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. Well here you go.
Fine, and if you must, here's a Scott Rothstein story. Blech.
The SDFLA Blog is dedicated to providing news and notes regarding federal practice in the Southern District of Florida. The New Times calls the blog "the definitive source on South Florida's federal court system." All tips on court happenings are welcome and will remain anonymous. Please email David Markus at dmarkus@markuslaw.com
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Ed Morse duped for $57 MILLION
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.
Ed and Carol Morse -- who were family friends with Rothstein -- sued Boca Raton decorator Jan Jones in 2006 claiming he botched their job. Rothstein told the Morses earlier this year that they had won the breach-of-contract case and that the decorator owed them $23 million, sources said.
It wasn't true. In fact, the Morses lost the case.
Rothstein also produced purported federal court orders signed by a judge, saying the Morses could claim the judgment by seizing a Cayman Islands bank account belonging to the decorator, sources said.
There were no such court orders, nor any fat bank account, court records show.
To confiscate the money, the Fort Lauderdale lawyer allegedly told the Morses they had to post a bond 2 ½ times larger than the judgment, or $57 million, the sources said. The large amount was required as a guarantee in case bank officials confiscated the judgment from the wrong account, Rothstein told them.
So the couple wired the $57 million to Rothstein in installments earlier this year, the sources said. It is not clear whether Rothstein paid any of that money back.
PAINFUL. Too bad Morse didn't have the force:
Okay, I was sick of Rothstein stories too, but $57 million.....
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.
Ed and Carol Morse -- who were family friends with Rothstein -- sued Boca Raton decorator Jan Jones in 2006 claiming he botched their job. Rothstein told the Morses earlier this year that they had won the breach-of-contract case and that the decorator owed them $23 million, sources said.
It wasn't true. In fact, the Morses lost the case.
Rothstein also produced purported federal court orders signed by a judge, saying the Morses could claim the judgment by seizing a Cayman Islands bank account belonging to the decorator, sources said.
There were no such court orders, nor any fat bank account, court records show.
To confiscate the money, the Fort Lauderdale lawyer allegedly told the Morses they had to post a bond 2 ½ times larger than the judgment, or $57 million, the sources said. The large amount was required as a guarantee in case bank officials confiscated the judgment from the wrong account, Rothstein told them.
So the couple wired the $57 million to Rothstein in installments earlier this year, the sources said. It is not clear whether Rothstein paid any of that money back.
PAINFUL. Too bad Morse didn't have the force:
Okay, I was sick of Rothstein stories too, but $57 million.....
Monday, November 09, 2009
Drinks at the Capital Grille over lunch
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... Right now, he needs to be holed up somewhere not talking. (Hat tip: JA)
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... Right now, he needs to be holed up somewhere not talking. (Hat tip: JA)
Schadenfreude
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."
"During the brief interview with Nurik, Rothstein could be heard heartily laughing in the background."
It only gets worse:
Nurik would not disclose Rothstein's whereabouts -- a Florida location that Nurik said he -- not federal authorities -- chose.
"I have him hidden," Nurik said. "I'm not going to tell anybody where, including the government. I don't know where people are coming up with this stuff. I have been discussing his case with the government as any defense counsel would under these circumstances.
"I have been in contact with the government," Nurik said. "My client is at an undisclosed location of my choosing and he is talking to no one but me. He hasn't even met with his family."
Nurik declined to discuss the case, but added that Rothstein wanted to say goodbye.
"I'm doing really good," Rothstein said. "Marc is a great lawyer, a great friend. We will speak when the time is right."
YIKES! I'm not even sure that Alan Shore's closing argument on Schadenfreude could help Rothstein:
From the German words, Schaden and Freude, damage and joy. It means to take spiteful, malicious delight in the misfortune of others. We used to dismiss this as simply an ugly side of human nature, but it is much much more than that. Recently a Stanford professor actually captured Schadenfreude on a brain scan. It’s a physiological medical phenomenon. When we see others fall it sometimes causes a chemical to be released in the dorsal striatum of the brain which actually causes us to feel pleasure. If you watch the news or read the papers, which of course you don’t because the Judge said not to, but if you did, you would see the undeniable delicious joy of the media and the public over Kelly Nolan’s plight. I have no doubt that you want Kelly Nolan to be punished. She married for money, she had an affair, she carried on naked in the pool with her boyfriend. She’s cold, materialistic, unlikable, and it might bring you all pleasure to see her go to jail. But as for evidence to establish that she committed a murder beyond all reasonable doubt? It just isn’t there. The only possible route to a guilty verdict here is Schadenfreude.
"I am sitting here smoking cigars with [my lawyer] Marc [Nurik]."
"Doing pretty good."
"During the brief interview with Nurik, Rothstein could be heard heartily laughing in the background."
It only gets worse:
Nurik would not disclose Rothstein's whereabouts -- a Florida location that Nurik said he -- not federal authorities -- chose.
