11th Circuit Court

Ex-administrator helped convict 6 lawyers, feds say, asking that judge cut her prison time in half

A former top administrator for a now-shuttered South Florida law firm helped the federal government convict six attorneys in cases linked to a $1.2 billion swindle by the onetime managing partner, prosecutors say. They are asking U.S. District Judge William Zloch to cut the prison term for 47-year-old Debra Villegas…

Dec 15, 2014 2:25 PM CST

Federal judge axes suit against law firm in sunken-treasure hoax, sets sanctions hearing for partner

A well-known Delaware law firm is no longer facing a civil lawsuit over a sunken-treasure hoax. But a sanctions hearing has been scheduled later this week by a federal judge in Florida for partner Bruce Silverstein of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, Delaware Law Weekly (sub. req.) reports. Silverstein is…

Dec 9, 2014 12:15 PM CST

11th Circuit bans drug tests for welfare applicants, says they’re not students or working risky jobs

Differentiating welfare applicants from students and employees working risky jobs, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the state of Florida could not require individuals to undergo drug testing as a condition of receiving government benefits. “Outside the context of employees in especially hazardous occupations, the Supreme Court has recognized…

Dec 4, 2014 11:00 AM CST

Feds freeze 1,000 student accounts at Florida college, charge 21 in $1.9M tax-refund scheme

In the latest example of claimed rampant fraud in federal income tax-refund applications, federal authorities have frozen more than 1,000 student financial services accounts at a single Florida college. They say at least some of the Higher One Inc. accounts were being used to funnel fraudulently obtained tax refunds to…

Nov 19, 2014 5:35 PM CST

Feds claim Yankees star A-Rod paid personal assistant $900K to keep quiet

An expensive settlement of a dispute over an employment agreement between New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and a cousin who worked as his personal assistant came to light when the cousin was criminally charged in a Florida case and claimed to be indigent. In a filing in federal district…

Nov 5, 2014 10:35 AM CST

Florida law restricting doctors’ gun discussions should be overturned, ABA says in amicus brief

The ABA has filed an amicus brief urging the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to grant en banc review in a challenge to a Florida law that restricts doctors’ gun discussions with patients. The 11th Circuit accepted the brief (PDF) for filing on Tuesday, according to an ABA…

Nov 5, 2014 6:15 AM CST

PGA star claims law firm stole $3M to help cover shortfall after managing partner embezzlement

Attorneys at a Georgia law firm who served as trusted advisors to a PGA star golfer stole $3 million of his money through a theft and embezzlement scheme, a federal lawsuit alleges. Plaintiff Dustin Johnson says then-managing partner Nathan “Nat” Hardwick IV of Morris Hardwick Schneider, now known as Morris…

Nov 3, 2014 11:00 AM CST

Cities get mired in civil rights disputes in trying to deal with growing homeless populations

Mark Ryavec lives in a beautifully restored duplex in Venice Beach, the artsy beachfront neighborhood of Los Angeles.

He's about half a mile from the shore and even closer to Abbot Kinney Boulevard, a trendy artery filled with pricey restaurants and boutiques. Depending on which real estate website you consult, his improvements and recent gentrification in the area have pushed the property's value to roughly three or four times what he paid for it in 1989.

Across the street, one of his sometime neighbors lives in a van.

Nov 1, 2014 5:00 AM CDT

Man convicted of ID theft gets less prison time due to reform, facial tattoo removal

A former employee of a Florida court clerk’s office is serving three years for selling information from a driver’s license database to Derek Denesevich. But Denesevich, who admittedly used the information to file about 80 fraudulent tax returns, was sentenced to only 15 months, the Sun Sentinel reports. Besides cooperating…

Oct 27, 2014 10:56 AM CDT

Former bank exec indicted, accused of aiding disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein’s $1.2B fraud

A fired Toronto Dominion Bank executive has been federally indicted in a wire fraud and conspiracy case, accused of aiding now-disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein in a $1.2 billion investment fraud. In addition to allegations that he helped Rothstein steal millions of dollars of investor money from trust accounts at TD…

Oct 10, 2014 3:30 PM CDT

Special committee is appointed to investigate federal judge accused of domestic violence

A special committee led by 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Gerald Tjoflat will investigate an Alabama federal judge accused of assaulting his wife. The five-member committee will investigate U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller of Montgomery, according to the Daily Report (sub. req.). In addition to Tjoflat, the committee…

Sep 29, 2014 10:51 AM CDT

11th Circuit cites Bible, labels lawyer’s action a ‘textbook example of bad faith’

A Georgia lawyer’s plan to split a personal-injury settlement into two checks in an alleged attempt to avoid reimbursing a client’s employer for medical costs has turned out to be costly. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the personal injury client, Brenda Elem, must reimburse her employer,…

Sep 25, 2014 8:07 AM CDT

SWAT-like raids for barber’s license checks violated Constitution, 11th Circuit says

A SWAT-like raid by police who were searching for barbers’ license violations constituted an unlawful search in violation of the Fourth Amendment, a federal appeals court says. In a Sept. 16 opinion, the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on behalf of the owner of Strictly Skillz barber…

Sep 22, 2014 10:25 AM CDT

SEC spent $8.6M collecting $3.7M from former corporate raider in $62M case

Once a high-profile corporate raider, Paul Bilzerian was convicted of fraud in 1989 and served 13 months. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission won a $62 million judgment in a subsequent civil suit. Now, more than 20 years later, the SEC is winding up its efforts to collect. The final…

Sep 18, 2014 1:25 PM CDT

Federal judge faces blowback from 11th Circuit and US lawmakers over domestic violence arrest

It isn’t just football players who are facing career blowback over claimed domestic violence incidents. A federal judge arrested last month after a dispute with his wife in an Atlanta hotel room is facing review by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which reassigned his cases after the incident.…

Sep 18, 2014 11:35 AM CDT