Florida

‘Decent Burial’ for Yoss Law Firm May Be Via Chapter 7; Partners Probably Will Lose Capital

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing may be required to achieve a “decent burial” for the dissolving law firm once known as Adorno & Yoss, an observer tells the Daily Business Review. And partners of the firm, known as Yoss after founding partner Henry “Hank” Adorno was suspended from practice last…

Mar 30, 2011 7:59 PM CDT

As Chief Judges Agree Law Firm Can’t Simply Quit, One Sets Hearings for 9,000 Abandoned Cases

Throughout the state of Florida, chief judges apparently are in agreement that attorney David J. Stern and his law firm can’t simply abandon as many as 100,000 mortgage foreclosure cases. But that’s what reportedly has happened, as Stern notified the courts in lengthy letters earlier this month listing the cases…

Mar 30, 2011 4:24 PM CDT

‘Girls Gone Wild’ Founder Goes Lawyerless, Claims Credit for Witness Geometry Quiz

Updated: A press release issued by Girls Gone Wild founder Joe Francis only hints at the troubles he is facing in a Florida courtroom as he defends himself in a lawsuit filed by four women who say their underage cameos have caused lasting emotional harm. U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak…

Mar 30, 2011 3:32 PM CDT

Police in Fla. Town Use Email and Skype to Obtain Warrants While Still on the Scene

A police officer and a county judge in South Florida worked together with prosecutors to develop a Skype-based booking system for the town of Palm Bay that operates as a virtual courtroom at a crime scene. As a suspect is arrested in a driving-under-the-influence case, police forward documents by email…

Mar 29, 2011 11:17 PM CDT

Cops Say Ivy League-Bound Girl, 17, Pulled 9 mm Sig Sauer on Her Own Mom to Force Car Purchase

Corrected: A 17-year-old Florida honor student is being held in juvenile detention over an incident in which she allegedly pulled a 9 mm Sig Sauer on her own mother, pistol-whipped her and ordered her, at gunpoint, to go to a local car dealership and co-sign for a car. Apparently fearful…

Mar 29, 2011 6:35 PM CDT

Chase Sues Its Former Foreclosure Counsel, Seeks Turnover of Files in $400M Worth of Cases

Saying that its former mortgage foreclosure counsel, Ben-Ezra & Katz, has effectively called a halt to some $400 million in litigation by refusing to turn over the case files, Chase Home Finance is suing the law firm in federal court in Florida. At issue is approximately $5 million in unpaid…

Mar 28, 2011 8:59 PM CDT

Bipolar Ex-NFL Star Gets 5 Years in Probation Case; Robbins Famously Went AWOL On ‘03 Superbowl Eve

A “surprisingly upbeat” former National Football League star who has struggled with bipolar disorder and substance abuse was sentenced today in Miami-Dade Circuit Court to five years in prison for violating probation by purchasing cocaine in Texas last year. Barret Robbins was scheduled to play in the 2003 Superbowl as…

Mar 25, 2011 11:26 PM CDT

Fla. Foreclosure Law Firm to Pay $2M to Settle Attorney General Complaint

One of eight mortgage foreclosure law firms reportedly being investigated by the Florida attorney general over claims of dubious paperwork has agreed to pay $2 million and change its business practices, according to the Tampa Tribune. Further details of the settlement by the Fort Lauderdale-based law firm of Marshall C.…

Mar 25, 2011 8:03 PM CDT

Paralegal Has 1 Month to Pay $7.5K and Get 45 Days re $72K Law Firm Trust Account Spending Spree

After several years of preliminary hearings and negotiations, a Florida paralegal who is accused, along with her boss, of using a $72,000 client trust account as an ATM to fund their spending sprees is down to the wire. Either Kristen Collins Lausburg, 32, comes up with a final $7,500 in…

Mar 24, 2011 9:45 PM CDT

Widow of Fla. Man Who Died in Deadly Gunfight With Cops Seeks $61K for Contents of Leveled Home

A Florida woman whose home was leveled and carted away in the form of rubble in less than a day after authorities engaged in a deadly shootout with her husband has filed suit for damages. Christine Lacy is seeking over $61,000 for personal property, including an Ethan Allen bedroom set,…

Mar 24, 2011 7:43 PM CDT

As Fla. Bar Investigates 157 Foreclosure Lawyers, Some Say More Action Is Needed

The number of investigations being pursued by the Florida Bar against foreclosure lawyers has tripled since the end of 2010. There are now 222 open legal ethics cases, up from 69, against 157 lawyers instead of the 48 that were being probed only a few months ago, reports the Palm…

Mar 24, 2011 12:16 AM CDT

We Need Judges to Work Harder, So We Should Pay Them More Money, Lawmaker Says

We need judges to work harder to bring a heavy backlog of undecided cases under control. So we should pay those who step up to the plate and get the job done more money, an influential Florida lawmaker is suggesting. Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, chairs the budget committee and…

Mar 23, 2011 8:49 PM CDT

Ordered to Wear ‘Spit Guard’ at Trial After Targeting Attorney, Defendant Looks Like Hannibal Lecter

A defendant in a Florida rape trial is going to sit in front of the jury looking more than a bit like Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs after a judge ordered him to wear a “spit guard” throughout the proceeding that covers his nose and the lower…

Mar 22, 2011 6:18 PM CDT

After $2M Verdict, 2 Fla. Attorneys Now Face Civil Theft Ethics Case re Bitter Law Firm Breakup

First William Henry Winters and Marc Edward Yonker got hit with a $2 million verdict in a civil theft and racketeering case, after leaving the firm of the rainmaking personal injury lawyer with whom they had cut their teeth in a messy breakup a decade ago. Now the two trial…

Mar 21, 2011 11:06 PM CDT

Prominent Lawyer Got Where He Is Despite Arrest Record Beginning with Alleged Burglary at Age 7

Corrected: First arrested at age 7 for burglary, Floyd Lee Downs had added an armed robbery arrest to his rap sheet by the time he was 11. As an adult, he also had issues that included unfiled tax returns, back-due child support and a bar fight that left the other…

Mar 21, 2011 5:44 PM CDT