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Rothstein files to be disbarredSun-Sentinel.comIn documents filed with the Florida Supreme Court Friday, disgraced Fort Lauderdale lawyer Scott Rothstein asked to be .. |
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ABA Journal - Law News Now
As federal elected officials and administrators mull potential regulatory reform to rein in lenders accused of causing a mortgage meltdown nationwide, the attorney general of Ohio has stepped into the breach and filed a federal lawsuit against the three largest credit rating agencies, Reuters reports. They created a financial crisis, contends Attorney General Richard Cordray, by looking out for their own short-term financial interest and providing false and misleading Triple A ratings on toxic mortgage debt that cost pension funds for state employees a bundle of money. "The credit rating agencies sold out, and they sold us out," the attorney…
Jury Says Philip Morris Must Pay $300M to Longtime Smoker
A jury in South Florida says Philip Morris USA must pay $300 million, including $244 million in punitive damages, to a 25-year Benson & Hedges smoker who argued that the cigarette company committed fraud by concealing the dangers of smoking from her. Lawyers for Lucinda "Cindy" Naugle, who is a sister of a former Fort Lauderdale mayor, said she started smoking in 1968 at age 20 to look older and more sophisticated. But, even though she quit 25 years later, they told the jury, she now has emphysema, reports the Sun-Sentinel. At age 60, she has trouble performing simple tasks,…
Double Whammy for Some at Seyfarth: Deferred Start Plus Pay Cut, Too
In a double whammy for some incoming associates who expected to start work at Seyfarth Shaw in January, the law firm has deferred half of the incoming class until October—and cut first-year pay for all first-year associates. Seyfarth is deferring eight of the 16 new associates previously expected to begin working in January and expects to cut the annual starting pay for the entire 2010 class by between 5 and 10 percent, the firm tells Above the Law in a written statement. It says the cuts are being made in response to the economy and client pressure to keep legal…
A Rothstein October Surprise: Hundreds of Missing Millions; Suit Blames Bank
Hundreds of millions of dollars disappeared last month from the accounts of South Florida law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, a receiver said today in a bankruptcy proceeding. Bloomberg covered the revelation by the dissolving law firm's receiver, retired Miami Judge Herbert Stettin. “Huge amounts of money were moved and removed in October,” Stettin said in the Fort Lauderdale court proceeding. “It almost defies logic.”' Creditors filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against the law firm after name partner Scott Rothstein came under investigation for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme that could cost investors $1 billion. A $100 million lawsuit filed today…
Fieger Firm Agrees to Pay $131K to Resolve FEC Contributions Probe
The law firm of Michigan trial lawyer Geoffrey Fieger will pay $131,000 to resolve a probe by the Federal Election Commission, an amount that pales in comparison to the potential fine if commissioners had found a knowing violation of finance laws. The payment will resolve an FEC probe into contributions made to the John Edwards presidential campaign in 2004, according to the Associated Press and the Detroit Free Press. The FEC said the agreement was reached after it found probable cause that the firm had reimbursed 66 employees and other individuals who collectively donated $131,000 to the campaign. FEC documents…
ABA Journal - Law News Now
The law firm of Michigan trial lawyer Geoffrey Fieger will pay $131,000 to resolve a probe by the Federal Election Commission, an amount that pales in comparison to the potential fine if commissioners had found a knowing violation of finance laws. The payment will resolve an FEC probe into contributions made to the John Edwards presidential campaign in 2004, according to the Associated Press and the Detroit Free Press. The FEC said the agreement was reached after it found probable cause that the firm had reimbursed 66 employees and other individuals who collectively donated $131,000 to the campaign. FEC documents…
Don’t Cry for Me, New York: A Disbarred Civil Rights Lawyer Goes to Jail
Disbarred civil rights lawyer Lynne Stewart had a few words for her followers on Thursday before she surrendered to begin serving her 28-month prison sentence for helping an imprisoned terrorist communicate with his followers. As she walked toward the courthouse, Stewart recalled a labor organizer executed in 1915 after a controversial trial, the New York Times reports. “This is the day they executed Joe Hill, and his words were, ‘Don’t mourn me, organize,’ ” Stewart said. “I hope that will be the message that I send, too.” Stewart was forced to go to prison after a federal appeals court said…
Judge Scolds Lawyers for Document Blizzard: ‘You Wouldn’t Do This to a Jury’
U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell has endured 25 days of testimony in Oklahama’s pollution case against the poultry industry, but it’s the blizzard of paperwork that is really fraying his nerves. On Thursday, the Tulsa judge scolded a group of about 30 lawyers in Oklahoma’s case for blanketing him with “thousands” of documents in the bench trial, the Associated Press reports. Frizzell accused the lawyers of trying to admit the documents with an eye toward an appeal. ''You wouldn't do this to a jury,'' Frizzell said. ''You do this to a judge.'' ''I wish we had a jury,'' the judge…
Law Departments Cut Costs by Squeezing Law Firms, Freezing Staff Pay
Companies are trying to cut their legal budgets, and it’s affecting in-house lawyers whose salaries are frozen and outside law firms asked to reduce rates and offer alternatives to hourly rates. Alternative fees have been touted as the up-and-coming way to reduce outside legal costs. But law departments are trying another tack as well, by freezing or even cutting the hourly rates paid to outside counsel, according to a survey by the Hildebrandt legal consulting firm. Forty-six percent of law departments surveyed said they have cut their hourly rates paid to outside counsel, or will reduce their rates, according to…
Struggling South Florida Divorce Lawyers Offer Discounts, Accept Credit Cards
Business is off by as much as 35 percent for some South Florida divorce lawyers, spurring discounted rates and creative payment plans. The economy is forcing many lower-income couples to put off divorce, lawyers tell the Miami Herald. Sometimes a couple can’t afford to live independently, or one spouse relies on the other for health insurance, or they owe more on their home than it is worth. Lawyers who serve this clientele are hurting, and now they are offering discounts and accepting credit cards for the first time, the story says. “I laugh when people say the recession is over,''…
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