"I have him hidden," Nurik said. "I'm not going to tell anybody where, including the government. I don't know where people are coming up with this stuff. I have been discussing his case with the government as any defense counsel would under these circumstances.
"I have been in contact with the government," Nurik said. "My client is at an undisclosed location of my choosing and he is talking to no one but me. He hasn't even met with his family."
Nurik declined to discuss the case, but added that Rothstein wanted to say goodbye.
"I'm doing really good," Rothstein said. "Marc is a great lawyer, a great friend. We will speak when the time is right."
YIKES! I'm not even sure that Alan Shore's closing argument on Schadenfreude could help Rothstein:
From the German words, Schaden and Freude, damage and joy. It means to take spiteful, malicious delight in the misfortune of others. We used to dismiss this as simply an ugly side of human nature, but it is much much more than that. Recently a Stanford professor actually captured Schadenfreude on a brain scan. It’s a physiological medical phenomenon. When we see others fall it sometimes causes a chemical to be released in the dorsal striatum of the brain which actually causes us to feel pleasure. If you watch the news or read the papers, which of course you don’t because the Judge said not to, but if you did, you would see the undeniable delicious joy of the media and the public over Kelly Nolan’s plight. I have no doubt that you want Kelly Nolan to be punished. She married for money, she had an affair, she carried on naked in the pool with her boyfriend. She’s cold, materialistic, unlikable, and it might bring you all pleasure to see her go to jail. But as for evidence to establish that she committed a murder beyond all reasonable doubt? It just isn’t there. The only possible route to a guilty verdict here is Schadenfreude.
Friday, November 06, 2009
Do as I say, not as I do
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.
JUSTICE SCALIA: There is no such adjective -- I know we have used it, but there is no such adjective as "choate." There is "inchoate," but the opposite of "inchoate" is not "choate."
MR. BARNHOUSE: All right.
JUSTICE SCALIA: Any more than the -- I don't know.
(Laughter.)
MR. BARNHOUSE: Well, I'm wrong on the -- on the -
JUSTICE SCALIA: Exactly. Yes. It's like "gruntled."
MR. BARNHOUSE: But I think I am right on the law, Your Honor.
Scalia was apparently trying to make the point that some people mistakenly assume the opposite of “disgruntled” is “gruntled.” Well, Josh Blackmun says gruntled is a word:
Oxford English Dictionary Confirms, gruntled seems to be the opposite of disgruntled.
Definition: Pleased, satisfied, contented.
A law professor responds:
Gruntled is indeed in the dictionary, as the opposite of disgruntled. But it’s pretty clearly not idiomatic, as a Google search shows. So it’s not a mistake to assume that there is a word “gruntled” that’s the opposite of “disgruntled.” But it is a mistake to assume that there is such a word in common usage, and especially in common serious usage (since “gruntled” as the opposite of “disgruntled” has a humorous connotation, I think).
Anyway, a bit closer to home, Dan Christensen has a couple interesting posts about Zachariah P. Zachariah, a top Republican fundraiser.
And of course, everyone is talking and writing about Scott Rothstein and his inner sanctum and intercom and autographs and on and on and on. I find the whole mob mentality a bit sickening. Here's my Friday morning question to you all: Should Scott Rothstein get a bond when he gets arrested?
A bunch of people have been sending me this video, which is unbelievable:
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.
JUSTICE SCALIA: There is no such adjective -- I know we have used it, but there is no such adjective as "choate." There is "inchoate," but the opposite of "inchoate" is not "choate."
MR. BARNHOUSE: All right.
JUSTICE SCALIA: Any more than the -- I don't know.
(Laughter.)
MR. BARNHOUSE: Well, I'm wrong on the -- on the -
JUSTICE SCALIA: Exactly. Yes. It's like "gruntled."
MR. BARNHOUSE: But I think I am right on the law, Your Honor.
Scalia was apparently trying to make the point that some people mistakenly assume the opposite of “disgruntled” is “gruntled.” Well, Josh Blackmun says gruntled is a word:
Oxford English Dictionary Confirms, gruntled seems to be the opposite of disgruntled.
Definition: Pleased, satisfied, contented.
A law professor responds:
Gruntled is indeed in the dictionary, as the opposite of disgruntled. But it’s pretty clearly not idiomatic, as a Google search shows. So it’s not a mistake to assume that there is a word “gruntled” that’s the opposite of “disgruntled.” But it is a mistake to assume that there is such a word in common usage, and especially in common serious usage (since “gruntled” as the opposite of “disgruntled” has a humorous connotation, I think).
Anyway, a bit closer to home, Dan Christensen has a couple interesting posts about Zachariah P. Zachariah, a top Republican fundraiser.
And of course, everyone is talking and writing about Scott Rothstein and his inner sanctum and intercom and autographs and on and on and on. I find the whole mob mentality a bit sickening. Here's my Friday morning question to you all: Should Scott Rothstein get a bond when he gets arrested?
A bunch of people have been sending me this video, which is unbelievable:
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