Judge Seitz Strikes Defendant's Pleadings And Other News.

Order Striking Pleadings


Hi kids, I guess what I love best about South Florida is the lovely weather!

Well, that and Glenn Garvin.

And while we all know Garvin lives in the past, who knew it was way back in the 1930s:

A packed courtroom watched as defense attorneys Bruce Lehr and Roberto Pertierra acted as Capone’s trusted two-man team, originally former Broward Circuit Judge Vincent C. Giblin and J. Fritz Gordon.

On the other side were Miami-Dade prosecutors Charlie Johnson and Howard Rosen, acting as County Solicitor G.E. McCaskill and Special Assistant County Solicitor Richard H. Hunt.

The jury, which included Miami Herald columnist Glenn Garvin and Daily Business Review executive editor Eddie Dominguez, listened as the attorneys presented their cases, mostly improvised.

"Mostly improvised," huh -- just like Glenn's columns!

Kudos all around, what a great idea and a fine way of marking the Court's centennial.

In other news, Julie Kay does a nice curtain-raiser on the Potamkin divorce battle, which pits A.J. Barranco and Barry Wayne against Maurice Kutner and Cynthia Greene.

Finally, Judge Seitz strikes a defendant's pleadings in a hotly contested family business dispute in which the defendant allegedly hacked the plaintiff's email files.

The Order is posted above.

Stay dry folks!

The Six Million Dollar Man?

Now way, and there's a perfectly good explanation:

"Despite disclosures by the bankruptcy trustee, at no time did my client make anywhere near $6 million,'' Lehr said.

Lehr declined to specify the exact salary, but said it's likely closer to the figure the court record cited for this year.

"When Rosenfeldt questionned earnings on his tax statements, he was told by Rothstein that this was phantom income through profits the firm was making buying and selling businesses with a hedge fund,'' Lehr said. "It is my understanding that all taxes were paid.''

Let me make sure I have this right -- "phantom income through profits that the firm was making buying and selling businesses with a hedge fund."

Dear lawyers of South Florida, many of whom are equity partners in a law practice -- WTF???

Can someone explain that or is the Ambien kicking in again?

Rothstein Scorecard -- Who Represents Who?

Well I hope everyone had a warm, loving, and peaceful Thanksgiving, and is now fighting over deals at Walmart -- that HDTV screen will only be on sale for two more hours!

I wonder if any meaning can be derived by looking at who is representing who in the Rothstein saga.

We know Scottie has loyal Marc Nurik, who recently has been cracking jokes and alternately acting as Scott's public psychologist:

"He did something that, when you think about it, is kind of extraordinary. He goes away to a country that has no extradition treaty with the U.S., reportedly, allegedly has a lot of money at his disposal, and chooses to come back and deal with this … I think because beneath it all, and not withstanding all the things that have been said about him, I believe that he is truly a decent human being, not withstanding flaws. I really do believe he did it out of, a true decent emotion to try to deal with this.''

Again, I have no problem with a public rehabilitation strategy. I just think, in the absence of other positive facts, this strategy is way too premature.

Marc would have you believe at the same time he is denying that Scott is cooperating with the feds and singing like a bird, Rothstein nonetheless has returned to "make everything right." How does that square up?

Rothstein's bankruptcy lawyer is Hinshaw's Michael D. Seese.

I agree with Bob Norman that Bill Scherer's amended complaint is an interesting read but a bit of a mess.

It is 289 pages long and asserts 245 counts. To be honest it reads like a placeholder, an effort to "occupy the field" and get in front of the other civil suits coming down the pike. Somebody at some point definitely needs to edit that thing.

Let's see -- Bob Josefsberg is representing Banyon COO Frank J. Preve -- what could that mean?

Bruce Lehr is representing Big Stu, Fred Haddad has Russ Adler's back, and Neal Sonnett is representing Grant Smith.

Russ even recently appeared in court on behalf of former Judge Seidlin.

It's a small town, huh?