Business of Law

Fortuitious $3.97M Tax Refund Helps Ex-Rothstein Partner Settle with Bankruptcy Trustee for $1.9M

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A former name partner in the law firm of convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein is going to be able to settle a $10 million suit filed by the bankruptcy trustee overseeing Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler’s dissolution, with the help of a fortuitous tax refund from the Internal Revenue Service.

Because Stuart Rosenfeldt overpaid his income tax in former years, he is now getting a $3.97 million refund, the South Florida Business Journal reports.

That will enable him to settle for $1.9 million the trustee’s suit contending that he received excess compensation from the law firm, according to the Business Journal post and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, which says that $1.6 million of the $1.9 million settlement will come from the tax refund.

The remainder of the tax refund will go to cover Rosenfeldt’s tax liability for other years, the newspaper article reports. Rosenfeldt’s wife is paying $250,000 of the $1.9 million settlement.

Rosenfeldt’s lawyer, Bruce Lehr, notes that there was no admission of liability on Rosenfeldt’s part, the Business Journal says.

Related coverage:

ABAJournal.com: “Ex-Rothstein Partner Will Pay Up to $500K to Settle Clawback Suit re Alleged Excess Compensation”

Updated at 1:54 p.m. to include and accord with Sun-Sentinel coverage.

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