Oops. Hospital GC Not Licensed in Home State Is Suspended from $260K Job

Although Marc Goldstone is working as the North Broward Hospital District's general counsel, he reportedly isn't licensed to practice law in Florida.

As that fact sank into the consciousness of the district's board this week, it called an emergency meeting yesterday and suspended Goldstone from his $260,000-a-year job. He has until 4 p.m. today to resign, and if he doesn't, he will be terminated, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in its Broward Politics blog.

“My concern here is that I personally believe we’re all at risk here," said attorney Sam Goren of Fort Lauderdale, who was recently asked by the board to look into the issue of Goldstone's licensing status. "We hired a person who is not a lawyer in Florida to be our general counsel. Is there any possible explanation for what a general counsel is that is not a lawyer?”

The article doesn't include any comment from Goldstone, who wasn't present at the meeting yesterday. It isn't clear what prompted the board to focus on Goldstone's licensing status now.

Goldstone disclosed before he was hired late last year that he was not licensed in Florida, although he is licensed to practice elsewhere, and said he hoped to obtain “authorized house counsel” status in Florida, according to the newspaper. This is not possible for lawyers who work for a government entity like the hospital district, Goren's research showed. However, Goldstone had been planning to take the Florida bar exam in July.

The Miami Herald reports today that an attorney for Goldstone described the board's action yesterday against his client as "nonsense" and "just bizarre."

The board knew from the outset that Goldstone isn't licensed in Florida, but planned either to become licensed as an in-house counsel, which he thought he could do, or take the Florida bar, attorney William Amlong of Fort Lauderdale tells the newspaper.

''We're not exactly sure what caused this,'' Amlong says, adding "Prince Machiavelli has nothing on these guys."

Additional coverage:

Miami Herald: "Broward Health suspends General Counsel Marc Goldstone"