Lawyer extradited from Nicaragua is accused of role in $137M fraud scheme

An American lawyer has been deported from Nicaragua after authorities say he tried to get a passport there using a fake birth certificate and is being extradited to Florida, where he will face federal prosecution for his alleged role in a $137 million stock-investment fraud scheme. Lawrence Hartman is accused…

May 16, 2013 6:10 PM CDT

Winning $4.85M lottery ticket saves house of mortgage foreclosure defendant

On Feb. 12, Ricardo Cerezo was in an Illinois courtroom for a hearing in the mortgage foreclosure case on his Geneva home. The judge gave the management consultant and his wife a few more months to find another place to live. Since then, their fortunes have improved and it appears…

May 16, 2013 4:50 PM CDT

Judge scolds Donald Trump and opposing lawyer: ‘This is not a boxing ring!’

A federal judge in Chicago scolded Donald Trump and an opposing lawyer on Wednesday after the two clashed repeatedly during a trial in a suit claiming the billionaire developer failed to deliver promised incentives to condo buyers. The Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune and NBC Chicago have stories on the…

May 16, 2013 4:34 PM CDT

WWII vet reaches fundraising goal in effort to prevent his daughter from evicting him

A World War II veteran who claimed breach of fiduciary duty by his daughter in a lawsuit is now trying to prevent her from evicting him with a fundraising appeal that reached its goal on Thursday. John Potter, 91, lived in his Zaleski, Ohio, home for 56 years, report ABC…

May 16, 2013 12:49 PM CDT

Kobe Bryant battles mom for ownership of sports memorabilia from his youth in 2 federal courts

Not one but two federal courts have been asked to weigh in on the issue of whether Kobe Bryant’s mom had a right to clear out his boyhood bedroom and sell at auction the sports memorabilia she found there. Initially, the Philadelphia-area auction house to which Pamela Bryant consigned the…

May 10, 2013 5:50 PM CDT

Florida Supreme Court authorizes judges to appoint foreclosure magistrates

Some lawyers who represent homeowners are criticizing an order by the Florida Supreme Court that authorizes chief judges to appoint “general magistrates” to handle foreclosure cases. The court issued the order on Thursday, saying it would help “efficiently process,” foreclosures, report the Associated Press and the Palm Beach Post. Final…

May 10, 2013 1:18 PM CDT

Did Kobe Bryant’s mom get OK to auction items left in his boyhood bedroom? Federal judge grants TRO

Just in time for Mother’s Day, basketball great Kobe Bryant is involved in a federal lawsuit against his own mother, who he says cleared out his former boyhood bedroom without his permission to obtain sports memorabilia for an unauthorized auction. After a dispute developed, a New Jersey auction house filed…

May 9, 2013 6:43 PM CDT

Feds say assets of ex-lawyer charged in $4.5M client theft are missing, ask judge to revoke bond

Released on bond as he awaits trial in a federal wire-fraud case related to his alleged theft of $4.5 million in client funds, former Indianapolis lawyer William F. Conour is now accused of having violated bond conditions by disposing of personal assets without court approval. A new inventory ordered last…

May 8, 2013 7:27 PM CDT

Pro se homeowner wins rare federal stay of sale in foreclosure case

Representing herself in federal court without the help of a lawyer, a Colorado homeowner has won a rare ruling staying the auction sale of her home after she lost a state-court mortgage foreclosure case. U.S. District Judge William Martinez on Monday issued an order temporarily staying the sale of Lisa…

May 7, 2013 4:08 PM CDT

Fertilizer explosion caused some $100M in damage; plant had ‘pathetic’ $1M in insurance

As state and federal officials look into an apparent lack of regulatory scrutiny of a Texas fertilizer facility that exploded in a fiery blast last month, killing 15 people and injuring another 200, a further issue has come to the attention of outside lawyers representing victims of the disaster. The…

May 6, 2013 5:15 PM CDT

Suit tries to rein in digital billboards

May 1, 2013 9:30 AM CDT

Domestic violence victims penalized for calling police by eviction ordinance, says ACLU suit

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit over a municipal ordinance that effectively penalizes individuals for calling police, if they are deemed to have engaged in “disorderly behavior,” by pressuring landlords to evict them. Filed by Pepper Hamilton last week on behalf of Lakisha Briggs, the Philadelphia…

Apr 30, 2013 4:29 PM CDT

Lawyer deeded $445K home to wife before vanishing—at same time as $3M in law firm money, bar says

Updated: Missing for nearly a month along with, authorities allege, around $3 million from his law firm and his title company accounts, a South Florida lawyer satisfied a $386,000 mortgage on his Boca Raton home in December and deeded the house, worth an estimated $445,000, to his wife shortly before…

Apr 29, 2013 4:40 PM CDT

Gas from shale isn’t a mineral, Pennsylvania supremes rule in deed dispute

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled on behalf of a couple who claimed they had retained all rights to natural gas derived from Marcellus Shale on their property, despite an 1881 deed giving another party partial rights to minerals in the land. The decision (PDF) issued on Wednesday reaffirmed a…

Apr 26, 2013 10:35 AM CDT

Former foreclosure titan David Stern faces bar complaint

A former Florida foreclosure titan whose now-shuttered firm at one point made tens of millions of dollars is facing a legal ethics complaint. David J. Stern is accused in an 83-page Florida Bar complaint of failing to supervise employees properly, resulting in missed hearings, defective documents and inadequate representation of…

Apr 19, 2013 10:55 PM CDT