MIAMI-DADE MONDAY, JULY 22, 2019 CORAL GABLES OFFICIAL COURT NEWSPAPER OF SOUTH FLORIDA PROPERTY SELLS DailyBusinessReview.com VOL. 94, NO. 22 $2.00 SEE PAGE A12 DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW Broward Judge Suspended Without Review 100: Litigation Leads Growth Pay After Altercation in Attorney Counts at Florida Firms With Court Employee by Catherine Wilson of Akerman, which was on top in Florida as recently as 2017. by Zach Schlein Litigation firms — on both the plain- Cole Scott managing partner Richard tiffs and defense sides — made some Cole found it “very satisfying” that The Florida Supreme Court has is- of the biggest attorney hiring inroads growth at his firm came across the state sued an order suspending recently ap- in Florida in the past year, the Daily and promised more to come. He said the pointed Broward Circuit Judge Vegina Business Review’s annual Review 100 firm will open a Tallahassee office with ‘Gina’ T. Hawkins without pay. survey found. three attorneys in the next few weeks. A The high court’s decision follows For a second year, Cole, Scott & firm committee also is exploring moving the Investigative Panel of the Florida Kissane sits on top of the list of the across the state line for the first time. Judicial Qualification’s recommen- largest law firms in Florida by attor- “We’ve never opened an office that dation to suspend Hawkins filed ney count and is moving away from was not done by existing partners be- Thursday. As recounted in the JQC’s full-service firms near the top. The cause we want to keep the firm culture recommendation, Hawkins was filmed Miami-based litigation firm known the way it is,” Cole said. “If we were to wrapping her hands around a Broward for representing insurance companies start acquiring law firms, small or big, County Courthouse employee’s neck and large self-insureds grew by 13 per- there’s a real risk of losing that.” by a courthouse security camera June cent with the addition of 51 attorneys Cole said he doesn’t interview many 11. Hawkins was purportedly upset in 2018. job candidates but he did earlier in the with the employee because her after- Among the top 10, full-service day and conveyed what sounds like an noon docket was not ready as she’d Cole, Scott & Kissane managing partner firms Greenberg Traurig, Akerman, old-school, values-driven formula. expected. Richard Cole, whose firms leads the survey for GrayRobinson and Carlton Fields lost “We think of each other as a fam- The JQC classified the video as con- a second year, found it “very satisfying” that attorneys. For Greenberg, it was only ily,” he said. “We treat each other with fidential. growth at his firm came across the state. one, allowing the firm to squeak ahead SEE REVIEW 100, PAGE A10 Although the JQC panel noted Hawkins expressed remorse for the in- cident, investigators took issue with the Neglect? Yes. Excusable? judge’s characterization of her gesture as Miami’s Watson Island Flagstone one made in jest. The recommendation No. Florida Court described the judge’s actions as “wholly inappropriate,” “potentially criminal” Project Defeats Challenge on Appeal Reinstates Ruling Over and asked the Florida Supreme Court to suspend Hawkins pending the conclu- Defendant No-Show sion of their investigation. SEE HAWKINS, PAGE A6 by Raychel Lean It’s not enough for a company on the PUBLIC NOTICES & THE COURTS wrong end of a lawsuit to forward the Public notices, court information and matter to a compliance officer without business leads, including foreclosures, following up, according to the Fourth bid notices and court calendars. B1 District Court of Appeal, which revived a $43,000 judgment Wednesday against Public notices from Miami-Dade, Broward New York-based mortgage lender and Palm Beach also available at Franklin First Financial Ltd. for doing DailyBusinessReview.com/public_notices. just that. jsp. Public notices published in newspapers Broward Circuit Judge Sandra statewide available at Perlman had vacated the judgment, FloridaPublicNotices.com. based on testimony from the company’s Should you have delivery questions, chief financial officer. But that was a call 1.877.256.2472 gross abuse of discretion, according to Daily Business Review is published daily Monday through This rendering shows the Flagstone project planned for Watson Island. The two towers are the the appellate panel, because the defen- Friday, except legal holidays, by ALM Media, LLC, 1 SE 3rd planned hotels and the retail portion, which will be a total of 221,000 square feet, is between the dant couldn’t prove what happened to Ave., Suite 1750, Miami, FL 33131, (305) 377-3721. the complaint, or whether it even made © 2018 ALM, Daily Business Review (USPS 344-300) (ISSN hotels. 