BACK IN MIAMI

Back in Miami.

First Monday without Monday Night Football. Luckily my Madden NFL for Playstation arrived today.

Hank Adorno- remember him? He gets 2 million per seven clients. By contract.

Got a bar complaint. Won one count, lost one count from the referee - a North of the Border Judge who really stretched the law to give ol'Hank the benefit of the doubt about lying to Circuit Judge Peter Lopez:

Can the referee say with ‘precise explicit, lacking in confusion and of such weight that it produces a firm belief or conviction, without hesitation about the matter’ that respondent Adorno misled Judge Lopez and was less than forthright in the hearing? The answer is no.”

Gee: - How can we get six people like Tuter on our juries?

The DBR Article is here.

Broward Circuit Judge Tuter had this to say on the 2 mll fee:

But Tuter concluded, “No rational person could explain how seven individual plaintiffs ... could end up dividing $5 million in settlement proceeds and their attorneys $2 million.”

Rumpole notes- at least one rational person thought it was ok- Hank A.

First one of the year- See You in Court!!!

FREE PARKING IN MIAMI BEACH!!!!

If you know Rumpole (and nobody does) you know that nothing warms our heart like a good old fashioned prank.

Enter one Alfred Spellman, described by the HERALD
as a "professional filmmaker, amateur prankster".

Mr. Spellman allegedly opened a web site promoting free parking on Miami Beach this weekend, in which you could print out a receipt designed to fool the Miami Beach parking police.

Ha ha ha ha.

Now comes word that the city that brought you the 1968 Republican Presidential Convention, and is the butt of countless defense attorney jokes ("how many City of Miami Beach Officers does it take to throw a defendant down a flight of stairs? NONE. he fell.") has opened an economic crimes investigation against Mr. Spellman.

Why if we weren't anonymous, we would represent Mr. Spellman pro bono (Latin for: my client bounced the cheque again.)

While we would never counsel anyone to break the law, every now and then it's nice to "stick it to the man" in the words of Spellman's website.

Here's hoping Mr. Spellman makes it to court and is not found in some alleyway of Miami Beach beaten senseless with a bunch of unused parking meters.

Speaking of scams, another one is winding down as the law firm of Adorno & Yoss (motto: representing the public seven clients at a time) agreed to pay the City of Miami 1.6 million dollars which will be added to the 15.5 million that the City Of Miami has agreed to refund taxpayers in a class action lawsuit over the fire-fee case.

Adorno had agreed to represent the entire class at about the same time he and his pals at the City Attorneys Office were finalizing a seven million dollar settlement for seven clients, earning his firm a quick two million, and giving the rest of his clients (the tax payers of the City of Miami) bubkas (to use a technical legal term).

The Third DCA called it "a scheme to defraud." "More unethical and reprehensible behavior by attorneys against their own clients is difficult to imagine.'' The Court intoned.

Now comes word that as the Florida Bar continues its investigation of former Assistant State Attorney Hank Adorno, the embattled lawyer is quietly considering "The Spellman defense."

"It was a joke. A harmless prank. A way to 'stick it to the man'. No lawyer in his right mind would screw an entire city of clients to make a quick 2 million."

As Johnny Cochran might say "You can't disbar, if the prank didn't get very far."

See you in court, pondering how nice it would be to have 1.5 million in the operating account, even if we had to return it.

CHUTZPAH

OK, back to business.

The Third DCA slammed, and we mean slammed the Law Firm Of Adorno and Yoss in their lawsuit settlement of a case in which citizens sued the City to recover fees for emergency services.

To sum it up, and we have great difficulty with civil cases, (they give us a rash when we get too close) what appears to have happened is that Adorno's firm sniffed out a class action case with the promise of large fees.

BEFORE the class was certified, they negotiated a settlement for seven plaintiffs for 7 million dollars in which their firm would keep a measly 2 million dollars. Oh, and along the way, the rest of the tax payers the law firm was going to represent could be dammed, as the settlement was reached before the class was certified. Since Adorno and his firm had the settlement, they had no reason to care that the statute of limitations for the rest of us was about to expire.

Quicker than you can say “honey call the Mercedes dealership and order me that new SL500” Adorno stuck it to the rest of his possible clients and struck a deal. When the deal became public the City howled and moved to set aside the settlement and have the funds returned. The Circuit Judge agreed, and Adorno and his firm appealed.

Legal tip for Yoss and Adorno: Chutzpah is not a city in Wisconsin.

The Third DCA affirmed and a portion of the concurring opinion of new Judge Cortinas is below (he speaking about Adorno and his firm):

Unchecked avarice????

Plainly and simply, this was a scheme to defraud. It was a case of unchecked avarice coupled with a total absence of shame on the part of the original lawyers. The attorneys manipulated the legal system for their own pecuniary gain and acted against their clients’ interests by attempting to deprive them of monies to which they might otherwise be entitled. More unethical and reprehensible behavior by attorneys against their own clients is difficult to imagine.
Under these unique circumstances, the trial court properly set aside the $7 million settlement agreement based on breach of fiduciary duties to the class.

Here is the OPINION

And people wonder why we don't do civil work. Simple. We don't have the ethics required to screw a whole city of clients for 2 million bucks.


See You in criminal court.