Attorney Barry Cohen faces real estate setbacks

It appears Barry Cohen, one of Tampa's legal giants, hasn't done as well in real estate as he's fared in high-profile court cases.

The criminal defense attorney is facing foreclosure on a Redington Shores condo and lost millions on a Tierra Verde mansion, which he handed back to the bank last year.

Cohen acknowledges his Tampa law firm has hired a financial advisor to tackle some cash flow issues. But, he insists his firm is flying high and expects to collect millions in legal fees from pending cases.

"In a firm like us, you go way up and then you have valleys," Cohen said. "You have to sustain yourself during those valleys."

Cohen may be the Tampa Bay area's best-known defense attorney.

His firm, Cohen and Foster, represented former University of South Florida football coach Jim Leavitt, who was fired by the university. And it handled the divisive case of Jennifer Porter, a former school teacher who fled an accident that left two children dead.

Pinellas County Clerk of Court records show Wells Fargo bank filed a foreclosure suit against Cohen in August.

The bank is seeking to foreclose a mortgage on a Redington Shores condo appraised at about $387,000. Cohen said Wednesday there was a mix-up in his mortgage payment and the lawsuit will be dropped soon.

Wells Fargo's foreclosure attorney did not return a call or email.

Another defendant in the condo foreclosure is Brandon physician Gregory Henderson, who is engaged to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Henderson gave Cohen a personal loan of $250,000, and in return Cohen gave Henderson a lien on the Redington Shores condo, Cohen said.

Adding to Cohen's real estate woes, Pinellas County records show he handed over his beachfront Tierra Verde mansion to the Bank of Tampa last December in a process called a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

Cohen purchased the mansion in 2000 for about $1.7 million, county records show. However, he put as much as $10 million into the property over the years, Cohen said.

He let the property go because he was making $20,000 in monthly payments on a home that had lost much in value. Tierra Verde also was too far a drive from his downtown Tampa office, he said.

Cohen suggested his enemies are behind gossip circulating about his law firm.

It didn't help matters when a named partner in Cohen's firm, Stephen Romine, left to join another law firm in the summer.

Cohen gets legal fees from settlements and verdicts, rather than from hourly billing, which can create cash flow problems while he waits for payment, he said.

In the past, he tapped into loans from banks and investment funds to help pay the daily bills but some of those sources have stopped lending to lawyers.

He insisted his firm is faring well.

"My firm's in great shape. We've got great people," Cohen said.