The Florida Bar

South Florida Bloggers Pick Their Favorite Posts of 2012

As a way of wrapping up 2012, we reached out to the bloggers working the turf in Broward and Palm Beach for their favorite posts from the calendar year. Here is the first installment of what we received. Below you'll find a few lines from the writers themselves about why the posts worked well, a f ... More >>

A Boca Attorney Gets Disbarred and Other Local Lawyers Disciplined by Supreme Court

Every few months the Florida Supreme Court lays down the law on attorneys who've been acting a fool.Last time around the court doled out 22 reprimands, including the disbarment of five attorneys. This round is a bit more tame: 18 attorneys disciplined, including two who were disbarred and five who w ... More >>

Longtime Alcee Hastings Aide Mikel Jones Has Law License Suspended

Mikel D. Jones, a former aide to Democratic South Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings, has been suspended from practicing law pending further judgment from the Florida Supreme Court.Jones (and his wife) were convicted in November of conspiracy, money laundering, and multiple counts of both wire fraud and ma ... More >>

Frank Preve Emailed Scott Rothstein: "I Can't Show Anyone That I Am a Complete Idiot"

This is one of those times when the documents speak for themselves; I could rewrite and paraphrase the claims made by the Securities and Exchange Commission, but that wouldn't be better for either of us.The short version of the story: The SEC says Fort Lauderdale-based hedge fund managers Georg ... More >>

Florida Supreme Court Disciplines Broward and Palm Beach Attorneys

​The Florida Bar on Thursday issued a news statement detailing various punishments handed down to lawyers for doing things like driving drunk and filing frivolous suits merely to harass opponents. All said, the Florida State Supreme Court reprimanded 22 atto ... More >>

Ana Gardiner, Former Broward Judge, Scores a Complaint From the Florida Bar

wired.com​The Florida Bar has filed a complaint against former Broward Judge Ana Gardiner over what the bar calls a "significant personal relationship" between her and a prosecutor who was trying a capital murder case she was presiding over in 2007.A jury recommended a death sentence for Omar Lour ... More >>

Florida Bar's Guide to Being an Adult: "Why Can't I Drink at 18?"

Flickr user: andrew_mc_dAm I an adult now?For those darling kids who just turned 18 and have no idea how to operate themselves, the Florida Bar is here to help. The smarty-pants lawyers have released an exquisitely worded pamphlet to guide the state's "new adults." In a mere 30 pages, ... More >>

Ave Maria: A Catholic University Experiment in the Everglades Gone Wrong

Merick Lewin, Nephew of 411-PAIN Owner, Seeks State House Seat in Davie

​As state legislators consider tougher regulations for companies that refer car accident victims to chiropractors and lawyers, one powerful Broward referral service has a family member gunning for a seat in Tallahassee.State House candidate Merick Lewin is a little-known Republican seeking to ... More >>

Florida Bar Slammed With Discrimination Lawsuit

Lawyers gone wild? Sadly, no beads or toplessness here. ​Good news for Kafka fans: Turns out, the group of lawyers charged with policing the rest of Florida's 90,000 lawyers can get sued (by even more lawyers), just like the rest of us. William Luongo, a local accountant formerly employed by the F ... More >>

UPDATED: Florida Bar Quibbles With Some 411-PAIN Ads, Approves Others

Some attorneys aren't happy with the Florida Bar's oversight of for-profit referral services that direct car accident victims to networks of doctors and lawyers. But public records show the bar is regulating ads for those services --  just in a meek, lawyerly kind of way.For example, dressing a ... More >>

Lawyers Complain to Florida Bar About 411-PAIN Ads

Facebook.comSome lawyers find this unethical.​The Florida Bar is finally paying attention to the 1-800-411-PAIN Referral Service, in part because other lawyers have been complaining.411-PAIN is a Broward-based network of chiropractors and lawyers that solicits clients who have been in car accident ... More >>

411-PAIN Catches Attention of Florida Bar

Facebook.com​Several months after New Times raised questions about the 1-800-411-PAIN Referral Service, the Florida Bar is taking a closer look at the local company and its competitors.At its annual convention this summer, the bar held a public hearing on for-profit lawyer referral services. The b ... More >>

Elroy Phillips Dug Up Evidence From Prison, but He Still Might Not Get a Chance to Prove His Innocence

Scott Rothstein Saga: Ponzi Pal Howard Kusnick Disbarred

Howard Kusnick (left)​Howard A. Kusnick, a former lawyer at Ponzi-schemer Scott Rothstein's now-defunct law firm, has been disbarred from practicing law by the Florida Supreme Court.Kusnick, a 58-year-old Tamarac resident, pleaded guilty last month to a single count of conspiracy to commit wire fr ... More >>

Casey Anthony Attorney Cheney Mason in the Clear for Flippin' the Bird After Verdict

mediaite.comCheney Mason giving was appears to be an unofficial legal opinion.​Casey Anthony defense attorney Cheney Mason is not facing a Florida Bar review after giving a celebratory middle-finger salute to the public shortly after the verdict was read Thursday.The Associated Press had reported ... More >>

