Ruden To Save Money By Closing Things!

Ruden McClosky has found a sure-fire way to save money, according to the Intrepid One™:  close offices!

Here's how it works -- when you close offices and fire people, you don't have to pay as much out in monthly overhead.

Why didn't Adorno Yoss figure this out?

(Wait a minute, they did.)

Here's the firm-wide email from chief muckety-muck Michael Krul:

I am pleased to provide you with the following confidential update.

Oh boy, that's a guarantee some angry partner will be emailing it around town.

Although we will continue to make sure that we are operating as efficiently as possible, we believe that our staffing level is now appropriate and do not anticipate that the firm will have any need to seek staff reductions in the near future and, hopefully, not for the long term. The inflow of new work is on the rise and our timekeepers are increasing their recorded time. This is a positive sign for improved revenues down the road.

Honey, I have great news!  My boss says "our staffing level is now appropriate" and they don't anticipate "staff reductions in the near future."

Unlike last year, we're going to make it through Hannukah.  Isn't that fantastic?

"Shut up and get me a drink."

Florida Supreme Court Gives Hank Adorno a Handful.

Yes, kids, the 43-page opinion is here, disregarding the referee's recommendation of public reprimand, and handing Adorno the severest sanction short of disbarment.

The Supremes endorsed the particularly harsh language of the 3d DCA, and detailed a rather sordid and regrettable tale of misconduct, ethical lapses and, frankly, greed.

It's not a pretty picture.

Adorno Yoss Requiem -- Slinging the Animal Poop.

The intrepid one proves once again why she is the best in the business with this devastating post-mortem of the demise of Adorno Yoss:

The final decision apparently was forced on the firm by its bank, Wells Fargo, with which firm leaders were in negotiations the week of March 7. Former partners said the firm owed the bank $8 million. The week ended with a closing announcement, after attempts by Yoss to secure a merger over the last two months failed.

In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice filed with the state March 17, Yoss placed its employee count at 91, under the 100 threshold that would trigger severance pay with less than 60 days' notice. Plantation-based DJSP, a foreclosure processing company that recently dissolved, listed 96 employees at the time of dissolution and was hit with a class action suit by employees who claim they weren't given adequate notice or pay under federal law. Five former employees said the Yoss firm does not plan to pay any severance.

Nice way to say goodbye to your long-term employees, huh?

But I wouldn't rush to sue these guys, I'm not too sure they're collectable:

Some of the biggest losers may be former partners who are owed capital contributions of $30,000 to $100,000 each, Genovese and others said.

Linden, now a partner at GrayRobinson, said he has no expectation of getting his capital contribution back.
"If the firm is closing its doors and you are an owner, you're the last one to get paid," he said. "By the time the secured lender is paid, plus the costs of administering the wind-up, I do not anticipate a distribution. I'm not a pie-in-the-sky kind of guy, I'm a realist. I'm moving on. I don't look backwards about stuff like that."

Former West Palm Beach managing partner John Koenig said a group of former partners is considering suing Adorno and Yoss individually for breach of contract.

Former partner Sylvia Krainen already has requested mediation on her claim for her capital contribution, according to former Atlanta managing partner Tracey Blackwell and others. Krainen did not return calls for comment.

Oy veh, what a mess.

Question: how did Hank handle all this strife suffered by his employees and ex-partners?

In 2006, Adorno left Miami for Atlanta, where the firm opened an office in 2004. He bought a $4.2 million house on Tuxedo Lane, sharing the block with the founder of Home Depot and the Atlanta Falcons, and a $2 million Blue Ridge Mountain estate in North Carolina's exclusive Linville Ridge, where Dick Cheney is a neighbor.

Whoa.

If you are forced to live right next to Dick Cheney you are most definitely in one of the nine circles of hell -- although, to be fair, this one has a Robert Trent-designed golf course.

Yoss Restructuring Complete!

