Daily Record Financial News &
Monday, March 27, 2017
Vol. 104, No. 095 • One Section
35¢
www.jaxdailyrecord.com
Mathis wants Bar record cleared
Kelly Mathis’ record on The Florida Bar website shows the legal battle he has been in for four years. The word “suspended” is in blue type on the left side, while “Not Eligible to Practice Law in Florida” is in red on the right, directly above Mathis’ photo. Those declarations are the result of his October 2013 conviction in the Allied Veterans of the World case, in which prosecutors said he was the mastermind of a
$3 million gambling ring. Mathis, who represented Allied Veterans, was sentenced to six years but allowed to remain free on bond pending his appeal. His conviction was overturned three years later by the 5th District Court of Appeal. This month, the Attorney General’s Office decided not to pursue a second trial. Brian Tannebaum, Mathis’ Bar attorney, filed documents last week to get his client’s law license back and his record expunged, the latter of which would be unusual.
The Bar doesn’t object to either request. Tannebaum said the Bar could have conducted its own investigation after prosecutors decided not to refile the case against Mathis. Instead, the Bar and Mathis sought a joint stipulation for dismissal. Fourth Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Mark Mahon — who serves as the referee in the disciplinary matter — accepted the joint request and asked the Florida Supreme Court to dismiss Mathis continued on Page 6
‘
By Marilyn Young Editor
Document from floridabar.org
Supreme Court asked to dismiss attorney’s case
Kelly Mathis’ law license shows his license is suspended and he is not eligible to practice law in the state.
‘Every day is different
Drone Aviation’s Trump ties untethered
Court reporter finds skills in high demand
With a degree in English, Diane Tropia was thinking about going to law school. But a friend suggested that being a court reporter would be a job with flexible hours and plenty of time off. It hasn’t worked out that way. “I work seven days a week and I love it,” she said last week while setting up to transcribe the proceedings of the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission. The Long Island, N.Y., native studied at the New York School of Court Reporting, where graduation is based on being able to transcribe 225 words a minute with 95 percent accuracy. “Most people take three years to finish, but I did it in two,” said Tropia. With her certificate in hand and a desire to leave cold winters, she moved in 1995 to Jacksonville and quickly discovered her skills were in demand. “Everywhere I walked in, I got a job,” she said. In addition to transcribing depositions for attorneys, one of her first clients was City Council. Taking the notes at city meetings has since expanded to include the Planning Commission, Downtown Investment Authority and the Jacksonville Historic Preservation Commission. “I love the people aspect of what I do. I get to meet fascinating people,” said Tropia. She also includes professors on that list. Besides her traditional transcription work, Tropia is a Computer Aided Real Time Translation provider at the University of North Florida. She attends classes with deaf students and takes notes for them that are transmitted via Bluetooth from her writer to the students’ laptops. She takes down everything the instructor says as well as questions from students to create a complete record. That allows students to keep up in class and have a verbatim record of everything that was said. Tropia has worked with students in majors from information technology to biology and genetics. “I have to study like they have to study because I have to know all the terminology. The kids rely on me to take good notes if they’re going to graduate,” she said. Reporter
Public
continued on
Page 6
Photos by Max Marbut
By Max Marbut Staff Writer
Certified Court Reporter Diane Tropia arrives to set up her writer and test her audio recorder long before participants arrive for a meeting.
legal notices begin on page
13
When Donald Trump became president, it looked like Jacksonville-based Drone Aviation Holding Corp. might have an advantageous tie to the new administration. The company’s former vice chairman, Michael Flynn, was installed as the new president’s national security adviser. Flynn resigned from Drone Aviation in December to take the high-ranking job. Of course, that didn’t work out so well. Flynn had to resign from his White House position in February after less than one month on the job over questions about his communications with Russian officials. So Drone Aviation, a company that makes tethered drones and lighter-than-air aerostats and which seeks business with the U.S. government, no longer has a direct tie to the administration. As it turns out, Drone Aviation has another previous tie to the current administration, although it also is unlikely to help now. Several years ago, its predeces- Trump Jr. sor company signed an agreement with a young businessman named Donald Trump Jr. Drone Aviation became a public company in 2014 by merging into an existing public company called MacroSolve Inc. The company now has no real relationship to the former business of MacroSolve but it was an interesting deal signed with Trump in 2011. Tulsa, Okla.-based MacroSolve was developing mobile applications. According to Securities and Exchange Commission filings, it entered into a “partnering relationship” with the son of the future president for public relations and marketing services. Trump was paid a one-time fee of $45,000 Basch
Published
for
27,156
continued on
Page 5
consecutive weekdays