Hurley Sued Over Ad; Blames Courthouse Politics For Leak
BY BUDDY NEVINS
I’ll bet County Judge John “Jay” Hurley wishes he let his fingers do the walking with the Yellow Pages.
Instead, he did business several years ago with Yellow Book.
John “Jay” Hurley
Now, Yellow Book has sued him.
The dispute is over telephone book ads.
Hurley says he bought ads in the local Fort Lauderdale Yellow Book for his now-closed law practice. Yellow Book then ran ads for his law practice in Boca Raton and Central Florida without his permission.
Yellow Book Sales says in a suit filed in April that Hurley owes something like $80,000 for the disputed ads.
“I didn’t agree to these ads and I dispute them, Hurley says. “I don’t think I owe them anythingThey ran ads outside of South Florida that I didn’t authorize.
None of this has anything to do with his position as judge.
The full page ads he authorized and bought for the Broward book were paid for before he closed his law practice last year, he says.
The judge advertised in the local Yellow Book for five years.
Hurley declared an $80,000 debt on his most recent financial disclosure with the word “disputed” next to it.
He asked for mediation in the law suit, but says has received the cold shoulder from the Yellow Book’s lawyer.
Hurley blamed courthouse politics for the leak of the information about his lawsuit.
Probably true.
The courthouse is full of snapping, snarling vipers. Their infighting and backstabbing makes the Ultimate Fighting Championship look like a Sunday school class.
Hurley alleges an opponent of Chief Judge Victor Tobin was behind it.
That’s possible, too. There is a substantial minority both on and off the bench that continues to agitate against Tobin.
Browardbeat.com received a copy of the suit’s docket in an anonymous e-mail.
Hurley is running for re-election 2010 and has no opponent yet. He would be hard to beat.
First, those I talk to at the courthouse have nothing but praise for Hurley, who was appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist in July, 2008. That means he will get plenty of campaign money.
Second, he gets time on television almost every night. That’s because he is the magistrate judge, presiding over the first appearance of most of those charged with a serious crime.
September 9th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Jay Hurley is one of Broward’s finest judge. He has helped keep the population in the jail down by releasing those before trial who are not a danger to the community, while locking the bad ones away. He is one of the good ones.
September 9th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Hurley is an exemplary judge and a fine person.
I’ll take his word for this.
p.s. Gee whizz, I wonder who the “opponent” of Tobin is…?
September 9th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Hurley is a right wing Republican who tried to win in an election and lost. He finally got appointed by Republican Gov. Crist. He is nothing special. This is a very interesting story. I can’t remember a judge who was sued while in office over a debt.
September 9th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Hurley is right wing? What are smoking? Not all Republicans are right wing. Hurley sure isn’t.
Hurley ran for election 10 years ago, spent little to no money and got more than 20% of the vote.
Of course you find the story interesting, you don’t like Hurley, and probably don’t care about the facts.
Yellowbook, Yellowpages, and tow truck companies have a long history of playing games with their clients over billing. The stories are endless.
I hope that he prevails, and I hope that you get a life other than constant posting on local blogs…
September 10th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Real Tony G. aka Jay
At least try to have your posts not sound exactly the way you talk.
September 10th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Hurley will be easy to beat. He is the poster child for Republicans in a Democratic county. He ran once before and got 20% of the vote. Any Jewish female lawyer can beat him easily.
September 10th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Hurley is Easy Pickings. All this controversy already and barely a judge for a year. Looks like it is just the beginning for this trouble maker.
September 12th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Blaming courthouse politics for leaking an item of the public record? Whatever…
Phone book advertising is expensive, and it can easily decimate a firm’s budget. Check out this crazy story from Tampa about a law firm filing for Chapter 11. They owe hundreds of thousands to various Yellow Books!
http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2009/09/07/daily10.html
September 13th, 2009 at 5:32 am
Hurley will get a chance to explain his excuses for his irresponsible actions when he appears before the JNC in his quest for a new position or against a candidate next year. Shifting the focus of his blunders and failures to something totally irrelevant demonstrates to our community what kind of clown we have for a judge. This buffoon needs to get it together.
September 14th, 2009 at 4:56 am
Some of the Defense Bar seems to forget that there is the defense and the prosecution and the judge. Each has its own role.
The defense attorneys, i.e. Jaablog, would like the defense attorneys to run everything. That is why they attack Hurley and Satz.
That would tip the balance in an awful direction, thwarting justice in many cases.
September 14th, 2009 at 9:35 am
So what if Hurley is pro State. That is a good thing because he keeps the bad guys behind bars.
September 14th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
This guy Hurley sounds like a whacko.
Where did he come from. Never heard of him as a lawyer.
September 14th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Bet Hurley didn’t make squat as an attorney and is now complaining since his $80,000 investment never paid off. What a cry baby. No wonder… word is he was a mediocre attorney at best.
September 16th, 2009 at 5:33 am
This Hurley character seems like a crazy, from another world, nut job.