Florida

Lawyer who impersonated bar official in aid of law firm founder’s Ponzi scheme gets 5 years

Christina Kitterman has said she had no idea her longtime mentor, law firm founder Scott Rothstein, was involved in a $1.4 billion fraud. So she agreed to help him and the firm out by making a phone call and pretending to be the chief of the Florida Bar’s office in…

May 20, 2014 9:40 PM CDT

Park memorial honoring murdered law firm partner draws fire due to jailed founder’s notoriety

For years, no one apparently noticed that a park memorial for crime victims in South Florida had been paid for by a law firm now associated with a massive swindle. Funded in honor of murdered Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler partner Melissa Britt Lewis, the site at a Broward County nature park…

May 15, 2014 9:25 PM CDT

FBI calls attorney defendant who failed to appear for court hearing ‘armed and dangerous’

Updated: A 67-year-old Florida lawyer wanted in connection with a $19 million investment fraud case is “armed and dangerous,” the FBI says. However, a lawyer representing attorney Michael Ralph Casey urged against jumping to conclusions and said he is concerned for Casey’s safety. The FBI’s office in Miami says Casey,…

May 13, 2014 6:45 PM CDT

Doctor shot in prison riot sues lawyer, says attorney error kept him out of minimum security camp

A onetime Florida plastic surgeon shot in the neck in a Mississippi prison riot after he took a plea in a pill mill case has sued his own lawyer, contending that the attorney should have anticipated a need to provide proof of his naturalized U.S. citizenship to federal officials. Because…

May 9, 2014 10:50 PM CDT

Bar to pursue case against 3 lawyers accused of setting up opposing counsel for mid-trial DUI arrest

The Florida Bar has found probable cause to pursue a legal ethics case against three lawyers accused of playing a role in setting up opposing counsel for a mid-trial drunken-driving arrest. No formal ethics complaint has yet been filed against attorneys Robert D. Adams, Stephen Diaco and Adam Filthaut, but…

May 9, 2014 10:00 PM CDT

Lawyer who sued Apple last year over porn addiction now wants to marry his computer

Last year, a Tennessee lawyer made headlines when he filed a product liability suit contending that Apple Inc. was responsible for the pornography addiction that he says resulted when he mistyped a Web address into a MacBook Pro laptop. Now Chris Sevier is taking a different tack in federal litigation…

May 8, 2014 6:50 PM CDT

3 new pleas linked to ex-law firm chief serving 50 years in $1.2B swindle; 20th conviction now looms

Three more guilty pleas are scheduled in cases linked to disbarred onetime Florida law firm leader Scott Rothstein, bringing the total number of expected federal convictions, including Rothstein’s, to 20. The latest defendants who have agreed to take pleas are a former Broward County sheriff’s lieutenant and detective and the…

May 6, 2014 5:50 PM CDT

Baker Donelson opens office in Florida’s capital

Baker Donelson added to its Florida capabilities by launching a third office in the Sunshine State. In a Wednesday statement, the firm announced the opening of its Tallahassee office. According to the firm, the Tallahassee venture marks Baker Donelson’s third foray into Florida in the last three years. The firm…

May 2, 2014 5:11 PM CDT

Two inmates are killed in apparent gas explosion at Florida jail

Updated: Two inmates died and more than 100 inmates and workers were injured in an apparent gas explosion late Wednesday night at a jail in Pensacola, Florida. Sheriff David Morgan said at a press conference on Thursday morning that some inmates could have escaped and some could still be in…

May 1, 2014 12:01 PM CDT

Letters: Attorney Ad Aggro

ATTORNEY AD AGGRO Regarding “A Net Loss: Firm challenges Florida Bar over website ad limits,” March: All limits on advertising go too far. Advertising for a law practice should be no different from advertising for beer, insurance or fast food. Jason L. Van Dyke Plano, Texas As an attorney who…

May 1, 2014 10:09 AM CDT

Popular judge accused of using bench as ‘bully pulpit’ is reprimanded

A Florida judge honored last week by criminal defense lawyers stood in front of the state supreme court on Tuesday where he was reprimanded based on accusations he used his bench as a bully pulpit. Judge Barry Cohen of Palm Beach County had admitted misconduct, including failure to act in…

Apr 30, 2014 3:20 PM CDT

Feds charge 2 sheriff’s officers in civil rights case linked to ex-lawyer jailed in $1.2B swindle

Two suspended sheriff’s officers were federally charged Friday in a claimed conspiracy to violate civil rights that is linked to a now-disbarred Florida lawyer serving a 50-year prison term in a $1.2 billion swindle. Lt. David Benjamin, 48, who once headed the internal affairs department for the Broward County sheriff’s…

Apr 25, 2014 5:05 PM CDT

Damage from neighbor’s exploding body not covered by condo insurance policy, appeals court rules

When Judy Rodrigo’s next-door neighbor died in 2007, it was some time before the body was discovered. Eventually, the body decomposed, causing significant damage to Rodrigo’s condominium in Jupiter, Florida. After her insurance company refused to settle a property claim for what Rodrigo thought it was worth, she sued State…

Apr 25, 2014 11:55 AM CDT

Bar association warns lawyers of resort hotel-room booking scheme at annual convention

The Florida Bar is warning the state’s lawyers of what it describes as a booking scheme targeting lawyers and the resort hotel at which the group’s annual convention will be held in June. Lawyers are being called and urged by various companies to book a room at the meeting site,…

Apr 22, 2014 6:25 PM CDT

Judge should lose job for mishandling a case 10 years ago, when still in practice, ethics panel says

Saying that a South Florida judge “committed serious, flagrant violations of ethical rules” years ago, as a practicing lawyer handling a class action matter, the Judicial Qualifications Commision panel has recommended that Broward Circuit Judge Laura Watson be removed from the bench. Instead of taking responsibility, at a February ethics…

Apr 17, 2014 7:34 PM CDT