Fla. law firm seeks dissolution as lawyer probed
Law Firm News
A prominent and politically connected South Florida attorney was being investigated by his own firm for financial irregularities in an investment business that led his law partner to seek dissolution Monday.
The attorney, Scott Rothstein, and partner Stuart Rosenfeldt founded the firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler in 2002. Now Rosenfeldt is seeking to dissolve their partnership and have the 70-lawyer firm placed into court-supervised receivership "to minimize any further damage caused by Mr. Rothstein," according to court documents.
"A review of the firm's records undertaken 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 Mr. Rothstein who controlled all such accounts," Rosenfeldt said in the court papers.
A lawyer for some investors, Jeff Sonn, said initial estimates of the missing cash range from $100 million to $185 million.
"Nobody knows for sure," Sonn said.
At a brief hearing, Circuit Judge Jeffrey Streitfeld put off a decision on appointing a receiver by a day, in part to find out if Rothstein plans to return from an undisclosed foreign country to contest the move.
"This is an extraordinary effort that would have to be undertaken on an immediate basis," Streitfeld said. "Let's take a deep breath and see where we're going."
Neither Rothstein nor his attorney immediately returned telephone calls and e-mails seeking comment. An attorney hired by Rosenfeldt, former Miami U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey, said he has been assured that Rothstein will return to the U.S. Coffey also said he has notified federal prosecutors about possible criminal wrongdoing at the firm.
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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.