Wow, I don't think anyone saw this coming:

In an e-mail sent to employees Friday, managing partner George Yoss notified employees that the firm would be winding down its legal practice and laying off all employees by the end of the month.

“As we are sure you are aware, these have been extremely difficult times for the firm,” stated Yoss in the e-mail. “After meeting with the bank and evaluating the firm’s status and financial position the decision was made to wind down its operation.”

Thanks to a tipster, we have managed to obtain an early draft of the email:

Oh f*&k.  F*&k f*&k f*&. F*&k a duck! Why maintain the ruse any longer?  We're f*&ked.  So f*&k you all and the horses you rode in on.  You think this s*&t's easy?  You try it.  Thank you to our loyal clients who stuck with us through the good times and bad.  That's f*&king sarcasm you dimwits.  Now good luck finding a job in this economy.  Did I mention we're f*&ked?

Yoss out.

Ok, those are pretty strong words, and I apologize for the vulgarities.

I suppose that's why you should never send an email when you're upset or angry.

Actually, here's the final real version they decided to go with:

As we are sure you are aware, these have been extremely difficult times for the firm. Over the past few months we have been dealing with many issues that have had a negative impact on the firm's ability to continue. After meeting with the Bank and evaluating the firm's status and financial position the decision was made to wind down its operations.

Accordingly we are giving to each of our employees the following notice:

It is anticipated that the firm will continue to provide legal services to its clients and will continue to conduct its regular business through March 31, 2011. Effective March 31, 2011, the firm will permanently close most of its facilities and will cease to provide legal services and will begin winding down operations. We hope to accomplish this with the least possible disruption to the lives of our employees, our clients and the community.

With the exception of several employees needed for the wind down period all employees of the firm will be laid off between now and March 31, 2011.

I don't know, the first draft has a kind of raw honesty you don't see much in law firm communications nowadays.....

Yossers, feel free to share your views in comments, our thoughts and prayers are with you and we wish you good luck in finding alternative employment.

More Yoss Defections.....in New Jersey?

I've heard of a lot of reasons why Yoss lawyers are jumping ship, but this is a new one:

Princeton, N.J.'s Wong Fleming, which last year merged into what was then the country's largest minority-owned law firm, Adorno & Yoss, now Yoss, is now stepping out onto the national stage on its own.

The firm announced Monday that it has re-emerged as a 45-lawyer practice that will operate in 13 states and the District of Columbia. It will retain its offices in Princeton, New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore, which pre-existed last April's merger, and add new ones in Chicago, Seattle, Houston and elsewhere.

CEO Linda Wong says the new and expanded Wong Fleming is the biggest women-owned firm and the third-largest minority-owned firm in the U.S.

Most of the lawyers at the rebranded firm are coming from Adorno & Yoss, which has been shedding lawyers and offices in the wake of a suspension imposed Oct. 27 on founding partner Henry "Hank" Adorno over his handling of a class action. Two days after the suspension, Adorno & Yoss's paychecks bounced when a lawyer trying to collect a $1.5 million malpractice judgment against the firm garnished its bank accounts. Adorno resigned from the firm, now known as Yoss LLP.

It was not Yoss's financial situation, but its inability to maintain its status as a minority-owned firm, which caused Wong Fleming to leave, says Daniel Fleming, Wong Fleming's managing partner.

To qualify as minority-owned, more than half the equity must be held by minorities, and the departure of Adorno, who is Hispanic and owned a large portion of the firm, might have been enough to lose the designation.

"We had to leave because they told us they didn't think they could retain the minority ownership model of the firm," he says. Otherwise, Wong and Fleming "would have ridden out the storm."

So it wasn't the departure of Hank Adorno in disgrace, the bounced checks, the loss of just about everyone but Wes Parsons, the lack of voice mail(!), it was the potential problem with minority ownership status?

Ok, got it.

BTW, I love this statement on the revamped Adorno & Yoss website:

Founded in 1986, Yoss LLP has been one of the fastest growing law firms in the hemisphere.

