Head of Greenberg Traurig, Miami, Apologizes in Open Court for Firm’s Role in Ponzi scheme Trial

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On Friday, in an unusual public admission and apology by the head of a big law firm, Cesar Alvarez, executive director of Greenberg Traurig told U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke “I am very saddened for the firm and for the lawyers.” The admission by Alvarez came at the end of a two-day contempt hearing.

However, Alvarez assured the court that “there was no conspiracy” and “nothing intentionally done” and it just happened that vital documents in possession of Greenberg Traurig were not provided to the investors fleeced by Ponzi king Scott Rothstein when they moved against GT’s client, the Toronto-Dominion Bank. The TD Bank stands accused of hiding and doctoring the records from the trial. But the duty of representing the bank at the court was that of Greenberg Traurig, and they somehow ‘missed’ to provide the most vital documents that showed TD Bank had not followed its statutory liabilities.

The TD Bank admitted “mistakes” lost a $67 million judgment which went to the plaintiffs and fired Greenberg Traurig.

  

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On April 24, faced with dire consequences before the court, two Greenberg lawyers Schnapp and Skolnick disclosed to the judge that TD Bank possessed a key financial document on its anti-money laundering policy whose existence had been denied by both the bank and Greenberg Traurig during the trial. They took the stand and confirmed that they had learned of the existence of the documents from former fellow Greenberg attorney Evans, who was mainly responsible for the bank’s evidence during the trial.

Evans, who has already left Greenberg for apparently greener pastures, told the judge that she had received the alleged document as part of an email attachment from a TD-Bank officer. She said, “I don’t know if I looked at the mails.” On Friday, she apologized for arguing at trial that there was “no document” and that the plaintiff’s attorney, Mandel had “created” it.

Evans told the court, “It turns out both those statements are incorrect … I owe the court an apology and I owe Mr. Mandel an apology.”