David J. Stern and the "Too Much Mail" Defense?

If you get a bill in the mail, let's say for your mortgage payment, and you just throw it on top of a giant pile of junk mail accumulating on your kitchen table and never do anything else with it, do you think your bank will care?

Does that mean you never have to pay it?

Now let's say you're David J. Stern and you get an Order from the 5th DCA:

Stern's attorney, Jeff Tew, said SunTrust fired Stern in mid-December, before the Feb. 16 order was issued. Also, with 10,000 pieces of mail coming into the foundering law firm every day, Tew said it's possible the notice wasn't seen.

Ok, but if you didn't get an order approving your withdrawal from the case, aren't you on the hook anyways?

And about that "too much mail" defense......seriously, in what context is that ever a legitimate defense?

David J. Stern Can't Afford to File Proper Motions to Withdraw.

 Something about this story really irks me:

Legal rules don't just allow attorneys to walk away from a case. They are supposed to file motions to withdraw, or the new attorneys are expected to file a notification that they are the new counsel.

"Florida Rules of Civil Procedure require that attorneys file a proper Motion to Withdraw from any case which they no longer plan to represent," said Eunice Sigler, a spokeswoman for the 11th Judicial Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County. "We are currently researching various options, including any remedies available through the Florida Bar."

Palm Beach County Chief Judge Peter Blanc said this week he's also trying to figure out how to proceed.

"Stern has provided notice he will no longer be attorney of record, but the court is unable to recognize it," Blanc said. "I'm told we're getting more stipulations of substitute counsel but not anywhere near the number we should have."

Blanc said he's never seen a move like Stern's before - sending a letter to judges that says "treat the pending cases as you deem appropriate."

Is this believable?

How is it possible you can't pay some paralegals to prepare and file motions?  Even if it took a month to wind down one would think Stern can -- and should -- cover these expenses.

Then the Court probably could rule on them without a hearing and Stern would be done.

Anyone else have any bright ideas?

4th DCA Upholds Class Action Suit Against NBA Commish David Stern!

Well that's what it looked like when I opened up my Herald this morning, which had a file photo of NBA Commissioner David J. Stern accompanying this story about Plantation Foreclosure King David J. Stern:

A state appeals court in West Palm Beach has ruled a class-action lawsuit claiming Plantation attorney David J. Stern charged excessive fees to homeowners fighting their foreclosures can move forward, three years after it was first filed.

The 4th District Court of Appeal's opinion upheld an earlier decision by Palm Beach Circuit Judge Thomas Barkdull. Barkdull had granted class-action certification to a suit brought by Boynton Beach electrician Loren Banner against his lender, Wells Fargo Bank, Stern and Stern's firm, which handled Wells Fargo's foreclosure work.

Who says the Herald doesn't break news?

(That Stern is one busy cat.)

Foreclosure Follies -- Lawyer Whack a Mole?

Hi kids!

Welcome back to lawyer purgatory, that period between Christmas and New Year's where everyone pretends to be working but nothing gets scheduled and no one really does anything again until next year anyways.

Ever wonder what happened to youngin' lawyers doing foreclosure work at David Stern's shop?

The pups just moved along to another foreclosure joint:

'A game of Whac-A-Mole'

The Atlanta-based McCalla Raymer law firm, which handles foreclosures for mortgage giant Fannie Mae in Georgia, hopes to do the same in Florida. In November, as the firm began setting up shop in Orlando with 10 former Stern attorneys, disgruntled homeowners in Georgia filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the firm, claiming it used forged documents to take their homes, often while they were in the midst of modifying their loans. This month four other Georgia homeowners - who are representing themselves - have filed similar lawsuits against McCalla Raymer.

The firm initially registered to do business in Florida as McCalla Raymer Florida LLC but dissolved that firm a month later and is now registered to do business in Florida as Stone, McGehee & Silver. The firm, which hired former Fannie Mae associate general counsel and foreclosure expert Susan Reid last month, has plans to expand throughout Florida, advertising for attorneys in Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Orlando. While at Fannie Mae, Reid worked with foreclosure attorneys in its retained attorney network, including those from Stern's office.

The Fort Lauderdale-based Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson has picked up five former Stern attorneys, while Shapiro & Fishman, with offices in Tampa and Boca Raton, has hired one. Both firms, as well as Stern's company and the Tampa-based Florida Default Law Group, are under state investigation.

Other lawyers who have left Stern's company are now earning a living at several Fannie Mae-designated foreclosure firms, such as Ben-Ezra & Katz in Fort Lauderdale and Kahane & Associates in Plantation.

"We did a thorough vetting of the Stern attorneys," said Marty Stone, a managing partner with McCalla Raymer. "I don't want to say we weren't concerned at all, but I do think there is a danger of painting with too broad of a brush."

Still, the distribution of former Stern attorneys to other firms feels like an injustice to some home­owners in foreclosure.

In sworn statements taken by the state attorney general's office, two former Stern employees - a paralegal and a legal assistant - attest to wrongdoing at the firm that included hiding problem files from federal auditors, forging signatures and making up documents as staff struggled to keep up with a mounting volume of foreclosures.

"It's like a game of Whac-A-Mole - these unethical, dangerous attorneys just pop up somewhere else," said Lisa Epstein, a home­owner advocate in Palm Beach County who runs the website Foreclosure Hamlet. "The Florida Bar has proven that they have no intention of disciplining these unprofessional attorneys."

 Hmm.  But for the necessity of having a live lawyer body at court hearings and mandatory mediation, I wonder whether this work wouldn't all be outsourced to India?

And young lawyers do need to pay for that education, but at a certain point I'd rather be flipping burgers in Boca than doing this kind of soul-sucking drudgery unrewarding grunt work.

David J. Stern: Living the American Dream!

Remember the old joke about the Army -- visit exotic places, meet interesting people, and kill them?

I'm reminded of that by this in depth profile of foreclosure mill maven David J. Stern, who is ably cast by Jeff Tew as the embodiment of the American dream:

“He started from scratch and has built a wonderful legal practice and has made a lot of money,” Tew said. “That’s the American dream isn’t it?”

Hail yes!

Henry Ford dreamed of every American owning an affordable means of transport.

Thomas Edison dreamed of a America lit up from sea to shining sea in glorious technicolor.

And David apparently dreamed of a massive foreclosure factory whose primary purpose is to deprive others of their American Dream:

Hilton Wiener, a Florida attorney who has defended homeowners in foreclosure cases against Stern’s firm, described Stern’s operations as “more similar to a factory than a law firm.” The business, he said, depends on homeowners’ not contesting foreclosures so that cases can move quickly through the courts to judgment, Wiener said, basing his view on former Stern paralegals whom he has hired.

“This is like a production line,” he said. “The bank needs them to get certain results. It just becomes a foreclosure processing mill.”

And really, kids, isn't that what America is all about?

Is Glenn Garvin Now Editing the New York Times?

We've seen what happens when Glenn Garvin takes over an entire newspaper.

But Garvin's appetite, not sated, has apparently led him to edit stories for the Grey Lady herself.

How else to explain this whopper from an otherwise superlative article on the foreclosure mills that infest our state:

In an interview last month, Mr. Stern, the Florida lawyer, accused Mr. McCollum, who is standing for re-election as attorney general, of political motives in opening the inquiry into his firm and others.

Come home Glenn, we're sorry, you were right about Nixon and the Half Hour New Hour, just come on home.....