Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, Ft. Lauderdale, Law Firm Dissolution, Ponzi Scheme

[WSJ Law Blog]

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Potential victims of Scott Rothstein can also contact the FBI by e-mail at rothstein.investment@ic.fbi.gov.
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Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein

Earlier today, we inquired as to just what was going on at Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, a fast-growing Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., firm whose founder may have been involved in a huge investment that went south involving structured settlements.

We still have a ton of questions about the situation: Where is Rothstein? What was the investment all about? Will criminal charges be brought? But for now, we know this: that the firm’s co-founder, Stuart Rosenfeldt, has asked a Broward County, Fla., court to dissolve the firm and appoint a receiver to look after the firm’s finances.

Reads the motion:

It is with surprise and sorrow that the attorneys of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, P.A. have learned that Scott W. Rothstein, the managing partner and CEO of the firm, has, according to
assertions of certain investors, allegedly orchestrated a substantial misappropriation of funds
from investor trust accounts that made use of the law firm’s name. The investment business
created and operated by Rothstein centered around the sale of interests in structured settlements. Immediate judicial action is being sought to facilitate the investigation and accounting of investor funds and to address the ongoing affairs of the firm in an appropriate manner.

On the alleged failed investment scheme, the motion reads further:

Firm lawyers learned in the past few days about irregularities surrounding a settlement funding business operated by Rothstein. The settlement funding business involved the purchase of structured legal settlements and the sale of these settlements to investors. Various investors have informed the firm that they believe that substantial funds are not properly accounted for and are missing. A review of the firm’s records undertaken over this past weekend indicates that various funds unrelated to the direct practice of law cannot be accounted for, circumstances suggesting that investor money may have been misused by Rothstein who controlled all such accounts. Some investors allege that Defendant Rothstein may have been fabricating non-existent structured legal settlements for sale to investors.

A lawyer for Rothstein, Marc Nurik, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In an email exchange with WSJ reporter Nathan Koppel on Sunday, Rothstein called the rumors that he had fled the jurisdiction “totally untrue,” and that he’d be back in Ft. Lauderdale on Tuesday. “I have nothing to hide at all,” he added.

As we wrote earlier, Rothstein’s law firm has grown from seven lawyers in 2002 to more than 70 today, with offices in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Miami, Tallahassee, New York and, recently, Caracas, Venezuela.

According to a story in the Broward County Sun-Sentinel, property records show that in 2008 alone, Rothstein bought a $6.45 million Fort Lauderdale home, a $6 million condo in New York and a $2.8 million oceanfront estate in Narragansett, R.I. He also has reportedly amassed an impressive collection of exotic cars worth millions: Ferraris, Bentleys, Rolls-Royces and a pair of 2010 Lamborghini Murcielagos — each worth about $400,000, records show.

UPDATED NOVEMBER 3, 2009

Co-Founder Faces Questions About Sums Said to Be Missing From Accounts He Set Up

A prominent Fort Lauderdale law firm is asking a Florida court to dissolve it amid allegations that substantial amounts of money are missing from accounts created by the firm's co-founder, Scott Rothstein.

The possible dissolution of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Alder PA would amount to a repudiation of the politically well-connected Mr. Rothstein by his law partners and pose a potential embarrassment to the many Republican politicians in the state who have enjoyed his support. The 47-year-old attorney has boasted of a rags-to-riches ascent from a modest New York childhood in the Bronx to a lifestyle of luxury cars and sumptuous homes.

If the firm is dissolved it could meet the same fate as Dreier LLP, a New York law firm that was closed after its founder, Marc Dreier, was arrested for defrauding investors by selling bogus notes. Earlier this year, Mr. Dreier was sentenced to 20 years in prison. It is still unclear, however, whether the Florida firm would have to disband.

Mr. Rothstein didn't respond Monday to requests for comment. In an email exchange with The Wall Street Journal last week, he said he had "nothing to hide at all." Mr. Rothstein's attorney, Marc Nurik, didn't reply to requests for comment.

A spokesman for the law firm said it has launched an internal probe focused on a business Mr. Rothstein started that involved selling purported legal settlements to investors. He said the firm has contacted the U.S. attorney's office in Miami. At least one of the investors—Banyan, a Fort Lauderdale investment firm—has also contacted the U.S. attorney's office, which declined to comment on the matter.

More...

Florida Law Firm Asks to Be Dissolved

UPDATED NOVEMBER 3, 2009

Lawyer Rothstein Lands in Florida

Scott Rothstein, a well-known Florida lawyer who is being investigated by his own firm—which claims $500 million is missing from its accounts—on Tuesday landed at a Fort Lauderdale airport.

Mr. Rothstein had been out of the office since the middle of last week, according to a firm partner, and his whereabouts in recent days were unclear to the Fort Lauderdale-based firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler P.A. On Tuesday, Mr. Rothstein arrived at an airport in the city, said Stuart Rosenfeldt, a partner at the firm. "I have been told by Scott's lawyer that he'll be bringing money back with him."

The firm has contacted the U.S. attorney's office in Miami over the matter, a firm spokesman said. Mr. Rothstein and his attorney didn't return requests for comment.

