Former foreclosure titan David Stern faces bar complaint
A former Florida foreclosure titan whose now-shuttered firm at one point made tens of millions of dollars is facing a legal ethics complaint.
David J. Stern is accused in an 83-page Florida Bar complaint of failing to supervise employees properly, resulting in missed hearings, defective documents and inadequate representation of thousands of clients, the Sun-Sentinel reports.
A South Florida Business Journal article gives further details.
When his law firm folded, Stern also failed to withdraw in a standard manner, according to news reports, leaving it to the courts to sort out the status of his cases and who, if anyone, was representing his clients.
His lawyer, Jeffrey Tew, told the newspaper Thursday that Stern has done nothing to warrant discipline.
Others see the matter differently. Former assistant state attorney general Theresa Edwards, who investigated Stern several years ago before being fired by the AG’s office, said she thinks the bar should have acted sooner. (Contacted by the newspaper, the Bar declined, through a spokeswoman, to comment.)
“Considering the amount of money he’s made, his bar license will be of little concern to him,” said Edwards, who is now in private practice.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Foreclosure Firm Collapse Creates Court Chaos; Stern Lacks Staff to Move to Withdraw from Cases”
ABAJournal.com: “As Chief Judges Agree Law Firm Can’t Simply Quit, One Sets Hearings for 9,000 Abandoned Cases”
ABAJournal.com: “Onetime Foreclosure King Facing Multiple Suits Now Turns to New Venture: Five Guys Burgers and Fries”
ABAJournal.com: “A Year After Fla. Foreclosure King’s Law Firm Collapsed, Many Cases are Still Sputtering or Stalled”
Updated at 6:22 p.m. to link to earlier ABAJournal.com coverage.
