Attorney's Fees in Florida, Second Edition Hauser, James C.

Fees impact every aspect of your case -- the contract with your client, when to accept an offer or go to trial, and a host of other details. If you make decisions without one eye trained on the fees issue, you can trigger a financial and professional disaster. Navigate safely using Attorney's Fees in Florida, Second Edition, the only manual to give you the most up-to-date information on all aspects of this fluid area of Florida law. James C. Hauser has been Circuit Court Judge for the Ninth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida since 1990. Previously, he was County Judge in Orange County, in which capacity he was named Jurist of the Year by the Young Lawyers Division of the Florida Bar in 1989. A member of the faculty of the Judges College for the State of Florida, Judge Hauser lectures frequently before the bench, bar, and public on the subject of attorney's fees. He is a graduate of Boston University School of Law and the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania.

Orlando Sentinel
Judge under investigation will retire
James C. Hauser, who has been on paid leave, had served as a county or circuit judge since 1980.
September 15, 2007|By Jim Leusner, Sentinel Staff Writer Orange Circuit Judge James C. Hauser, under scrutiny by a state judicial panel for conduct on and off the bench, announced Friday that he was resigning. The strain from a public investigation about his behavior -- including allegations of sexual misconduct -- and an ongoing divorce led Hauser to retire as of Oct. 1, said his lawyer, Keith Mitnik of Orlando. Hauser revealed his plan in a one-paragraph letter to Gov. Charlie Crist. "After 27 years of having the honor and pleasure of serving the citizens of the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida, I have decided to take an early retirement," he wrote. The resignation caps a turbulent year for Hauser in which he filed for divorce from his wife of 17 years. She later filed to obtain a domestic-violence injunction against him. Then a law student alleged that the judge exposed himself at her apartment in January 2006. Hauser, 58, adamantly denied any threatening behavior against his wife or sexual misconduct. He contended that he had a consensual, romantic interlude with the student, but admitted it was a mistake. About two weeks ago, Hauser testified during the inquiry into the law-student's allegations that he was fit to return to the bench. He also said that he was on medication and was under the care of a psychiatrist and psychologist. Hauser has been a county or circuit judge since 1980. He has been on paid, administrative leave from his $145,080-a-year job since November. "Considering all that he has gone through, he made a wise decision," said Orange-Osceola Chief Judge Belvin Perry. "Overall, he gave many great years of service to the people of the Ninth Judicial Circuit." In June, the state Judicial Qualifications Commission charged Hauser with violating the code of conduct in his official capacity and behaving outside the courtroom in ways which demeaned his office.

In January, the Orlando Sentinel detailed questions about Hauser's handling of divorce and childcustody cases from 1997 to 1999 and 2003 to 2005. Lawyers said he behaved rudely, discussed his family problems on the bench, met privately with litigants without attorneys present, and ordered excessive counseling for couples. Hauser said he simply was trying to mitigate emotional damage done by divorcing parents to their children. He lectured nationally and crusaded for civility in divorce cases, teaching classes and seminars called Making the Divorce Work. But much of the JQC investigation focused on Hauser's relationship with a married law student in the divorce class he co-taught at Barry University School of Law in Orlando. The woman said Hauser went to dinner with her after class one night and swung by her apartment to borrow some movies. At one point, she said, she found Hauser in her bedroom with his pants down, masturbating. She said she told him to stop, but he grabbed her and tried to convince her to have sex. Hauser said the two engaged in kissing and "pre-sexual contact" on her bed. Hauser submitted an affidavit and the results of a polygraph test showing he passed when asked questions about the incident. But two weeks ago, JQC special counsel Lauri Waldman Ross charged that polygraph exams turned over to her showed that Hauser had failed two earlier tests. The polygrapher has since filed an affidavit saying that the earlier results were not actual tests and that Hauser passed the only test he was given. Ross declined to comment on Hauser's resignation. Mitnik said it would end all JQC proceedings against the judge. The governor will appoint a judge to fill Hauser's term, which expires in 2008. Hauser is the third judge in Orange County who has left or been forced from the bench during or after a JQC probe in recent years. County Judge Alan Todd abruptly retired in January 2006 while under investigation for insensitive remarks he made on the bench. A few months earlier, the Supreme Court removed Circuit Judge James Henson for practicing law while a judge and telling a client to flee the country to avoid prosecution. Hauser will enter private practice as a consultant on legal issues involving attorney's fees, a field in which he is considered an expert, his lawyer said. "I sense a relief in him with a bit of sadness and a bit of excitement," Mitnik said. "He's sad that he's ending a judicial career that he loved and excited in immersing himself in the practice of law."