Rothstein Rosenfeldt Seeks to Dissolve, Says MP Suspected of Wrongdoing Won’t Go
A complaint filed on behalf of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler says its high-profile managing partner and CEO, Scott Rothstein, won’t leave the law firm, despite “asserted and substantial irregularities” regarding his handling of investor money.
The legal document, filed in Broward County court by the lawyer hired to represent the law firm, Kendall Coffey, seeks dissolution of the firm and the appointment of a receiver, according to stories in the Wall Street Journal Law Blog and the Miami Herald. Rothstein has refused to resign because he “purports to hold a 50 percent share of the law firm,” according to the complaint (PDF posted by the Miami Herald).
Federal authorities are conducting an investigation of the Fort Lauderdale law firm after allegations surfaced about a failed investment venture by Rothstein, a big-spending lawyer who offered investors a chance to purchase structured settlements in legal cases. The story broke this weekend in a blog of the Broward-Palm Beach New Times, the Daily Pulp.
Rothstein is a well-connected political fundraiser who spent more than $15 million last year on real estate in Fort Lauderdale, New York and Narragansett, R.I., according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
“It is with surprise and sorrow that the attorneys of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, P.A., have learned that Scott W. Rothstein, the managing partner and CEO of the firm, has, according to assertions of certain investors, allegedly orchestrated a substantial misappropriation of funds from investor trust accounts that made use of the law firm’s name,” the complaint says.
“Various investors have informed the firm that they believe that substantial funds are not properly accounted for and are missing. A review of the firm’s records undertaken over this past weekend indicates that various funds unrelated to the direct practice of law cannot be accounted for, circumstances suggesting that investor money may have been misused by Rothstein who controlled all such accounts. Some investors allege that defendant Rothstein may have been fabricating nonexistent structured legal settlements for sale to investors.”
Earlier today Broward County Chief Judge Victor Tobin sent an e-mail to county judges telling them to please be patient if they have any cases involving the law firm, according to the Miami Herald and the Daily Pulp. “I don’t know if the lawyers will come or not and if they do come, there is no money at this point to go forward with the case or pay firm employees,” Tobin wrote.
