A South Florida appeals court Wednesday blocked an attempt by Attorney General Pam Bondi to subpoena a huge amount of information from a law firm that has drawn scrutiny for its representation of lenders in foreclosure cases.
The 4th District Court of Appeal reversed a lower court and quashed a subpoena issued to the Law Office of David J. Stern.
The subpoena sought wide-ranging information about the law firm’s activities, with the attorney general’s office indicating at a hearing “that it had received numerous consumer complaints regarding (the) Law Firm preparing forgeries and fraudulent documents for clients in foreclosure cases and for recordation in county public records,” according to Wednesday’s opinion.
But the appeals court said Bondi’s office improperly issued the subpoenas under a law known as the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
A three-judge panel said the law firm’s activities did not fall under the definition of “trade or commerce” covered by the act.
