Florida

‘Looking for Evidence,’ Authorities Demolish House Where 2 Cops Were Fatally Shot Yesterday

A relatively routine attempt to make an arrest yesterday ended in tragedy and a dramatic gunfight between hundreds of officers from multiple police forces and a single suspect, as officers fought to rescue fallen members of their teams from a single-family home in St. Petersburg, Fla. Two city police officers…

Jan 25, 2011 8:47 PM CST

Citing Client Conflict, Yoss Litigation Chair Announces Plan to Lead 3-Lawyer Team to GrayRobinson

Neil Linden, who heads the business and commercial litigation practice group at Yoss is leading a three-attorney team to another law firm. Linden, partner Phillippe Deve and associate David Levin will join GrayRobinson’s office in Miami at an undetermined date, reports the Daily Business Review in an article reprinted in…

Jan 25, 2011 7:37 PM CST

$37.7M RICO Suit Against Bank Rothstein Used in $1.2B Ponzi Scheme Gets Green Light

A federal judge has given a green light to a lawsuit against a bank utilized by then-attorney Scott Rothstein in the $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme he ran from his South Florida law office. TD Bank said in a motion to dismiss that its officials knew nothing about the now-convicted Rothstein’s…

Jan 24, 2011 6:06 PM CST

Accused of Peeping Into Tiger Woods’ Medical Records and Fired, Nurse Sues for Defamation

Accused of misusing his employee computer access to peep into Tiger Woods’ medical records without good reason and fired in December 2009, a Florida nurse has filed suit for defamation. David Rothenberg is seeking more than $400,000 in damages and reinstatement to his former job at Health Central. He insists…

Jan 21, 2011 3:00 AM CST

Jenner Leader Jerold Solovy, ‘Fierce Litigator with the Heart of a Public Servant,’ Dies at Age 80

Jerold Solovy, a renowned Jenner & Block leader celebrated for his litigation and boardroom skills, his pro bono representation of prison inmates and the unfailing charm and courtesy with which he treated everyone from the titans of industry to elevator and newsstand operators, died suddenly yesterday morning at his home…

Jan 20, 2011 6:14 PM CST

Probate Matter Takes Unusual Twist as Client’s Brother Is Charged with Solicitation to Murder

Attorney Bobby Pearlman was handing what seemed like a somewhat routine probate matter in Charleston, S.C., until his client’s brother was arrested for allegedly trying to put a contract hit on Pearlman’s client. “We don’t get this all the time. It’s the talk of the legal community and certainly a…

Jan 19, 2011 5:50 PM CST

Family of Teen Stowaway Who Allegedly Fell From Plane Wheel Well Blames Lax Security, Plans to Sue

While Delvonte Tisdale didn’t make a good decision when he reportedly stowed away in the wheel well of a USAirways plane at the Charlotte, N.C., airport, the 16-year-old high school student wouldn’t be dead but for the lax security that allowed him access to the flight last year, his family…

Jan 19, 2011 5:23 PM CST

2 Teens Criminally Charged for Allegedly Putting Girl’s Head on Nude Body in Fake Facebook Page

Two teenage girls in Florida apparently may have thought it would be an amusing prank when they allegedly pasted a high school classmate’s head atop a nude photo of an unidentified young woman and posted it on fake Facebook account under her name. But the girls, who are 15 and…

Jan 18, 2011 5:41 PM CST

Distraught Litigant in Fla. Courthouse Aims Gun at Own Head Before Judge Talks Him Into Giving Up

Apparently distraught about his divorce case, an armed man entered a South Florida courthouse this morning through an unsecured exit and demanded to speak with a judge while pointing the weapon first at his own chest and then his own head. Hearing of the situation, a senior judge overseeing a…

Jan 14, 2011 6:27 PM CST

Judges Get Mahogany, Granite Counters, Soundproof Toilets and More at New ‘Taj Mahal’ Courthouse

The public, lawmakers and at least one Florida newspaper columnist are outraged about the lavish new “Taj Mahal” courthouse built to house the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee at a cost of some $48 million. Critics doubt that the judges there really needed mahogany trim, granite countertops and…

Jan 13, 2011 5:48 PM CST

Paralegal Sues Fla. Foreclosure Firm, Says She Was Required to Work Unpaid Overtime

A busy law firm that focused its practice on mortgage foreclosures kept costs down by requiring employees to work unpaid overtime, a former paralegal at Florida Default Law Group contends in a lawsuit. Denise Vasquez alleges workers were permitted five hours of overtime, but expected to work longer off the…

Jan 12, 2011 11:32 PM CST

Associate AG to Testify that Florida Foreclosures are in ‘Total Disarray’

An associate state attorney general is expected to tell state lawmakers today that the state’s foreclosure system is in “total disarray.” According to her prepared testimony, Patricia Conners will tell the Senate Banking Committee of a “virtual morass” of fake and faulty documents, to which so-called “foreclosure mill” have contributed…

Jan 11, 2011 7:50 PM CST

Neighboring Fla. Jurists Move Chambers After Death of Colleague, Citing Mold Concern

Concerning that a 52-year-old Florida jurist’s death from lung cancer last month may have been linked to courthouse mold, three of Judge Cheryl Aleman’s colleagues on the ninth floor have moved their chambers out of the Broward County Courthouse and are seeking environmental testing. “There were issues with a serious…

Jan 11, 2011 7:07 PM CST

As 6 Partners Leave Fla. Trial Firm, Ex-Associates Get Top Billing

The sudden departure of six Lytal & Reiter partners last year has opened a door to a new opportunity for four former associates of the venerable West Palm Beach personal injury firm. Stepping in initially, along with the Florida firm’s retired founder, to help handle the unexpectedly heavy workload after…

Jan 5, 2011 8:21 PM CST

Partner of Bankrupt Rothstein Law Firm Faces Pay Clawback Trial Next Month

Russell Adler and his lawyers say he did nothing wrong and never even saw a financial statement for his now-shuttered former firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler. But Adler, who apparently wasn’t a partner there, even though he was listed in the firm’s name and served as RRA’s vice president, is facing…

Jan 5, 2011 5:45 PM CST