Really?  The entire hemisphere?

Ok, got it.

This Atlas Has Shrugged -- Yoss Fort Lauderdale Office Latest "Restructuring" Victim.

Rumors have been abounding regarding the Fort Lauderdale Yoss office, and it appears to be true:

Veteran South Florida attorney Jan Douglas Atlas is leaving Yoss LLP and taking several attorneys with him, a source close to the firm said.

Atlas has for years been the manager of the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office, where he practices in commercial litigation and oversees all securities lawsuits.

Atlas could not immediately be reached for comment, and a receptionist said the voice mail for the Fort Lauderdale office was temporarily down.

Wow, even the voice mail is down(!) --restructuring, it's a bitch.

Correction: WPB Yoss Office Not "Closed" But Partners and Rent Not Paid -- Much Better!

So was there or was there not a "restructuring" at the WPB Adorno Yoss?

Managing partner George Yoss says yes, but what the hail does he know:

John Koenig, the former Yoss partner in charge in West Palm Beach, said he left Tuesday with associate Mandell Sundarsingh to start the Boynton Beach firm Koenig & Dinkin with lawyer Mitch Dinkin. The new firm specializes in collections, commercial litigation and creditors' rights.

"I left because I was not getting paid," Koenig said. "We were not receiving paychecks for awhile."
He also said the Coral Gables-based firm had not paid rent at the office for three months.

Actually, when you're not paying your partners and the office has not paid its rent in three months, I consider that a "restructuring."

Or a "consolidation," or the "implementation of a strategic plan," or "focusing on your core capabilities," or "redeploying firm assets in a more efficient manner," or.......

Jack Reiter Leaves Yoss for Carlton Fields!

That intrepid person reports on the departure of Jack Reiter, former head of Adorno Yoss' appellate department, to Carlton Fields:

“I’ve been presented with a terrific opportunity to become part of a strong statewide firm and an extremely well-respected practice group,” Reiter said.

Reiter added, "I also was presented with a terrific opportunity to be paid on time, or just to be paid at all, and I found being paid for work that I do to be a significant factor in my future ability to earn any income."

Oh I kid, I kid.

All is well with Yoss, how could it not be?

I remember a time in college when I was flat-broke, and had to sell my blood to get any cash, plus I ate most meals at the food kitchen where you could get rice and bread for free in exchange for helping to clean up after dinner.

This seriously happened to me.

I call that my "restructuring period."

Taxpayers Continue to Pay Lawyers to Defend Citrus Canker Debacle.

It's hard to describe exactly why I find the state's continued defense of its disastrous citrus canker eradication program so irksome.

Was it the program in the first place, so badly designed, industry-skewed, poorly managed and enforced, and which only succeeded in eradicating a way of life for many of us who grew up in South Florida enjoying the abundant fruit on every street corner and every backyard?

Was it the way the state wasted millions of taxpayer dollars paying private lawyers to take untenable legal positions and engage in "scorched earth" litigation tactics that only managed to hurt the citizens they were entrusted to defend?

Is it the pointless waste of judicial resources, forcing jurors, experts, judges, and precious time and money to be spent trying the same issues over and over again in county after county?

Whatever it is, the madness needs to end.

Consider the exceedingly narrow playing field carved out by the state in the latest citrus canker case going to trial in Palm Beach:

“It’s better to have a short citrus tree. You get more fruit, and it’s easier to get to,” Parsons said.

How f&*%ing inane! 

Seriously, is anyone even piloting this ship???

Adorn the Loss.

To my many friends at Adorno Yoss, it's been fun interesting had it moments it was real.

How Does "Ruden Yoss" Sound?

 Hey, I'm trying to think outside the box:

Financial troubles at Ruden McClosky are deepening, with the Fort Lauderdale-based firm suspending all capital payouts to former equity shareholders.

