11th Circuit Court

3rd Lawyer from Shuttered Rothstein Law Firm Is Disbarred After Criminal Conviction

A third attorney from Scott Rothstein’s former South Florida law firm has been disbarred after the implosion of a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme several years ago. Steven Lippman was not accused of any role in the Ponzi scheme for which Rothstein, who is now disbarred, is serving a 50-year sentence…

Sep 4, 2012 8:53 PM CDT

Appeals Court Blocks Removal of Ten Commandments Monument From Courthouse Steps

A federal appeals court has blocked the removal of a Ten Commandments monument from the steps outside of a Florida courthouse for the time being. The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a ruling (PDF) Wednesday, sent the case back to a lower court for an evidentiary hearing…

Aug 17, 2012 7:36 PM CDT

Federal Judge in Florida OKs Red-Light Ticket Info Release, Says Legal Proceeding Record Is Public

A federal judge in Florida says a contractor hired by the city of Tallahassee must disclose red-light-camera traffic ticket information to a newspaper that requested it, despite an arguable conflict between state public records law and a federal statute that protects the privacy of drivers. Fearing potential penalties for violating…

Aug 14, 2012 5:00 PM CDT

Lawyer Gets 18 Months in Claimed Scheme to Steal and Sell Corporate Identities

One of two Texas lawyers convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud by a federal jury in Florida concerning a claimed scheme to steal the identities of dormant publicly traded companies has been sentenced to prison time. Roger Lee Schoss, 68, got 18 months followed by 36 months of home…

Aug 13, 2012 8:09 PM CDT

Ex-Lawyer Who Ignored Federal Court Order to Pay Big Bucks to Abandoned Client Is Now Jailed

Two lawyers found to have abandoned a client after his sentencing in a federal criminal case were not only ordered to disgorge all of the $275,000 paid in legal fees but cover the cost of his new defense counsel. However, U.S. Magistrate Judge William Turnoff is still trying to figure…

Aug 10, 2012 6:57 PM CDT

Federal Judge Sanctions Law Firm and Client re Withheld Docs, Finds TD Bank Knew of Rothstein Fraud

Saying that a well-known law firm and its client bank had often handled a major case “in an Inspector Clouseau-like fashion,” a federal judge in Miami has sanctioned both for what she called a “pattern of discovery abuses before, during, and after trial.” U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke declined, however,…

Aug 6, 2012 11:02 AM CDT

2 Docs Who Worked at Fla. Pain Clinic Charged in Deaths of 9 Patients, Could Get Life If Convicted

Two physicians who worked at South Florida pain clinics have been charged in a federal indictment with crimes related to the alleged oxycodone-caused deaths of nine patients. Cynthia Cadet, 42, is charged in the deaths of seven patients and Joseph Castronuovo, 72, is charged in the deaths of two. They…

Jul 23, 2012 9:38 PM CDT

Imprisoned Ex-Attorney Scott Rothstein: Other Lawyers Had Some Knowledge of State’s Biggest Swindle

A disbarred South Florida attorney who is serving a hefty prison term for masterminding the state’s biggest swindle says some lawyers at his former Fort Lauderdale law firm, but not others, had knowledge of his wrongdoing. In recently released transcripts of his deposition testimony, Scott Rothstein says he himself lied…

Jun 27, 2012 4:25 PM CDT

Federal Judge Nixes Lawyer’s Plan to Take Day Off from Capital Trial to Attend Hemingway Event

Citing a Dorothy Parker profile of Ernest Hemingway published in the New Yorker, a federal judge in Tampa has denied a Florida lawyer’s request to take a day off during a capital murder-for-hire trial in order to compete in an annual Hemingway lookalike contest held at at Sloppy Joe’s Bar…

Jun 26, 2012 11:01 PM CDT

Top Greenberg Traurig Lawyer Apologizes to Fed’l Judge, Calls Doc Errors in $67M Case Unintentional

A top partner of Greenberg Traurig has apologized to a federal judge concerning his law firm’s handling of the discovery in a civil case brought by investors in a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by the then-leader of another well-known Florida law firm, Scott Rothstein. But although “very saddened” by the situation,…

May 30, 2012 5:22 PM CDT

Bank Blames Greenberg Traurig in High-Profile Contempt Case, Says Firm Had Access to All Documents

In the first day of a contempt hearing concerning evidence that wasn’t produced in a federal civil case that resulted in a $67 million judgment against Toronto-Dominion Bank, the institution’s new counsel, McGuireWoods, pointed the finger at its former counsel. Greenberg Traurig, the bank contended Thursday, had access to all…

May 18, 2012 6:07 PM CDT

Former Fla. Farm Laborer Sues Ex-Employer, Claims He Enslaves Workers, Pays Them with Drugs

Only five years ago, a labor contractor near Hastings, Fla., was criminally convicted and sentenced to a 30-year prison term for a scheme that authorities said involved luring homeless workers to a secluded farming community where they were kept deep in debt and paid with drugs and alcohol. But similar…

May 15, 2012 6:21 PM CDT

Feds Say Ex-Partner Committed Crimes to ‘Dramatically Increase’ Rothstein Law Firm’s Political Power

A former partner has pleaded guilty to crimes that federal prosecutors say were intended to “dramatically increase the political influence and power” of a South Florida law firm headed by now-convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein. Steven N. Lippman, 49, who was a non-equity partner of Scott Rothstein’s law firm in…

May 11, 2012 3:55 PM CDT

Federal Judge in Fla. Gives Md. Lawyer 10 Years in Teen Enticement-Attempt Case

Corrected: A Maryland lawyer who unsuccessfully sought a do-over after taking a plea last year in a federal case in which he was accused of traveling to Florida to seek sex with a 14-year-old boy who didn’t actually exist has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Howard Scott Kalin,…

Apr 26, 2012 3:32 PM CDT

Sun-Sentinel: Steven Lippman, Ex-Partner in Rothstein Firm, Will Take Plea in Conspiracy Case

A former partner in the now-shuttered South Florida law firm run by ex-attorney Scott Rothstein is set to take a plea in a federal conspiracy case related to the $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme for which Rothstein is serving a 50-year prison sentence, reports the Sun-Sentinel. Steven N. Lippman, 49, is…

Apr 11, 2012 11:02 PM CDT