Foreclosure law firm fighting AG's investigation

One of the foreclosure firms under a fraud investigation by the Florida Attorney General's Office is fighting back.

Shapiro & Fishman this morning asked a Palm Beach judge to "quash" an investigative subpoena by the AG's office.

An attorney representing the firm said a subpoena for marketing and advertising material does not pertain to the allegations.

"This law firm doesn't advertise or market itself," Gerald Richman of Richman Greer, P.A., legal counsel for Shapiro & Fishman said in an interview.

Furthermore, Richman said the attorney General's office doesn't have jurisdiction to investigate the law firm.

"If they have a compliant, they should go to the Florida Bar," Richman said. "We think this is really a political situation. This investigation was launched during a highly-contested political campaign."

Florida's Attorney General has accused four large "foreclosure mills" of rushing cases through the system and potentially fabricating documents and signatures.

The firms under investigation are David J. Stern, Marshall C. Watson, and Shapiro & Fishman, whose work together represent about 80 percent of the foreclosure proceedings in the state. Florida Default Law Group of Tampa, a fourth firm, is also under state scrutiny.

Richman argues in the motion the Attorney General lacks jurisdiction over this matter. Richman also says the subpoena "violates the Fourth Amendment, litigation, attorney-client and work product privileges."

"My client is not behind a nefarious plot or scheme in foreclosure actions," Richman said. "In fact, the Attorney General should focus on the abuses from the defense side where some foreclosure defense firms publicly market and brag how foreclosures can be delayed without legitimate defenses plus other questionable legal tactics."

Richman said in a news release that the Attorney General Bill McCollum's actions represent an abuse of government power that "intentionally or recklessly has caused harm to a law firm acting in the best interests of its clients."

Judge Jack S. Cox in Palm Beach County is expected to rule on the law firm's motion tomorrow.