11th Circuit Court

11th Circuit Nixes $600K Sanction Against Federal Prosecutors Who Secretly Probed Defense Counsel

A federal appeals court has overturned an unusual $600,000 award to a physician acquitted in 2009 of peddling painkillers. In a written opinion (PDF) today, the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the trial judge abused his discretion by imposing sanctions over what he perceived as the…

Aug 29, 2011 9:13 PM CDT

Embattled Former Foreclosure King Now Faces Potential Class Action by Ex-Employees

The dust hasn’t yet settled in the ongoing breakup of a former Florida foreclosure king’s empire. But in the latest blow to attorney David J. Stern, a federal magistrate judge in Miami is recommending a green light for a class-action case. It would be brought by ex-employees of a legal…

Aug 24, 2011 9:45 PM CDT

Longtime Lawyer’s Letter re Judge’s ‘Half-Baked Findings’ Results in Historic En Banc Hearing

Longtime lawyer Kevin Gleason apparently saw red when a South Florida bankruptcy judge published an opinion earlier this year that called an argument Gleason made on behalf of a client “frivolous, absurd, and is not warranted by existing law.” In response, Gleason, 54, fired off a letter to U.S. Bankruptcy…

Aug 18, 2011 11:07 PM CDT

11th Circuit Strikes Down Insurance Mandate in Health Care Law, Creating Circuit Split

A federal appeals court has struck down the insurance mandate in the Obama administration’s health care law. A divided panel of the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today, the Associated Press reports. The majority found that the mandate exceeds Congress’ powers under the commerce clause. At issue…

Aug 12, 2011 6:34 PM CDT

FDIC Sues Law Firm, Says Security Deed Errors in $2.8M Loan Closing Bar Foreclosure

A Georgia law firm and one of its partners has been sued for malpractice by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. over a bad $2.8 million loan. Because a security deed prepared by Jampol, Schleicher, Jacobs & Papadakis for a 2005 loan closing to an investment company was defective, the FDIC…

Aug 3, 2011 6:36 PM CDT

Ex-Law Dean at Kaplan Gets 1 Year for Sending Threatening Internet Messages

A former law dean at Kaplan Inc. has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for sending threatening messages concerning the online educational institution and its chief executive officer. Bennie Wilcox, 45, maintained that he did not send the 2007 emails and Internet postings at issue…

Jul 22, 2011 6:41 PM CDT

If a Patient Has a Cold, Why Does a Doc Need to Know About Guns, a Federal Judge Wonders

Physicians fighting a Florida law that restricts them from asking all patients about guns or dropping a patient simply because he or she has a firearm could be facing an uphill legal battle. During a court hearing today on a lawsuit filed by several physician groups, an assistant attorney general…

Jul 13, 2011 10:11 PM CDT

11th Circuit Rescues Fla. Lawyer Caught in Conflicting Rulings, Says He Must Quit Scientology Case

A Florida plaintiffs lawyer allegedly agreed not to sue the Church of Scientology again as part of a settlement in a 2004 wrongful death suit. But Ken Dandar sued the church again in 2009, leading to an uncomfortable situation: A state court judge told Dandar he had to withdraw as…

Jul 11, 2011 7:13 PM CDT

EEOC Sues Restaurant, Says It Allowed Sheriff’s Deputy to Harass Waitresses

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a sexual harassment suit against a South Florida restaurant, contending that it discriminated against employees by allowing a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy who was a frequent customer there to create a hostile work environment. Filed Tuesday, the federal suit contends that the…

Jul 8, 2011 12:23 PM CDT

Federal Judge’s Unusual Order Puts Well-Known Bankruptcy Law Firm Under Fla. Bar Scrutiny

Briefly banned from practicing bankruptcy law in the Middle District of Florida, after one of its lawyers aggravated a federal judge, an Orlando law firm is now back in the bankruptcy ball game but facing a state bar inquiry. Kaufman, Englett & Lynd, a prominent bankruptcy firm which is also…

Jun 16, 2011 10:15 PM CDT

11th Circuit OKs 28-Year Term for Phil Hill in $110M Mortgage Fraud; 2 Lawyers Also Convicted

Saying that lies upon lies underpinning a massive mortgage fraud had devastated Atlanta’s housing market, a federal appeals court yesterday upheld the conviction and 28-year prison term imposed upon its ringleader. Phillip Hill, 54, appropriately got more time than other defendants involved in the scheme, because he orchestrated it, the…

Jun 15, 2011 8:52 PM CDT

Ex Rothstein Lawyer Pleads Guilty, Allegedly Wrote Letter re Name Partner’s $1.2B ‘Investment’ Scam

A former law partner of convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein pleaded guilty today to wire fraud conspiracy in federal court in West Palm Beach. Prosecutors said Howard Kusnick, 59, wrote a letter claiming to have settled a client’s case favorably when in fact there not only was no such settlement…

Jun 14, 2011 10:44 PM CDT

Ex-Client Files RICO Class Action, Says PI Firm Made Usurious Loans to 200 Vioxx Plaintiffs

A former client has filed a federal civil racketeering class action against a Georgia personal injury firm, contending that it cheated up to 200 or more plaintiffs in Vioxx litigation by misleading them into taking out usurious loans against an expected settlement. At the time, the Eichholz Law Firm knew…

Jun 9, 2011 5:43 PM CDT

‘Traveling Road Show in Wingtips’ Reaches 11th Circuit in Health-Care Appeal

The third federal appeals court to hear a challenge to the Obama administration’s health care law questioned whether Congress had the constitutional authority for most people to buy health insurance and noted the lack of precedent. USA Today says it’s difficult to predict how the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court…

Jun 9, 2011 12:34 PM CDT

Want to Hear 11th Circuit Arguments on the Health-Care Law? It Will Cost $26

A federal appeals court will allow a recording of oral arguments in a challenge to the constitutionality of the health-care law on June 8, but it won’t be posting it online. Instead, the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will sell a limited number of CD copies of the…

Jun 1, 2011 11:30 AM CDT