Prominent Fort Lauderdale law firm to be placed in receivership

FORT LAUDERDALE - A high-profile Fort Lauderdale law firm will ask to be placed in a receivership later today and has no money to pay employees, according to an e-mail sent by Broward Chief Circuit Judge Victor Tobin to his fellow judges.

The move comes after the law firm Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler hired a former top prosecutor to investigate allegations involving founding partner Scott Rothstein, a prominent philanthropist and one of Broward County's biggest political contributors, the Sun Sentinel confirmed Sunday night.

The exact nature of the investigation was unclear, but an investment group that did business with Rothstein confirmed Sunday that it had contacted the U.S. Attorney's Office within the past few days.

Banyan, an investment group that includes Fort Lauderdale businessman George Levin, contacted federal prosecutors with concerns about "suspicious activity," said spokesman Jesse Derris. He declined to elaborate.

In an e-mail sent at 6:45 a.m. to his fellow judges, Tobin wrote that he learned of "very distressing news" on Sunday.

Fla. law firm seeks dissolution as lawyer probed

Associated Press

Mon Nov 2

0