LIGHTS, CAMERA, CASH
Why Real Money Can’t Take Center Stage
REAL CASH CAN’T BE DESTROYED. Even though blowing up or burning money on camera can pump up the action for the audience, legal tender cannot be destroyed in movies. Anyone can be charged with a federal crime, punishable by 10 years in prison and fines for destroying money. Only the Federal Reserve has that power. Technically, it’s illegal to even flatten a penny. YOU CAN’T PRINT MONEY. Real currency is printed on a unique blend of cotton and linen available only to the U.S. government. Prop money can’t feel like the real deal. It has to be on paper and printed at a lower resolution. Robert De Niro didn’t like how the prop money felt in his hands while filming “Goodfellas.”To get around it,
Have you ever wondered how moviemakers can afford to blow up piles of money on the big screen? It turns out that it’s tricky, as the government has a set of strict rules to follow when studios feature U.S. currency on screen. So, roll out the red carpet because we’re about to explore the laws of prop money. IDENTICAL BILLS ARE ILLEGAL. Prop money can’t look identical to actual bills because of concerns about whether it could be circulated to the public and used. This happened after a “Rush Hour 2” scene where they blew up billions of dollars in prop money. Extras took home some of the fake cash and tried to use it in Las Vegas. The Secret Service got involved immediately, shutting down
the shoot and confiscating the bills. If the money is a replica, it must be either 75% smaller or 150% larger than real bills. One of the most common methods studios use is printing only one side of the fake money. The design can also be altered slightly, like changing the shading or picture.
the prop master withdrew money from his bank account for De Niro to use. At the end of each scene, no one could leave until all the money was counted and returned.
So, next time one of your favorite movie characters has cash to burn, remember, those are fake bills in the flames!
Unpacking the Personal Injury Surge
Why Cases Are Piling Up in Florida You may have heard that people filed more personal injury cases in Florida last year than in any other state in the country. Not just a few more, either — Florida had over 1,200% more personal injury cases per capita than the national average. While studies show that Florida’s injury rate is about 9% higher than the
It completely changes how the state views negligence, moving us from a pure comparative negligence system to a modified one. This means that a plaintiff who is found to be even 51% at fault for their injuries may not recover damages from a defendant. It also repeals the provision that provided attorney fees for plaintiffs who obtained a favorable judgment against their insurer. All in all, it is a radical alteration of the status quo and has enormous ramifications for victims in personal injury cases. WHY THE UPTICK IN CASES? Given how much the Florida Senate bill changes personal injury cases, it should be no surprise that last year saw a massive influx of cases filed. All personal injury lawsuits filed before HB 837 went into effect were grandfathered in — meaning they were subject to the old laws, not
national average, that far from makes up for the discrepancy on its own. In my opinion, the true culprit is House Bill 837 (HB 837), which Florida’s Senate passed and came into effect in March of last year, and I will explain why. WHAT’S IN THE BILL? Many things about this bill affect how our state handles personal injury cases. It shortens the statute of limitations for negligence cases from four years to two, meaning victims have less time to file suit and seek justice for their injuries.
the new ones. This meant the plaintiffs in those cases could expect more favorable conditions if their cases went to trial and higher payouts from the insurance companies. Now that this bill has been in effect for some time, I expect the rate of personal injury cases filed in Florida will diminish significantly , and it may even fall below the national average for a time.
2 • www.AttorneyShapiro.com
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