In a letter to about 50 to 60 former equity shareholders Saturday, co-managing partners Michael Krul and Carl Schuster said the firm was declaring a "moratorium" on all capital account repayments. The three-paragraph letter stated the firm would review the situation "later in the year."

The survival of the firm has been a subject of open debate for months. Sources at two law firms that were approached said Ruden has been shopping for merger partners.

Aren't the repayments a contractual obligation?  How can you declare a "moratorium" on paying back a debt?

Oh well, I don't do transactional work.

State Thinks Blowing Millions in Fees and Losing Millions in Damages Means They Won!

You gotta love litigating against the state -- it's like fighting with a headless chicken:  there's no one in charge, no one accountable, no one making "hard" decisions that involve long-term thinking, and absolutely -- and I mean absolutely -- no one counting the money.

That's how you can wind up with this absurd decision by the 4th DCA, which the DBR reports on here,  where the court actually has to explain to the state that spending tons of money trying and losing the citrus canker case does not mean that the state somehow "won" and that they therefore are entitled to -- of all things -- fees(!):

We find the Department’s arguments to be frivolous. No matter how one looks at the facts, the owners prevailed on the significant issues. The mere fact that the owners sought more in damages than the jury awarded does not mean that they did not prevail on both issues of liability and damages.

 This is mind-numbingly stupid.

In fact, I can't even begin to put in words how asinine this argument is and that the state actually went ahead and paid Wes Parsons good taxpayer money to take it all the way up on appeal.

God I gotta do something to calm down and take my mind off this drivel: 

Ok, it's working -- I'm starting to feel better now.

Exodus Continues at Yoss.

The slow yet steady drumbeat of departures continues at Adorno & Yoss, according to the ever intrepid Julie Kay:

Neil Linden, head of business litigation at Yoss LLP, is moving to GrayRobinson's Miami office and bringing two lawyers with him.

The nine-year veteran of Yoss, formerly Adorno & Yoss, is leaving with shareholder Phillippe Deve and associate David Levin on an undetermined date.

Linden, national chair of business and commercial litigation department at Yoss, said his departure is due to a conflict that developed over a large institutional client of his and a new client with the firm. The clients were not disclosed.

"We had a conflict we could not resolve," he said.

Hmm, I can't speak to the details of this particular conflict, but I know one conflict that would be difficult for any law firm (in the generic sense of course) to overcome -- I would like to be paid vs. sorry but we really can't pay you right now.

If I were the good folks (folk?) at Yoss, I would consider an entire rebranding overhaul.

For example, it's kinda weird or perhaps even ghoulish that the firm website is still adorno.com.

And the "Yoss" thing feels incomplete and awkward, doesn't it?

It'd be like if Abbott and Costello suddenly just became "Costello!" -- ok Lou, we wish you well, but maybe you need to go in an entirely new direction?

More Fun and Lawsuits at Adorno-less Yoss

The Intrepid One™ breaks an amazing story of a botched lawsuit, botched again, then apparently botched again:

The malpractice case sprang roots 23 years ago when Jacobs Wind Electric and principal Paul Jacobs first began pursuing legal action against the Florida Department of Transportation in a patent case.
Jacobs and his father invented a tidal gate that prevented water stagnation and debris accumulation in waterways.

Two years after allegedly discovering DOT was using the system in 1987, the plaintiffs sued the state in federal court for patent infringement. They later brought suit in Hillsborough Circuit Court, hiring Shahady, then with Houston & Shahady in Fort Lauderdale, in 1998. Soon after, Shahady merged his firm with Adorno & Yoss.

According to Paul Jacobs, Shahady and his firm took no action in the state case from 2001 to 2003. As a result, the suit was dismissed for "want of prosecution." According to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure in effect at the time, lawsuits that lay dormant for more than one year can be dismissed. That rule has since been changed, and courts automatically notify parties before suits are dropped.

The dismissal was affirmed by the 2nd District Court of Appeal in 2004.

