Southern District of Florida: Federal Judiciary

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Federal Judiciary Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Federal Judiciary

Southern District of Florida

News and notes on the Southern District of Florida

Post Frequency: 3.1/day

Last Entry: November 03, 2020 at 07:42:00

Escape From Dubai

Posted on November 25, 2009
In another this-is-too-good-to-be-true story, Curt Anderson covers former French intelligence officer Herve Jaubert, who believed he was essentially being held captive in Dubai when his passport was confiscated by authorities amid a dispute with his employer, a powerful government-run conglomerate...

The U

Posted on November 24, 2009
Friends of Blog Alfred Spellman and Billy Corben (of Cocaine Cowboys fame) are now coming out with the U, which will air on ESPN December 9. Barry Jackson has a piece on the documentary today. Apparently, UM didn't cooperate... I never understand that...

Did you know that the Sears Tower is now called the Willis Tower?

Posted on November 22, 2009
I sure didn't. Anyway, the leader from the Liberty City group -- Narseal Batiste -- who was convicted of attempting to blow up that building was sentenced to 13 1/2 years by Judge Lenard. She sentenced brothers Burson Ausgustin, 24, and Rotschild Augustin, 26, to six and seven years in prison...

News & Notes (Fins edition)

Posted on November 19, 2009
It's been a long day, so I'm trying to cheer up in watching the Fins. So far, so good. 14-3 as we speak. Here we go with some news & notes:1. Who wants to be a Magistrate? There's an opening in the District. The salary is $160K and to apply, you need to be less than 70, a member in good standing of the bar for 5 years, and not related to any judge in the district...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Lawyer acquitted in federal court in Georgia

Posted on November 18, 2009
Friends of the blog, Tom Withers* and Craig Gillen, walked a lawyer (Mark Shelnutt) today in Columbus, Ga. Shelnutt was charged with money laundering and drug offenses. The judge read 36 not guilty verdicts:At 2:45, Land began to read.?Count One, conspiracy to launder money,? the judge said...

"Liberty City terror suspect gets 6 years in prison"

Posted on November 18, 2009
The first of the Liberty City defendants -- 24-year-old Burson Augustin -- was sentenced today. The government sought the maximum -- 30 years. But Judge Lenard did the right thing and sentenced Augustin to 6 years. From the AP:A judge on Wednesday handed a six-year jail sentence to one of five men convicted of plotting to blow up the tallest building in the United States, Sears Tower, and swearing allegiance to Al-Qaeda...

Vamos a Cuba

Posted on November 17, 2009
Gotta love Miami -- Denials of cert are rarely newsworthy, especially front-page newsworthy. But the cert denial re Vamos a Cuba landed on the front page of the Miami Herald:A three-year battle that pitted claims of censorship against the right of Miami-Dade schools to remove from their shelves a book that portrays an inaccurate view of life in Cuba ended Monday on the steps of the U...

"WAWW"

Posted on November 15, 2009
That was the name of 22 of Scott Rothstein's corporations and it stood for "What a Wonderful World." Indeed. Here's the Sun-Sentinel story covering the genesis of the Rothstein spending, which started sometime in 2005.I know, I know, enough Rothstein...

News & Notes (Scott Rothstein edition)

Posted on November 12, 2009
1. Bob Norman is killing this story, telling us about strippers, Bova Prime (SFL will like the picture in this post, which I included to the left) and Judge Zloch.2. Chaz Stevens has done it again -- tracking down William Boockvor. 3. And in non-Rothstein news, Dan Christensen is covering secret dockets under USA candidate Daryl Trawick...

This is not a post about Scott Rothstein

Posted on November 12, 2009
Who's going to the ADL lunch today honoring Albert Kreiger and Edith Osman? Come by and say hello.Those who aren't can try betting on the Supreme Court.Or watch some clips of Curb Your Enthusiasm, the best comedy on TV right now:You prefer Glee, you say...

Ed Morse duped for $57 MILLION

Posted on November 11, 2009
According to this Herald article, he wired Scott Rothstein $57 million based on this story:What began as a dispute over a $2 million decorating bill for Morse's new Boca Raton and Maine homes transformed into a $57 million scam, in which Rothstein allegedly ripped off his wealthy clients with an elaborate series of lies, delays and forged court orders, sources familiar with the matter told The Miami Herald...

Drinks at the Capital Grille over lunch

Posted on November 09, 2009
Bob Norman has been all over the Scott Rothstein case and had the (good?) fortune of running into him at the Capital Grille today. He even took video:Here's another post about the encounter.Why is this guy out in public at the Capital Grille talking to reporters? I understand that this was just happenstance, but he was bound to run into someone at lunch at the CG...

Schadenfreude

Posted on November 09, 2009
Sure, there's a lot of that going on with the Scott Rothstein case, but the guy isn't doing anything to help his cause. SFL covers his Herald interview, which was a total train wreck:"I am sitting here smoking cigars with [my lawyer] Marc [Nurik]." "Doing pretty good...

Do as I say, not as I do

Posted on November 06, 2009
From the oral arguments on Tuesday of this week in the Supreme Court:MR. BARNHOUSE: The lawsuit would be -- the lawsuit itself would be property, but the -- but any recovery would not be property until it became choate, until there was an amount of money assigned to it...