Mr. Rosenfeldt said in an interview Tuesday that he found emails in Mr. Rothstein's computer that seemed to indicate the attorney had left for Morocco. Mr. Rothstein had sent an email in recent weeks to firm lawyers asking them to investigate which countries refused to extradite criminal suspects to either the U.S. or Israel, and firm lawyers responded that Morocco is one such country, according to a firm spokesman.

Additionally, Mr. Rosenfeldt says he discovered that Mr. Rothstein recently had wired $16 million to an individual in Casablanca.

Mr. Rosenfeldt says he will seek to reconstitute the law firm without Mr. Rothstein. The firm now faces cash shortages. Mr. Rosenfeldt says he has "deposited two-thirds of my life savings in my firm's operating account" to prop up finances in the short term.

More...

Lawyer Rothstein Lands in Florida

Good Lord! How do we go about getting our trust funds back from them.

Just hired them last month!

World Law Direct has authorized three staff lawyers to further investigate the Rothstein Rosenfeldt situation.

Suit is likely to be filed shortly.


info @ worldlawdirect.com

[forum_admin]

A hearing on the law firm receivership is set for 4 p.m., Monday before Broward County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Streitfeld.

Are the partners of the law firm liable for any misdeeds by the founder? I would say in most law partnerships the entire partnership is indeed liable.

[annjd]

See also

Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm collapse, lawsuit

Earlier today, we inquired as to just what was going on at Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler, a fast-growing Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., firm whose founder may have been involved in a huge investment that went south involving structured settlements.

WOW! I still can't believe this!!!

Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler employs many talented lawyers concentrating in a wide variety of practice areas, providing our clients with the ability to keep all of their legal work centralized with one law firm. Our firm is on the cutting edge of law firm technology, allowing our lawyers to represent our clients aggressively while insuring cost efficiency. Our mission: each and every client must be served aggressively, efficiently, professionally and with the utmost integrity.

Steven L. Abrams
Dr. Sara Coen-Giovanelli
Russell S. Adler
Jodi N. Cohen
Roger A. Alvarez
Pedro E. Dijols
Raif El Arigie Harbie
Benjamin R. Dishowitz
Mario Bariona Grassi
Gabriella G. Ducharne Azuaje
Laurence S. Barsky
Bradley J. Edwards
William J. Berger
Gary Farmer
Shawn L. Birken
Peter Feaman
Harold S. Bofshever
Mark Fistos
Robert C. Buschel
Riley W. Cirulnick

Eugene Gibbons
Christina M. Kitterman
Nerylú Goatache Romero
Denis Kleinfeld
Mark Goldstein
Carlos A. Lacasa

Scott A. Goldstein
Seth Lehrman
Julio E. Gonzalez
Anna Y. Lenchus
Jan Paul Guzman
Melissa B. Lewis
Frank Herrera
Carl H. Linder
Cara L. Holmes
Steven N. Lippman
Heather Hurley
Maria Celeste Melo Arnal
Steven R. Jaffe
José Vicente Melo López
Lisa N. Kaufman
Marianella Morales Rojas
Diana Meyer

Arthur C. Neiwirth
Marco A. Prieto Hoffmann
Hugo Alberto Nemirovsky F.
Carlos J. Reyes
Marc S. Nurik
Dany I. Rodriguez Goncalves
Steven H. Osber
Kari E. Rosenfeld
Michael A. Pancier
Stuart A. Rosenfeldt
José Domingo Paoli Carias
Scott W. Rothstein
Brian A. Pearlman
Ysabelyn M. Ruiz Velasquez
Charles B. Pearlman

Gustavo Sardina
Osvaldo F. Torres
Howard M. Scheinberg
Claudia E. Villegas Guerrero
Justin B. Schmidt
Lee A. Watson
Grant J. Smith
Matthew D. Weissing
Adam J. Steinberg
Michael J. Wheeler
Barry J. Stone
Johnny Williams Jr.
Richard B. Storfer
Richard C. Wolfe
Les Stracher
Blandin J. Wright
Brianne M. Strohsahl
George L. Zinkler


Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler
01 East Las Olas Blvd, Suite 1650
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 - 954.522.3456
www.rra-law.com

RRA is a Corporation.

Rosenfeldt said he was an "equity partner".

I have it on tape. What does that mean?

I suppose he is liable for all the debt and damage correct?

[sandra]

A scandal involving a well-connected Ft. Lauderdale law firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler has reached into Palm Beach County. Monday County Commissioner Steve Abrams announced he's leaving the legal practice, because of the controversy.

Commissioner Abrams, who was one of three lawyers at the Boca Raton satellite office, said he had no knowledge of what's being alleged. "It surprised everybody at the firm," said Abrams. "Just completely shell-shocked." Abrams said leaving the practice is the right thing to do. "As a public figure, I just don't feel I should be associated with whatever the issues are with the firm," he said.

Also on the Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler legal roster was former Palm Beach County Circuit Judge William Berger. He was among lawyers at the firm representing victims of Palm Beach billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in civil lawsuits.

Source:

Commissioner leaves law firm following scandal | firm, rothstein, scandal - Top Story - CBS Channel 12 News