Mitchell Olin Sentenced to Prison for Using Clients' Money for Costa Rican Casino Venture

zazzle.com​Mitchell Olin -- the former Broward attorney who jacked more than $380,000 from his clients -- was sentenced to eight years in the slammer yesterday.As a real estate and insurance claims lawyer for seven families, Olin took the money from a trust account belonging to the families and de ... More >>

Howard Scheinberg, Lawyer and 'Buddy' of Embattled Former Circuit Court Judge Ana Gardiner, Gets Flak from Florida Bar

Ana Gardiner​What do judges have under their robes? The hundreds of calls and texts that onetime Broward prosecutor Howard Scheinberg, rumored to have had a close personal relationship with former Circuit Court Judge Ana Gardiner, suggest that Scheinberg might have found an answer to this age-old ... More >>

Chief Judge Victor Tobin Resigns to Join Much-Criticized Foreclosure Firm (Updated)

​Broward Chief Judge Victor Tobin's reign at the top of the county's judiciary has been filled with conflicts, from barbs he traded with the court clerk to fighting the public's distaste for a new courthouse. Now he's leaving, and the firm he picked as his next successor likely won't make his life ... More >>

Litigious Activist Jack Thompson Files State Complaint Against John Bowman

Jack Thompson​In more than two months since they took a statement from Charles Harper, 18, alleging past sexual abuse by Broward Circuit Judge John Bowman, the Plantation Police Department has been conducting an investigation and has been mum about its status or eventual completion.Many of the ano ... More >>

Another Big Law Firm Implodes

Hometown phenom makes Final Four with UK​-- With all state schools now out of March Madness, you must do the right thing: Root for hometown boy and basketball prodigy Brandon Knight. abovethelaw.comAdorno​-- The Daily Business Review has an interesting story about the implosion of another l ... More >>

Broward Politics: Turning Red Into Blue (And A Weather Babe Exclusive)

You want to hear some political B.S.? Just listen to Broward County Commissioner Stacy Ritter when she opens her mouth to talk. Here's what she said yesterday during a discussion about the new courthouse: Ritter​RITTER: "Every time someone on this dais says the voters voted down the cour ... More >>

Exposed: Judy Stern Played Secret Role In Mayoral Election

For years, campaign operative and erstwhile politician Dan Lewis has claimed that his 2006 run against incumbent Jim Naugle for mayor of Fort Lauderdale was undermined by a conspiracy led by his nemesis, super-lobbyist Judy Stern. For years, Stern has said she had nothing to do with ... More >>

Bankruptcy Trustee: Rothstein Partner Adler Is Broke and Owes IRS

Instead of a big showdown in court with big-time witnesses like U.S. Sen. John McCain, former Gov. Charlie Crist and Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti, Russell Adler and the bankruptcy attorneys representing his former law firm settled the clawback suit today with little fanfare. The Rothstein ... More >>

The Lawyers and Clinics in the 411-PAIN Network

Facebook.com​Last week's New Times cover story was an investigation of the 1-800-411-PAIN Referral Service, a network of chiropractors and lawyers that solicits clients who have been in car accidents. Some readers requested we list the names of the professionals involved in the network. Since it's ... More >>

Fake Lawyer Chas Brady Is Back on the Case (and Back in Jail) (UPDATED)

Update: Aaand... he's out! Details after the jump.Brady then... and now.​In April 2008, New Times profiled Robert "Chas" Brady, who was facing fraud charges for passing himself off as a lawyer and Harvard grad when, in fact, he hadn't even gone to college. The six-foot-two, well-spoken 27-year-old ... More >>

Car Accident? Doctors and Lawyers in the 411-PAIN Network Will Line Their Pockets With Your Insurance Money

Two 411-PAIN Attorneys Have Been Disciplined by Florida Bar

Courtesy of 411-PAINChiropractor Robert Lewin founded the 411-PAIN network.​The 1-800-411-PAIN Referral service is a network of chiropractors and lawyers that solicits clients who have been injured in car accidents. In October, a class-action lawsuit was filed against the Broward-based company, al ... More >>

Pulp Black Tie Edition: Boden's Latest Gig

Rothstein, with his vodka martini, and, from left, Adler, Lippman, and Grant at his Versace mansion wedding ​This is a good shot of some of the alleged co-conspirators in the Scott Rothstein fiasco. Russ Adler, at right, and Steve Lippman were knee-deep in the mess.& ... More >>

Happy Awkward Friday

Sun-Sentinel​It's just that kind of day. I've driven over a curb, showed up late, forgotten basic skills, had meetings canceled. Apparently I'm not alone. Behold the spate of awkward news:News 10 truck flips overWhen I entered the courthouse this morning, police cars and news trucks were gathered ... More >>

Storming the Castle

Hallandale Beach and a Broward judge are trying to drive a man from his home

The Waves That Weren't

Condo developers took more than $100,000 of his money. Then they stopped taking his calls.

Jailbait

How does a 65-year-old behavioral biologist explain being exposed as an Internet masher hot for 15-year-old girls?

The Doctor's Trials

Meet Hollywood's Donald Tobkin: caring M.D., feared lawyer, accused felon

Making Airwaves

At the wackiest stop on your AM dial, a loudmouth host plays the politics of personal destruction -- and gets his station in big trouble