Foreclosure Attorney David Stern Won't Appeal Disbarment

Article Courtesy of The Daily Business Review

By Julie Kay

Published November 22, 2013

Former Plantation foreclosure attorney David J. Stern will not appeal a disciplinary referee's recommendation that he be disbarred.

In a one-line letter to the Florida Supreme Court on Monday, Stern's attorney, Jeffrey Tew of Tew Cardenas, said his client has no plans to appeal. He did not elaborate.

On Oct. 28, 2013, a referee recommended disbarment for Stern, whose lender law firm collapsed amid the robo-signing scandal. Palm Beach Circuit Judge Nancy Perez, acting as referee for the Supreme Court, concluded Stern, as the head of Plantation-based Law Offices of David J. Stern, engaged in a pattern of misconduct, improper staff training, missed hearings and abandonment of case files.

While fighting The Bar's disciplinary action, Stern, 53, stopped practicing law and bought hamburger restaurant franchises.

At one time, Stern ran the largest foreclosure defense firm in the state, employing 154 lawyers and a total of 1,200 employees to handle as many as 117,796 cases annually.