1538-1749) Miami. it to the intended person. Subscription Rates: One year (253) issues - basic (individual by Lidia Dinkova property where hotels and retail are set Broward software developer Chetu and small firms) $575.88 plus tax; discounted group rates available. Single copies (M-F) - $2. to rise. sued the mortgage lender for breach Back issues when available (M-F) - $6. Periodicals postage The city and the developer of Miami’s The victory comes on the heels of a of contract and unjust enrichment paid at Miami, FL. large-scale Watson Island project won settlement between the city and devel- in March 2017, claiming it owed POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Daily oper Flagstone Island Gardens LLC over $42,300 for developing and mainte- Business Review, on appeal against a would-be competi- 1 SE 3rd Ave, Suite 1750, Miami, FL 33131 tor and three people who tried to invali- a plan that started 18 years ago. nance work. date the municipal lease for waterfront SEE FLAGSTONE, PAGE A2 SEE EXCUSABLE, PAGE A2 ATTORNEY PROFILE Leslie Kroeger Calls on a Career of Criminal and Civil Work to Advocate for Consumer Protections See Page A16 Leslie Kroeger A2 dailybusinessreview.com MONDAY, JULY 22, 2019 DAILY BUSINESS REVIEW FROM PAGE A1 pointed out that the motion to vacate & Albright represented Chetu with to the right address but didn’t present wasn’t filed until December. Paul D. Turner and Benjamin L. Reiss. any evidence to explain why nothing “This unexplained two-month delay Lampert said his client is thrilled with was done. EXCUSABLE in seeking relief precludes a finding of the ruling. “You have to timely act to protect your Franklin FIrst was served but didn’t due diligence,” the opinion said. “In these situations, there is usually rights,” Lampert said. “The court has respond, according to the per curiam Coral Springs lawyers Gary S. Rosner neglect by defendants,” Lampert said. discretion, but there is a standard that opinion. After weeks of tumbleweed, of Ritter Chusid filed the motion to va- “The question is whether or not it was must be met.” Chetu moved for a default final judgment cate, claiming that the sudden depar- excusable.” Franklin First has since gone out of and a June 22 hearing. When Franklin ture of the company’s in-house counsel To vacate the judgment, the defen- business, according to its website. The First was a no-show, the trial court ruled led to “a combination of mishaps.” He is dant would have had to prove excus- company did not respond to the email in Chetu’s favor. no longer listed as counsel in the online able neglect, offer a meritorious de- address listed. The company’s CFO Doug Sanderson case filed and did not respond to a re- fense and show that it acted with due Raychel Lean reports on South Florida claimed he only learned about the judg- quest for comment by deadline. diligence in seeking relief, according litigation for the Daily Business Review. Send ment in late September and “immediate- Fort Lauderdale attorney Joey L. to the opinion. Instead, Sanderson tes- an email to [email protected], or follow her on ly” hired a lawyer, but the Fourth DCA Lampert of Perlman, Bajandas, Yevoli tified that court filings had been sent Twitter via @raychellean. FROM PAGE A1 attorneys had no comment by sues, prompting the city to modify the because he only argued he would “con- deadline submerged land lease in 2014 and the sider” re-applying rather than commit- The foursome were represented land lease in 2016. ting to participate in another round. FLAGSTONE by Carlton Fields shareholder Richard Miami residents Francine Liebman, “Such an allegation fails to provide The Third District Court of Appeal Ovelmen, senior counsel Justin Wales and Jorge Mursuli and Daniel Suarez sued in anything more than a mere possibility, on Wednesday upheld a lower court associate Dorothy Kafka as well as by 2017, and bidder Willy Bermello joined and is insufficient to meet the special in- order finding no standing for the Dubbin & Kravetz principal Samuel Dubbin. as a plaintiff in 2018. jury requirement for standing purposes,” residents and losing bidder. Their On the other side were the city at- Bermello was principal and president Chief District Judge Kevin Emas wrote torney’s office and Eugene Stearns, of BAP Development Inc., which was for a unanimous panel. Judges Norma Maria Fehretdinov, Jason Koslowe and an equity participant in losing bidder Lindsey and Bronwyn Miller concurred. David Coulter of Stearns Weaver Miller Watson Island Partners LLC. The panel also agreed with Thomas Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson in Miami. The foursome argued in Miami-Dade that the city code amendment didn’t ap- The island with a stunning view of Circuit Court that the amended leases ply because it was approved after the the downtown skyline and cruise ships violated the city charter and sought de- city OK’d the lease modifications.