confirmed that they are investigating Mizuhara and his bookie. Ohtani is not being investigated.

So why is the IRS investigating them? There are several red flags that may have sparked IRS interest. First is theft. Generally, thieves do not report their theft income even though they are required to do so. Second is gambling. A lot of sports betting is done underground with cash, so winners may prefer to hide their money instead of reporting it for tax purposes. Sometimes gambling can be a front for money laundering. Lastly, a lot of money and a celebrity are involved.

The IRS also tends to announce significant investigations and criminal convictions close to the tax return deadline of April 15 in hopes that it will make people think twice about deliberately falsifying or omitting information on their tax returns.

The Department of Justice’s Tax Division will decide whether to indict Mizuhara and his bookie for any tax crimes. But this will take some time because the investigation is ongoing and the case must go through several departments at the IRS and the Department of Justice before a decision is made. Generally, tax crime prosecutions are rare, but their conviction rate is over 90%.

Generally, gambling income is taxable after deducting gambling losses only up to the amount of the winnings. If there are excess losses, they cannot be used to offset other income, nor can they be carried forward or backwards to other years.

As mentioned earlier, income from theft is also subject to income tax reduced by any ordinary and necessary expenses connected to the theft.

Can Ohtani deduct the amount of the theft from his income? Unfortunately, no. This theft appears to be a personal loss and not connected to his work as a professional baseball player. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has severely limited personal theft loss deductions from 2018 to 2025. To qualify for the theft loss, the theft must be connected to a federally declared disaster.

Even if Ohtani could take the theft loss deduction, his large salary would have subjected him to the alternative minimum tax (AMT) which adds back most itemized deductions to taxable income.

However, he may be able to claim a theft loss deduction from his California taxable income as California tax law does not conform with the TJCA limitation on theft losses.

If Mizuhara’s story is correct and Ohtani willingly loaned him the money, this money is not taxable income to Mizuhara, and Ohtani cannot claim a deduction. But if Mizuhara is unable to pay back the entire amount loaned, then Ohtani can claim a nonbusiness bad debt deduction which will be treated as a short-term capital loss. This loss can offset up to $3,000 of ordinary income every year although it can fully offset any short-term capital gains.

This story has a lot of twists and turns with many unanswered questions. But given the stakes involved, including a possible lifetime ban if Ohtani is found to be gambling, taxes should be the least of his worries.


Steven Chung is a tax attorney in Los Angeles, California. He helps people with basic tax planning and resolve tax disputes. He is also sympathetic to people with large student loans. He can be reached via email at stevenchungatl@gmail.com. Or you can connect with him on Twitter (@stevenchung) and connect with him on LinkedIn.


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Sleeping It Off For 48 Hours, A Still Life a mash-up of medicine bottles shoved up to the file bins atop the lower right leg quarter of my bed’s mattress cover. the cover has a purple flower-themed design. the flowers are white, though, it’s the background th…
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