Rothstein Got Top National Rating For Ethics

BY BUDDY NEVINS

Voters beware.

For years I’ve seen judicial candidates brag about their high Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings as lawyers. Brochures proudly proclaim the candidate is “AV Rated.”

 I always wondered whether such ratings were valid.

Apparently sometimes, the ratings are very, very, very flawed.

How could a big national firm like Martindale know about individual lawyers?

They didn’t know much about Scott Rothstein.

Martindale Hubbell brags that the ratings  “serve as an objective indicator that a lawyer has the highest ethical standards and professional ability and are used by buyers of legal services to justify their hiring decision.

The highest ethical standards!!!

Then how did Rothstein get the highest possible rating?  

Seven of the 11 RRA shareholders are rating AV Preeminent by Martindale, including Scott Rothstein, Stuart Rosenfeldt, Russell Adler, Steve Lippman, Les Stracher, Marc Nurik and Carlos Reyes.

There are questions how much some of these guys note, there are no women shareholders at RRA, according to Martindale Hubbell knew about the scams taking place.

Barry Stone and Grant Smith, two other shareholders, were given the BV ratings.  That isn’t quite as good as the top rating, but still label the lawyers “distinguished.

(An aside:  I find it humorous that Stone, a former appeals court judge, is only rated BV, while Rothstein is rated AV.
 A bit of history: Before being appointed to the appeals court, Stone was the circuit judge who presided over the criminal cases surrounding another major Broward scam, the International Gold Bullion Exchange case in the mid-1980s. The state fraud case was filed by Mike Satz’s State Attorney’s Office.)

Martindale Hubell states that the ratings rely on “real-world imput from other legal professionals.,

I guess Rothstein fooled the lawyers reporting to Martindale-Hubbell.  Just like he is alleged to have fooled investors.

Bottom line:  When judicial candidates crow that they are AV Rated by Martindale Hubbell, remember who else is AV Rated Scott Rothstein.



8 Responses to “Rothstein Got Top National Rating For Ethics”

  1. Lady Law says:

    Lawyers use the AV rating for bragging rights. It really means nothing. I know plenty of unrated lawyers who can litigate rings around AV lawyers.

  2. Willie Stark says:

    I would rather rely on Angie’s list . After all didn’t Rothstein try to stiff his bug exterminator , house painter and goodness knows how many other small tradesmen. As for Nurik his ethical and professional standards are sadly lacking as evidenced by his recent behaviour including having lunchtime cocktails at a prominent city restaurant while he is “hiding” his client.

  3. Chaz Stevens says:

    Two words. Angie’s list.

    Real world input from real world customers.

  4. Lard Boy says:

    Martindale’s peer-review ratings are a joke. All you have to do is submit as references the names of at least 18 lawyers (not in your firm) or judges.

    It’s not dissimilar to the “Florida Super Lawyers” magazine/scam. Get some references, pay a few bucks, and presto change-o, you’re a Florida Super Lawyer with your picture and a profile in the slick glossy.

  5. Broward Judges says:

    I know not much about this Rothstein fellow. However I do know a little to much about Broward Judges and that would be that if one really wanted to hide something from them, just put it smack in the middle of the Constitution. I guarantee that they will NEVER find it. Therfore the BV rating for judge Stone.

  6. Rothstein for Judge says:

    Two years ago, Scott Rothstein, at the height of his popularity, could have been elected a judge in this county hands down. Especially with an AV rating.

    Do you still think it’s a good idea for us to elect judges in Florida? Or wouldn’t it make more sense to have them screened by random panels of say, retired judges, and then appointed on merit in some way?

    Worse, Scott Rothstein was appointed by Crist to be on the Broward Judicial Nominating Committee. He basically got to decide who the judges were whenever there was a vacancy.

    How frigging scary is that?

    Florida is now America’s 4th largest state. We need to grow up here and stop playing by the same rules that we used when the richest guy in town grew the most oranges. We need to shed ourselves of good ‘ol boy, nowhere, yesterday, retro, half retarded cracker, dung kicking ways and get somewhere intelligent as a community.

    Florida has too much to offer, this is a paradise that is hardly meeting it’s potential; not to ourselves and to the nation as a whole.

    We are not living up to a fraction of Florida’s potential and the main reason is that we refuse to get out of our own way and evolve to a higher state of being.

    When the hell are we going to wake up and demand better?

    We are like a bunch of dumb pigs down here, prefering to eat our own shit rather than taking two simple steps forward and feast on something truly satisfying.

  7. IMJUSTBEACHY says:

    Yes, unfortunately, like so much else in our current day -this rating is also half – assed “BS” and still people, for whatever insane reason, continue to ” blindly “believe and often times pay via their noses to be royally duped!
    Chaz may be quite an unusual and dramatic example but he does seem to use his “skills” to uncover wrongs and try to get us to, at least begin to understand what is happening out there and that should encourage us all to insist “issues” are corrected.I
    It is becoming more and more evident that the interested public is craving folks like you Buddy, Bob Norman, Tom Francis, Mikie Mayo, Grimm, Christiansen, Charlotte Greenbarg and yup, especially our very own sweet, cute little local guy, Chaz Stevens!
    Love you all for fighting the good fight over and over and over and keep us all in the loop!

  8. charley varrick says:

    Scott Rothstein’s rating shouldn’t be “AV”,rather it should be “AH”..MEANING “ASSHOLE”…