Fort Lauderdale Judge Gives Florida AG The Go-Ahead In David Stern Robo-Signer Probe; Foreclosure Mill's Counsel Says Appeal Will Follow

In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports:

• A Broward County judge's ruling on Friday gives Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum the right to continue his investigation into a Plantation foreclosure law firm. Circuit Judge Eileen O'Connor denied a request from the law offices of David J. Stern to quash the state's subpoena for documents relating to the firm's procedures, clients and investments.

• That leaves the lower courts split on which agency has the right to police law firms employing hundreds of people who prepare thousands of documents monthly for lenders and loan services.

• Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jack Cox, presiding over the Shapiro & Fishman foreclosure law firm's bid to throw out the state's subpoenas, had ruled against the attorney general a second time on Thursday. Cox said The Florida Bar, the State Supreme Court and the lower courts have jurisdiction over lawyers and their conduct, not the attorney general.

• O'Connor gave no reason for her decision. Her order said the motion based on the argument "that the Attorney General has no jurisdiction to issue a subpoena to a law firm" was denied. "We respectfully disagree with the ruling," said Miami attorney Jeffrey Tew, representing Stern. He said he would file an appeal.

• Tew had echoed the argument used by Shapiro & Fishman attorney Gerald Richman in Tew's hearing before O'Connor earlier this week. But Tew's focus was that the foreclosure firm's practices did not fall under the deceptive and unfair trade statute cited by the state because it had no direct relationship with homeowners. Tew would not speculate why two judges ruled differently on the subpoena cases, given the motions cited the same legal grounds.

• Who will investigate the foreclosure firms' actions ultimately may be decided by the appellate courts. The Attorney General's Office said Thursday that it still was considering an appeal of Cox's decision on Shapiro & Fishman, which has offices in Boca Raton and Tampa.

For the story, see Broward judge denies firm's bid to stop state probe.