Hugget's office manager charged

From the Daily Business Review:


Since the sudden death of Miami maritime attorney William Huggett three years ago, his widow has been fighting his former staff for taking all her husband's cases to a newly formed law firm and charging her $739,000 for bonuses and vacation pay.

In a stunning twist, a federal grand jury in Miami indicted Sara San Martin, Huggett's former office manager and bookkeeper, in June for allegedly writing fraudulent checks on Huggett's accounts to pay off her mortgage and a truck loan. San Martin was charged with bank fraud and faces a possible sentence of 30 years in prison.

She retained Miami attorney Brian Tannebaum this week.


Here's the Indictment and Amended Complaint.

Another fashionable lawyer

We highlighted the Herald's coverage about fashionable Carolyn Kellman a while back.

Another lawyer is now profiled for his fashion, Brian James (pictured left from the Herald article). From the article:

Residence: Belle Meade in Miami's Upper East Side

Haunts: I usually shop at traditional places like Macy's simply because it's easy when everything is under one roof.

Passion du jour: I am passionate about traveling. I like going all over the world and I always seem to take notice of the cultural differences with regards to fashion.

His look: A little preppy but definitely still unique.

What influences his choices: I've come to realize that my wife was a big influence in my fashion. When I met her I only wore black, and over time she's really turned me into this man that you see, full of color, eclectic, mix-matched and funky. Even when I'm working and have to wear my suits I make sure that my choices of shirt and tie show my individuality.

From his firm site:

Brian T. James concentrates his practice on representing individuals and corporations in controversies with federal, state and local regulatory and law enforcement agencies. As a former judicial intern with the Honorable Judge Donald L. Graham, Southern District of Florida, and a former certified legal intern with the Dade County Public Defender’s Office, Mr. James has experience with both Federal and State courts. Mr. James also served as an Internal Compliance Auditor for a Florida state bank where he advised on the areas of mandatory and voluntary compliance regulations within the banking industry.

While at the University of Miami School of Law, Mr. James served on the managing board of the Business Law Review, as vice-president of the Moot Court Board and as Chief Justice of the Student Bar Association's Supreme Court. He also was awarded "Best Appellate Brief" and "Most Rounded Competitor" in the 1999/2000 Oral Argument Competition.

Mr. James is a member of The Florida Bar, the Dade and Broward County Bar Associations, the Black Lawyers Association, and the Caribbean Bar Association. His community and civic activities include serving as vice president to the board of trustees for the Playground Theatre for Young Audiences, Inc., board member of the Arts and Business Council of Miami, as well as a volunteer in many organizations including the United Way, the Community Partnership for the Homeless and Habitat for Humanity.

Padilla trial wrapping up

The defense case will conclude by this Friday. Jose Padilla's lawyers said they will not be presenting any witnesses. That means the Government rebuttal case is next week and closing arguments will be the week of the 13th.

Matthew Menchel leaving U.S. Attorney's Office

That's a big loss for the office. He was the chief of criminal division and a very skilled trial lawyer. He's headed to a firm with offices in New York and soon to be in Miami... Good luck to Menchel. Now the question is -- who will be named chief of criminal?

Where is everyone?

On most days, you'll find a bunch of reporters in Judge Cooke's courtroom dutifully covering the Jose Padilla trial. Not today. Today, they were all in Bankruptcy Judge Cristol's courtroom for the O.J. book litigation. Here's the AP's Curt Anderson on what happened:

A federal bankruptcy judge Monday awarded the rights of O.J. Simpson's canceled "If I Did It" book to the family of the late Ronald Goldman to satisfy a $38 million wrongful death judgment against the former football star.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge A. Jay Cristol's decision pushed aside complaints from the family of Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, who was slain along with her friend Goldman in a 1994 knife attack.

***

Fred Goldman, Ronald Goldman's father, choked back tears outside the courtroom and said he intends to release the book as a measure of justice to portray Simpson as "a wife-beater, as a murderer, written in his own words."
"After 13 years of trying to get some justice, today is probably the first time we had any sense of seeing light at the end of the tunnel," said Goldman, who attended the hearing with his daughter, Kim. "It's gratifying to see."
Lawyers for Brown's father, Louis Brown, objected to a settlement awarding the rights to Goldman.
The Browns wanted Cristol to give equal rights to all the creditors, rather than allowing the Goldmans to collect the lion's share of any profits from the book.

Camel racing jockey case dismissed

Judge Altonaga threw out the child camel jockey case against Sheikh Mohammed, the Prime Minister of Dubai, and his brother, Sheikh Hamdam, on personal jurisdiction grounds today. The State Department was about to weigh in on the issues of head of state immunity and perhaps other issues in the motion, like international comity.

--David Oscar Markus
www.markuslaw.com
305-379-6667

No questions

That was AG Alberto Gonzalez who was here in the Southern District of Florida today speaking to the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.

According to this Herald article: "Gonzales talked about federal efforts to curb violent crime, posing for photographs with law enforcement officers but taking no questions from reporters."

Apparently, the SDFLA is a safe place for him: ''It's a safe haven out of Washington,'' said Elsie Scott, president of the Congressional Black Caucus. "It's a place where he can be comfortable and not be booed.''

Inmates dance to Thriller

Check this out!




I don't think the guys over at FDC will be doing this any time soon...

HT: Above the Law.