11th Circuit Court

Sued for defamation by lawyers he criticized in civil rights case, Dershowitz says they made his day

Outraged over the mention of his name in a federal civil rights filing concerning the sex trafficking of minors, famed emeritus Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz went into high gear. Although he wasn’t named as a defendant in the motion, Dershowitz publicly criticized the two lawyers who filed it.…

Jan 7, 2015 6:45 AM CST

Law firms say they will perform free same-sex marriage ceremonies if court clerks won’t

Updated: Amid uncertainty about whether court clerks throughout Florida will begin performing same-sex marriages this week, at least two law firms have stepped into the breach. Fleet and Smith says it has a dozen people who are qualified to officiate at weddings and will ask for more volunteers from outside…

Jan 5, 2015 8:10 AM CST

Lawyer’s million-dollar challenge wasn’t an enforceable contract, 11th Circuit says

A Florida lawyer who issued a million-dollar challenge on national TV is not obligated to pay the money to the law student who sought to collect, a federal appeals court has ruled. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on behalf of the lawyer, James Cheney Mason, the…

Dec 24, 2014 11:24 AM CST

Purported bankruptcy survey is a virus, federal appeals court warns electronic filers

Updated: The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is warning users of its electronic filing system about a pop-up “survey” that is actually a virus. According to the court, a lawyer reported that while he was logged into the electronic filing system, a popup message invited him to take…

Dec 16, 2014 9:35 AM CST

Ex-administrator helped convict 6 lawyers, feds say, asking that judge cut her prison time in half

A former top administrator for a now-shuttered South Florida law firm helped the federal government convict six attorneys in cases linked to a $1.2 billion swindle by the onetime managing partner, prosecutors say. They are asking U.S. District Judge William Zloch to cut the prison term for 47-year-old Debra Villegas…

Dec 15, 2014 2:25 PM CST

Federal judge axes suit against law firm in sunken-treasure hoax, sets sanctions hearing for partner

A well-known Delaware law firm is no longer facing a civil lawsuit over a sunken-treasure hoax. But a sanctions hearing has been scheduled later this week by a federal judge in Florida for partner Bruce Silverstein of Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, Delaware Law Weekly (sub. req.) reports. Silverstein is…

Dec 9, 2014 12:15 PM CST

11th Circuit bans drug tests for welfare applicants, says they’re not students or working risky jobs

Differentiating welfare applicants from students and employees working risky jobs, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the state of Florida could not require individuals to undergo drug testing as a condition of receiving government benefits. “Outside the context of employees in especially hazardous occupations, the Supreme Court has recognized…

Dec 4, 2014 11:00 AM CST

Feds freeze 1,000 student accounts at Florida college, charge 21 in $1.9M tax-refund scheme

In the latest example of claimed rampant fraud in federal income tax-refund applications, federal authorities have frozen more than 1,000 student financial services accounts at a single Florida college. They say at least some of the Higher One Inc. accounts were being used to funnel fraudulently obtained tax refunds to…

Nov 19, 2014 5:35 PM CST

Feds claim Yankees star A-Rod paid personal assistant $900K to keep quiet

An expensive settlement of a dispute over an employment agreement between New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and a cousin who worked as his personal assistant came to light when the cousin was criminally charged in a Florida case and claimed to be indigent. In a filing in federal district…

Nov 5, 2014 10:35 AM CST

Florida law restricting doctors’ gun discussions should be overturned, ABA says in amicus brief

The ABA has filed an amicus brief urging the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to grant en banc review in a challenge to a Florida law that restricts doctors’ gun discussions with patients. The 11th Circuit accepted the brief (PDF) for filing on Tuesday, according to an ABA…

Nov 5, 2014 6:15 AM CST

PGA star claims law firm stole $3M to help cover shortfall after managing partner embezzlement

Attorneys at a Georgia law firm who served as trusted advisors to a PGA star golfer stole $3 million of his money through a theft and embezzlement scheme, a federal lawsuit alleges. Plaintiff Dustin Johnson says then-managing partner Nathan “Nat” Hardwick IV of Morris Hardwick Schneider, now known as Morris…

Nov 3, 2014 11:00 AM CST

Cities get mired in civil rights disputes in trying to deal with growing homeless populations

Mark Ryavec lives in a beautifully restored duplex in Venice Beach, the artsy beachfront neighborhood of Los Angeles. He's about half a mile from the shore and even closer to Abbot Kinney Boulevard, a trendy artery filled with pricey restaurants and boutiques. Depending on which real estate website you consult,…

Nov 1, 2014 5:00 AM CDT

Man convicted of ID theft gets less prison time due to reform, facial tattoo removal

A former employee of a Florida court clerk’s office is serving three years for selling information from a driver’s license database to Derek Denesevich. But Denesevich, who admittedly used the information to file about 80 fraudulent tax returns, was sentenced to only 15 months, the Sun Sentinel reports. Besides cooperating…

Oct 27, 2014 10:56 AM CDT

Former bank exec indicted, accused of aiding disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein’s $1.2B fraud

A fired Toronto Dominion Bank executive has been federally indicted in a wire fraud and conspiracy case, accused of aiding now-disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein in a $1.2 billion investment fraud. In addition to allegations that he helped Rothstein steal millions of dollars of investor money from trust accounts at TD…

Oct 10, 2014 3:30 PM CDT

Special committee is appointed to investigate federal judge accused of domestic violence

A special committee led by 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Gerald Tjoflat will investigate an Alabama federal judge accused of assaulting his wife. The five-member committee will investigate U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller of Montgomery, according to the Daily Report (sub. req.). In addition to Tjoflat, the committee…

Sep 29, 2014 10:51 AM CDT