Bankruptcy Law

Madoff Trustee Seeks $20.4M from Two Ex-Partners at Milberg Weiss

When former partners at the law firm Milberg Weiss turned up on a list of Bernard Madoff investors last year, there was some speculation that they had lost money along with other Ponzi scheme victims. Indeed, a lawyer for Melvyn Weiss said at the time that his client was “bitterly…

Nov 18, 2010 12:12 PM CST

AmEx to Pay Millions to Victims of Lawyer’s $1.2 Billion Ponzi Scheme

American Express tentatively agreed to pay $50,000 plus 65 percent of the illegitimate business expenses of high-profile lawyer Scott Rothstein today in an effort to return cash to victims of Rothstein’s $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme. Although the final amount will be determined by mutual agreement or arbitrator, the bankruptcy trustee…

Nov 17, 2010 9:49 PM CST

Judge: Bank of America Must Repay $500M Seized From Lehman Bros in ‘Brazen’ Action

Saying that he considered it “astonishing” that a major lender would act in such “brazen … unauthorized and impermissible” conduct, a federal judge yesterday ordered Bank of America Corp. to return $500 million, plus interest, that it seized from a cash collateral account after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for…

Nov 17, 2010 5:28 PM CST

Bankruptcy Judge Sanctions Lawyer, Warns About Being ‘Sequaciously Servile’

A Nevada bankruptcy judge has sanctioned a lawyer $110,000 in legal fees for being too trusting. A lawyer for one of the owners of the Blue Pine Group told lawyer David Winterton that all of the corporate directors had passed a resolution authorizing a bankruptcy filing. Winterton believed the lawyer—and…

Nov 15, 2010 1:11 PM CST

Businesses Faring Better Than Consumers in Bankruptcy Stats

There is one bit of good news in the latest tally of bankruptcy filings released this week by the federal courts. Business bankruptcies declined slightly for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. The total was 58,322 filings, down 0.7 percent from the year before, according to a press release.…

Nov 12, 2010 12:00 PM CST

Lawyer Accused of Hiding Money Had Nearly $1M in Cash in His Law Office Closet

A South Carolina lawyer known for his TV commercials and billboards has turned over $994,000 in cash kept in a closet of his Myrtle Beach law office after a court-appointed bankruptcy investigator stressed the important of disclosing his assets. Harry Pavilack, who urged clients to “Call Pavilack Today!” in his…

Nov 2, 2010 1:03 PM CDT

Bankruptcy Trustee Seeks Clawback from Rothstein’s Pal and Ex-Law Partner Salamone

A friend and former law partner of imprisoned ex-attorney and convicted swindler Scott Rothstein has been sued by a Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee for Rothstein’s former South Florida law firm. Trustee Herbert Stettin is attempting to claw back six-figure profits that he says were fraudulently transferred to defendant Chris Salamone,…

Nov 1, 2010 5:56 PM CDT

‘Totally Fooled’ by Now-Convicted Rothstein, Law Partner Tries to Explain What He Did for $450K Pay

“Totally fooled” by his then-law partner, Scott Rothstein, who is now serving a 50-year sentence for running a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme, a Florida lawyer tried to explain in a deposition today what he did to earn $450,000 a year from Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler—plus another $475,000 in payments for a…

Oct 28, 2010 7:59 PM CDT

Foreclosure Defense Boot Camp Offers Advice and Scotch to Lawyers Who Pass Security Check

A bankruptcy lawyer’s remote 160-acre farm in North Carolina is, to some, ground zero in the battle against foreclosures. O. Max Gardner III, 65, gives four-day, $7,775 seminars to consumer attorneys there, teaching them how to defend against lender tactics and look for defective documentation of loans. Attendees must first…

Oct 27, 2010 6:04 PM CDT

Battered by the Recession, More Older Americans Are Filing for Bankruptcy

The recession has been tough for people over age 55, who are hard hit by layoffs and increasingly filing for bankruptcy. People between the ages of 55 and 64 made up 16.9 percent of those filing for bankruptcy last year, up from 14.3 percent in 2007, USA Today reports. The…

Oct 27, 2010 12:05 PM CDT

Iowa Lawyer Reprimanded for Plagiarizing Bankruptcy Brief

The Iowa Supreme Court has reprimanded a West Des Moines lawyer for filing a bankruptcy brief that was largely copied from a published law review article. The court rejected a recommended suspension of up to six months for the lawyer, Peter Cannon, the Legal Profession Blog reports. The opinion found…

Oct 18, 2010 12:41 PM CDT

Bankruptcy Trustee Joins Homeowner Suit Over Law Firm Foreclosure Fees

A bankruptcy trustee has joined a Mississippi family in challenging fees charged by a law firm and other companies involved in a mortgage foreclosure, on behalf of all similarly situated families in bankruptcy in the Northern District of Mississippi. The law firm, Johnson & Freedman, has participated in “illegal” fee-splitting…

Oct 15, 2010 10:00 AM CDT

Settlement Would Give Creditors Half of Educator’s ‘Smarter than a 5th Grader’ Prize

Half of $1 million won by a Georgia educator on the show Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? may go to her creditors rather than the schools she designated to get the money. A settlement proposing the split will be considered in an Oct. 8 bankruptcy hearing, the Atlanta…

Sep 30, 2010 6:18 PM CDT

Ain’t No Dividing Wall High Enough to Keep Battling Couple in Shared Home Away From Litigation Fray

Chana and Simon Taub love their house. But they loathe each other, the New York Times (reg. req.) reported in 2008, after a court-ordered wall was constructed in thelr lavish Brooklyn home. It was intended to allow both to continue living there in the midst of a litigation war. Already,…

Sep 29, 2010 5:04 PM CDT

Clifford Chance Partner Honored Late Wife’s Wishes with Cancer Foundation

A Clifford Chance partner who lost his wife to ovarian cancer is getting some help from fellow bankruptcy lawyers in his quest to promote earlier detection of the disease. Andrew Brozman has started a foundation in honor of his late wife, Tina, a Manhattan bankruptcy judge and a Bingham McCutchen…

Sep 23, 2010 11:00 AM CDT