Above the Law case voluntarily dismissed

Posted on November 04, 2009
Well that was quick.Here's ATL on the dismissal:Pursuant to Rule 41(a)(1)(A)(i)(B), the dismissal is without prejudice. But if Professor Jones were to attempt to refile at this point in time, he would encounter a statute of limitations problem.There was NO SETTLEMENT in this case...

Federal Bar Association lunch

Posted on November 04, 2009
Fun event today with Judges Gold and Jordan. (Yes, that's my terrible phone camera picture to the left.)Some of the topics discussed:Facebook, Blogs, and Roshambo. And there was even a question about how Iqbal has been affecting the courts. Perhaps SFLawyer was in the audience...

I like Twizzlers

Posted on November 04, 2009
"When you have a Twizzler in your mouth, you can't have a serious conversation.""The red-colored licorice are kinda sweet ... pleasant tasting. They put you in a good mood." "There were two ways to eat the Twizzler: Sucking on the licorice, like a baby with a pacifier, or tearing it into small pieces and gobbling it down...

Above The Law Sued by UM Law Professor Donald Jones

Posted on November 03, 2009
NLJ has the details:It's the kind of story that tends to get big play on the legal blog Above the Law: A prominent University of Miami School of Law professor and civil rights advocate arrested on suspicion of soliciting an undercover officer for sex...

Where in the world is Scott Rothstein

Posted on November 03, 2009
Thanks to a tipster, we have more evidence that bloggers are taking over the world. This time, they've tracked down Rothstein! No joke.

News & Notes

Posted on September 30, 2009
Lots going on today:1. Another Mutual Benefits arrest: this time it's eye doctor Alan Mendelsohn. From Jay Weaver's article: Dr. Alan Mendelsohn, a Hollywood ophthalmologist who has raised millions for Florida politicians, surrendered to FBI agents on charges linked to his alleged efforts to thwart a 2000-05 state investigation into Mutual Benefits Corp...

More on Ben Kuehne

Posted on September 28, 2009
This weekend Jay Weaver had an interesting article about the oral argument in Ben Kuehne's case. Background here. Jay asks whether DOJ has targeted Fabio Ochoa's lawyers because they actually had the nerve to go to trial. And Joe DeMaria, the recent quote-master, is at it again:"This is the Scopes Monkey trial of money laundering cases,'' said former federal prosecutor Joseph DeMaria, referring to the historic 1925 test case in Tennessee over the teaching of evolution in school...

Happy weekend my peeps

Posted on September 25, 2009
Just saw that the blog made the WSJ blog this week. Pretty cool.Hopefully the blog football team will have a better performance. We have the same record as the Dolphins right now... (But in my real league, I'm doing well. Does that count here?)Have a good weekend everyone...

Broward politicians charged

Posted on September 24, 2009
By now, all of you have read about the arrests in Broward of a bunch of politicians, so I won't bore you with more on that... But I wanted to give a shout out to Jeff Sloman, who is coming into his own at press conferences. A tipster sent me these quotes:The name of the probe was "Operation Flat Screen...

FBA "Boardroom lunch"

Posted on September 23, 2009
From incoming Federal Bar president Bill Roppolo:Dear Federal Bar Members,The South Florida Chapter of the Federal Bar is launching a new small group luncheon series. The Boardroom Lunches will be hosted by local law firms and feature two federal judges...

Blogging the Ben Kuehne argument in the 11th Circuit

Posted on September 23, 2009
I was at the oral argument in the Ben Kuehne case this morning. The issue is whether the exception in section 1957 prevents the government from indicting a criminal defense lawyer for taking payment from a client, previously discussed here. Judge Cooke found that the exception applied and dismissed that count against Ben...

"You make this sound like a fraud case. This isn't Bernie Madoff."

Posted on September 22, 2009
That was Judge Kenneth Ryskamp last week on the Lin Gosman case, in which the judge sentenced Gosman to probation even though the guidelines called for substantial time in prison. I missed the case when it happened, so thanks to my peeps for sending it along...

"This is probably the single most outrageous prosecution that has happened in South Florida."

Posted on September 21, 2009
That's Richard Sharpstein on the Ben Kuehne case, covered by John Pacenti here. The 11th Circuit will have oral argument this Wednesday. Judge Cooke will have Daubert hearings today and tomorrow on the government's proposed currency exchange expert...

Happy Weekend

Posted on September 18, 2009
Some Friday afternoon tunes:

Let's get ready to rumble

Posted on September 18, 2009
Fascinating lawsuit filed by Joseph DeMaria against DOJ and American Express. Here's the Herald article and the complaint. From the article:Sergio Masvidal, the successful scion of a once-penniless Cuban exile family, says he just wants the Justice Department to give him back his name...

Tweet Tweet

Posted on September 17, 2009
John Pacenti has a piece in the DBR today about lawyers tweeting. As far as I can tell, lawyers and Twitter have not been a successful pairing so far because most lawyers are trying to damn hard to use it for marketing instead of for fun. Following most lawyers on Twitter is deathly boring -- it's much more fun to follow Chad Ochocinco...

Previous | Next

Related Law Bulletins

District Judge Upholds Texas' Moment of Silence Law
In 2003, the Texas legislature amended a "moment of silence" law s...