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Ethics: Beware pitfalls of blogging about cases 

By: Correy Stephenson
Published: March 23, 2011

Tags: blogging, blogs, ethics, Facebook, professional responsibility, social media, social networking, Twitter

Writers are often encouraged to write about what they know. But for lawyers seeking a topic for a blog post, Facebook update or Tweet, should that include writing about their own clients and cases?

Rothstein pleads guilty, seeks shorter jail term 

By: Pat Murphy
Published: January 28, 2010

Tags: ponzi scheme, professional responsibility

Scott Rothstein, the disbarred Florida lawyer and newly convicted Ponzi schemer who faces up to 100 years in prison, will strive to help authorities make cases against others who profited from his massive investment scam — in hopes of shaving time off his sentence. Rothstein will be sentenced on May 6 following his guilty plea Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale federal court to five counts of racketeering, fraud and money laundering.

Indicted Fla. lawyer had 20 million reward points 

By: Pat Murphy
Published: January 12, 2010

Tags: attorney fraud, professional responsibility

A Florida lawyer charged in a $1.2 billion fraud apparently heeded the American Express slogan “Don’t leave home without it.” Court records show Scott Rothstein racked up more than 20 million reward points on his American Express account. Cardholders typically receive one point for every dollar spent.

Fla. lawyer set to plead guilty in Ponzi scheme 

By: Pat Murphy
Published: January 6, 2010

Tags: ponzi scheme, professional responsibility

Disbarred South Florida lawyer Scott Rothstein is negotiating a guilty plea with federal prosecutors on charges of orchestrating a $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme using faked legal settlements, his attorney said Tuesday.

Lawyers couldn’t lie about recording witness 

By: Pat Murphy
Published: December 10, 2009

Tags: ethics, professional responsibility

Criminal defense lawyers violated professional rules of conduct by failing to answer truthfully when a key witness asked whether they were recording her telephone interview, the Vermont Supreme Court has ruled in affirming a private reprimand.

Investors sue Florida attorney for $100M 

By: Pat Murphy
Published: November 23, 2009

Tags: fraud, professional responsibility

Investors claiming they were fleeced by a high-profile South Florida attorney filed a $100 million lawsuit Friday contending that the lawyer orchestrated a massive Ponzi scheme with the help of a Canadian bank’s U.S. subsidiary and several accomplices.

Creditors of Fla. law firm file bankruptcy case 

By: Pat Murphy
Published: November 12, 2009

Tags: professional responsibility

Creditors of the Florida law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler PA, whose co-founder is suspected of running a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, sought to push the firm into bankruptcy.

Feds seize assets of Fla. lawyer in Ponzi probe 

By: Pat Murphy
Published: November 10, 2009

Tags: ponzi scheme, professional responsibility

Federal prosecutors accused a high-profile South Florida attorney of concocting a Ponzi scheme that lured millions of dollars from investors with promises of big payoffs from legal settlements that never existed, according to court documents filed Monday.

Bankruptcy lawyer can’t be disqualified 

By: Pat Murphy
Published: November 3, 2009

Tags: conflict of interest, professional responsibility

A creditor’s lawyer could not be disqualified in a bankruptcy case solely because he had worked in the past for a firm that represented another creditor in the case, the 5th Circuit has ruled in reversing a disqualification order.

Scrutinizing the lawyers: Supreme Court cases examine how lawyers do their jobs 

By: Kimberly Atkins
Published: October 27, 2009

Tags: attorney-client privilege, professional responsibility, Supreme Court

WASHINGTON – Call it the month of the lawyer at the U.S. Supreme Court.

During October oral arguments, the justices of the High Court heard four cases that dealt as much with how lawyers do their jobs as with substantive issues of law.