11th Circuit Court

SEC spent $8.6M collecting $3.7M from former corporate raider in $62M case

Once a high-profile corporate raider, Paul Bilzerian was convicted of fraud in 1989 and served 13 months. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission won a $62 million judgment in a subsequent civil suit. Now, more than 20 years later, the SEC is winding up its efforts to collect. The final…

Sep 18, 2014 1:25 PM CDT

Federal judge faces blowback from 11th Circuit and US lawmakers over domestic violence arrest

It isn’t just football players who are facing career blowback over claimed domestic violence incidents. A federal judge arrested last month after a dispute with his wife in an Atlanta hotel room is facing review by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which reassigned his cases after the incident.…

Sep 18, 2014 11:35 AM CDT

Ex-lawyer and former state Democratic party chief is federally charged in claimed $1.8M client fraud

A former Georgia lawyer who, until last year, served as leader of the state Democratic party, was indicted last week based on accusations that he cheated his own clients out of $1.8 million. Michael Rene Berlon, 55, is charged with mail and wire fraud, according to the Political Insider blog…

Sep 15, 2014 12:42 PM CDT

Ex-BigLaw partner gets 13 months in tax case, admits he owes $924K to US

A former partner at McDermott Will & Emery in Miami has been sentenced to 13 months in federal prison for failing to file multiple tax returns. Steven Siff, 56, was taken into custody immediately after his sentencing in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, reports the Sun-Sentinel. He admitted he had stopped…

Sep 12, 2014 11:35 AM CDT

Lawyer’s suit against cellphone-grabbing courthouse deputy is revived

A federal appeals court has revived a Fourth Amendment claim by an Atlanta lawyer who says she was injured by a courthouse deputy who grabbed her cellphone after she refused to remove her jacket during security screening. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said lawyer Lisa West could…

Sep 10, 2014 7:13 AM CDT

Padilla gets new 21-year sentence after 11th Circuit says original 17-year term was too lenient

Told by a federal appeals court that the 17-year sentence she had given a convicted terrorism plotter was too lenient, a federal judge in Miami on Tuesday resentenced Jose Padilla to a 21-year term. The Atlanta-based 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke had…

Sep 9, 2014 1:00 PM CDT

Federal judge takes plea in domestic battery case, will not be convicted if he completes treatment

A federal judge charged with battery in a domestic dispute with his wife that took place in an Atlanta hotel room has apologized and agreed to a plea deal. It will result in the misdemeanor charge against U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller being dropped if he successfully completes domestic violence…

Sep 5, 2014 1:10 PM CDT

Prominent law firm says it knew nothing of claimed sunken treasure fraud, wasn’t counsel of record

A partner at a well-known Delaware law firm says in a court filing that he and Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor knew nothing about an alleged fraud on a federal court in Florida concerning a client’s claimed sunken undersea treasure find. Responding to the court’s show-cause order, Bruce Silverstein says…

Sep 2, 2014 2:55 PM CDT

Pacer deletes older case files for four appeals courts; compatibility issues cited

Be prepared to jump through some hoops if you would like to access older, closed court records for patent appeals or cases in federal appeals courts based in Chicago, Atlanta and New York. On Aug. 10, the federal courts announced that older court records were being deleted from Pacer for…

Aug 27, 2014 11:15 AM CDT

11th Circuit reverses bankruptcy sale, criticizes lawyer

The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a 2010 bankruptcy in a case involving allegations of collusion by business partners and accusations that a bankruptcy lawyer failed to turn over emails about the plan. In a per curiam opinion, the 11th Circuit said late-disclosed emails supported claims…

Aug 19, 2014 2:16 PM CDT

Federal judge has cases reassigned following misdemeanor battery arrest in argument with his wife

A federal district court judge will have his pending cases reassigned after being arrested over the weekend for alleged misdemeanor battery after an argument with his wife at a hotel in Atlanta. “The recent arrest of Middle District of Alabama Judge Mark E. Fuller in Atlanta, Georgia, on misdemeanor charges…

Aug 13, 2014 7:45 PM CDT

Trial went on despite defense lawyer’s late return from lunch; 11th Circuit overturns conviction

Apparently the judge and the prosecutor didn’t notice when the lawyer for Alexander Michael Roy was late in returning from lunch. The trial resumed without the lawyer, and Roy had no lawyer present for seven minutes. During that time, prosecutors introduced incriminating evidence in Roy’s child pornography trial. Because Roy…

Aug 11, 2014 11:15 AM CDT

11th Circuit OKs $67M verdict against bank in case linked to ex-law firm chief’s $1.2B fraud

A federal appeals court in Atlanta on Tuesday affirmed a $67 million jury award to investors fleeced by now-disbarred attorney Scott Rothstein. Rejecting arguments that a federal district judge shouldn’t have let a former Toronto-Dominion bank executive testify at a civil damages trial (he took the Fifth a total of…

Jul 30, 2014 2:05 PM CDT

Federal judge nixes 551-pound man’s plea to end house arrest early due to his weight

A federal judge in Florida lost little time in nixing a 551-pound pharmacist’s argument that his 30-month house-arrest sentence in a pill mill case should end early because his weight prevents him from leaving home anyway. Attorney Edward Page of Tampa also argued that his client, John Goodman, 70, wanted…

Jul 23, 2014 4:25 PM CDT

Ex-bank exec is latest to face criminal case linked to ex-lawyer’s $1.2B scheme; victims to get $50M

A former South Florida bank president convicted of bank fraud and sentenced to probation decades ago is the latest individual charged—and expected to take a plea—in a federal criminal case linked to a swindle of at least $1.2 billion by now-imprisoned former attorney Scott Rothstein. Frank Prevé Jr., 70, was…

Jul 15, 2014 6:15 PM CDT