In 2005, Paul Jacobs sued Shahady and Adorno & Yoss for legal malpractice.

"Defendants' conduct in allowing the underlying lawsuit to lie dormant for a period of over one year … was a breach of defendants' duty to exercise reasonable care, skill and diligence on plaintiffs' behalf," the complaint stated.

If Shahady had done something during the year, the Jacobses could have recovered more than $1 million, representing the DOT's savings by using the device, they alleged.

Adorno fought the case right up until the trial last summer when the firm conceded liability. After a one-week trial, jurors found for the Jacobses in July, awarding them $300,000 plus $150,000 in attorney fees. Broward Judge John Murphy III added pre-judgment interest for a total verdict $1.5 million.

Even though the law firm admitted liability, it's appealing the verdict because it does not believe the dollar amount is fair, Shahady said.

"It was our fault that the suit got dismissed," Shahady said in an interview. "Mr. Jacobs did not cause this problem. But we felt pretty strongly that there was no basis for the damage award in terms of dollars."

Ok, question for Tom -- if you admittedly blew the deadline and it was "our fault" the case got dismissed for want of prosecution, why fight liability right up until the date of trial?  Why not focus on damages and get the thing quietly settled?

It gets worse:

The circumstances surrounding the garnishment of the firm's Wachovia bank account was another case of Adorno & Yoss dropping the ball. The firm should have posted a bond to cover the judgment pending appeal, but "our attorney was on vacation, and it fell through the cracks," Shahady said.

Just like the underlying case!

It gets worser:

He called the incident "one of those unfortunate things" and said it would not have happened if the Jacobses' case were in Fort Lauderdale rather than Tampa, and if it happened six months later after a change in the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.

I don't like to be too negative, but what does the court's proximity to your law office have to do with whether or not you allegedly calendared the date a case you are handling could get dismissed for want of prosecution?

Also, why blame the Rules for not informing you of that date?

It gets even worser:

Even though the law firm admitted liability, it's appealing the verdict because it does not believe the dollar amount is fair, Shahady said.

Please don't.

Tom, you're a good lawyer.  These things happen.  Maybe take what has happened so far in this case as a sign that perhaps you all should consider a different approach?

I also don't see why Larry should feel bad about garnishing the firm to protect the judgment:

"Until the garnishment was issued, senior management at the firm would never talk to me," he said. "I wish they had handled things differently from beginning to end."

Kellogg wound up releasing his garnishment the next day, saying he felt bad that employees did not get paid. At that point, the bond was posted.

An outside observer who did not want to be identified said he was shocked that Kellogg would garnish a law firm's bank account, particularly on payday.

But Kellogg said he immediately dropped the garnishment when he found out employees were affected. "I worked tirelessly on it," he said.

What's shocking about this?  Larry is obligated to protect the judgment on behalf of his client, not make sure employees at Yoss get paid from a diminishing set of funds.

And I love how no one allegedly would reach out from Yoss to settle this thing directly with Larry.  Instead you appear to be fighting tooth and nail, contesting liability, forcing the matter to go to trial, losing the trial, then appealing the judgment.

Then Julie finds out about it and you get to relive it all over again in the DBR.

Or is there another side to this story that I'm missing?  Someone help me out here.

BREAKING -- SFL Out at Law Blog He Founded!

Boy there's seem to be a lot of this going around:

Adorno & Yoss became Yoss LLP today to comply with the law license suspension of firm co-founder and chairman Henry "Hank" Adorno.

Co-founder George Yoss is taking over as managing partner of the Coral Gables-based firm, and Adorno is out as chairman and chief executive officer of the 24-year-old firm.

Adorno was suspended indefinitely last Wednesday by the Florida Supreme Court for his role in a misleading $7 million class action settlement involving the City of Miami that benefited only seven people, but arrangements for operating without him are incomplete. The Adorno-free firm does not yet have a website. That’s still in the works.

In our case, South Florida Lawyers will simply be known as "Lawyers."