DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
FOURTH DISTRICT
January Term 2011
STATE OF FLORIDA,
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL,
Appellant,
v.
SHAPIRO & FISHMAN, LLP,
Appellee.
No. 4D10-4526
[April 27, 2011]
The issue presented in this appeal is whether the trial court erred in quashing a civil investigative subpoena duces tecum issued by the Office of the Attorney General and served on appellee Shapiro & Fishman, LLP, a law firm. We find the trial court did not err since the Attorney General’s investigative subpoena, issued exclusively under the statutory authority of Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA), sections 501.201-.213, Florida Statutes, was issued to investigate actions of the appellee law firm not covered under the rubric of “trade or commerce” as clearly required by this statute. Since we find the Attorney General failed to establish that the object of the civil subpoena was connected to “trade or commerce,” we need not address the other issues raised by the appellant, and we affirm.
Full opinion below…
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4closureFraud.org
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State of Florida, Office of the Attorney General, v. Shapiro & Fishman, Llp
Your headline is wrong – the gist of this decision is not that lawyers are above the law, rather, the law applies equally to everyone. The problem with the subpoena was that it was issued pursuant to a statute that did not apply in this case. The law firm was not providing any services to the people being foreclosed, it was providing services to the banks that were doing the foreclosing.
Had the AG’s office issued the subpoena pursuant to a law that applied to this situation (or better yet, had the AG’s office contacted the Bar to begin their own investigation) then the subpoena should have been upheld.
Why and in what world did the AG go ater them in state court, when the bank attorneys are clearly “debt colletors” under the FDCPA Fair Debt Collection Practices Act?????And because the banksdonot have standing as “holder in due course,”they could alsobe included. Really, an amature would have done better. Maybe he was ordered to do so.
Maybe it is another”GIFT” from our “good ole boy “system of law.
Shame on the Attorney general. If they can’t even file the suit right, don’t u think they ought to have a job in another sector? Obviously they are not capable of protecting the people. This is absurd and just another example of living amongst the Devil and his brew. Our justice system is a JOKE. Perhaps the AG should go back to Law school and learn how to file a suit properly. I have to admit, it seems they did this intentionally. Using the law against itself. What a wicked world in which we are trying to live. Deb
“They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.”
Proverbs 28:4
I’m a contender.