All things Florida Man (4 Viewers)

BUNNELL, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man is back in jail for impersonating a law enforcement officer just days after he was arrested for the exact same charge, sheriff’s officials said.

LeRoy Stotelmyer, 60, was arrested March 11 after investigators got a tip from a toll bridge attendant who showed them video of the man flashing a law enforcement badge twice on March 11 to avoid paying a $2 toll, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post............

 
A new sub-category: Florida Lawyer

Atty Who Depantsed At Court Security Check Fights DQ Bid
By Mike LaSusa

Share us on: By Mike LaSusa

Law360 (April 16, 2020, 10:44 PM EDT) -- An attorney who took off his pants at a security checkpoint in a Florida federal courthouse is fighting a bid to disqualify him as counsel for lawyers being sued by a timeshare company, describing the attempt to boot him from the case as a "heedless and vituperative" attack.

In a Wednesday filing, Atlanta-based attorney Robert M. Ward accused Wyndham Vacation Ownership Inc. of trying to crush his career after the Orlando-headquartered timeshare company urged the court not to allow the withdrawal of the other attorneys representing The Montgomery Law Firm LLC until Ward also withdraws from the case.

"It is Wyndham's purpose to destroy lead counsel's legal practice, and thus to serve a ruined-attorney, as an object-lesson in futuro, to any younger attorney who would dare to oppose Wyndham's continuing unethical, unlawful and fraudulent practices in the sale of their so-called 'timeshares,'" Ward said.

Wyndham had argued that Ward doesn't live in Florida, so he can't handle the case until he finds local counsel to replace the attorneys who asked to withdraw. The timeshare company also pointed to an incident earlier this year in which Ward apparently got huffy with security guards at a Tampa federal courthouse.

Ward admitted in his Wednesday filing that he had disrobed at the checkpoint, but said he was given "express permission" to do so by the officers after they refused to "conduct a standard 'pat-down.'"

But in a Feb. 21 order directing Ward to defend his provisional admission to the Florida court in light of the depantsing incident, U.S. District Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell said she had "serious questions about whether he should be allowed the privilege of practicing in this court."

"Ward's behavior demonstrated a lack of respect for the legal system and those who serve it," the judge said. "His behavior was discourteous, uncivil, and undignified. Above all, Ward failed to uphold the honor and dignity of the profession."

Ward is representing The Montgomery Law Firm in a case in which Wyndham accused the firm and others of engaging in a "timeshare exit" scheme in which scammers "typically demand exorbitant up-front payment from consumers, and then do little or nothing on behalf of the consumer, often leaving the consumer with damaged or ruined credit."

Counterclaims filed by Ward on behalf of his clients allege Wyndham brought the suit to intimidate "so-called 'timeshare release companies' and their lawyers who represent dissatisfied and aggrieved Wyndham timeshare owners."

Ward and opposing counsel didn't respond on Thursday to requests for comment. An attorney working with Ward on the case declined to comment on the record.

Wyndham is represented by Glennys Ortega Rubin, Alfred J. Bennington and Jonathan P. Hart of Shutts & Bowen LLP.

Some of the defendants are represented by Coleman W. Watson and Leia Leitner of Watson LLP and Robert M. Ward.

The case is Wyndham Vacation Ownership Inc. et al. v. The Montgomery Law Firm LLC et al., case number 8:19-cv-01895, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
 

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