America is….a White Collar Criminal Oligarchy.
Consumers and citizens cannot depend on any court, any agency, any authority to protect them from gross abuses of any powerful party.
Too big to fail. Too big to follow rules. Too big to follow the law. Too big to consider rights. Too big to be bothered by that tattered, desecrated thing called The Constitution.
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Sorry, Matt.
I do not believe these law firms are above the law. The AG screwed up the way they drafted their subpoena. The 4th DCA is just calling it as it sees it, as to this specific issue.
However, the most disturbing part of the decision is how the 4th weighs in on the trade and commerce part of Fla. Sta. § 501. Their reasoning completely overlooks the stated purpose of the statute. That is § 501.204(1) states that:
(1) Unfair methods of competition, unconscionable acts or practices, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce are hereby declared unlawful.
Then, subsection (2) goes on to state that,
It is the intent of the Legislature that, in construing subsection (1), due consideration and great weight shall be given to the interpretations of the Federal Trade Commission and the federal courts relating to s. 5(a)(1) of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. s. 45(a)(1) as of July 1, 2006.
These two provisions set the intent context for claims brought pursuant to the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) and further provide a point of reference for guidance. This last part means that the courts (should) look to the FTC for guidance on what is or is not deemed unfair and/or deceptive. Every serious treatise on this subject also points to the decisions of federal district courts as a source of guidance for state courts interpreting FDUTPA.
If the court had actually looked to see where is the greater weight of authority on this legal issue, it would have ruled differently. The 4th DCA did not get this right.
What the 4th is missing is that the conduct of the law firm is in fact in the nature of trade or commerce, because that is exactly what is occurring between the firm and its clients. Nothing in the FDUTPA statute suggests or even implies that the trade and commerce needs to be between the defendant (in this case the law firm) and the complaining plaintiff. The law firm solicits, offers, sells and then provides legal services, among other things as we have learned, to their clients. How is that not trade or commerce? They get paid for prosecuting foreclosures and other types of claims.
The District Court’s misreading or misinterpretation of the statute seriously guts the power of the FDUTPA statute because it implies that if the injured party (homeowner) is not in a direct transactional or other form contractual relationship with the offending party (in this case the law firm) then the offender is not engaged in trade or commerce. Makes no sense. Offering up bogus documents within the litigation context sure would make anyone else subject to investigation or prosecution by the AG ““ unless, of course, they advance the same legal argument made by Shapiro.
So, while I disagree with the headline that these law firms are above the law, there is real troubling news with this decision. Hopefully the AG will pursue this further. Not that we expect much from the AG’s office, but if the Florida Bar, Chief Judges, Florida Supreme Court and now the District Courts won’t put the litigation abuses in check ““ and the AG is prohibited from exercising its authority under FDUTPA ““ I might have to change my view about the headline to your post.
too sad to not be true.
i am not surprised at all.it is an attorney general ‘s office pretending to be looking out for consumers and victims of foreclosure fraud,but in reality on the side of the banks.interestingly how the ago stated to the court that they had mistated in the complaint.that was purposely done to sabotage the whole case.the fraudulent banks will ultimately prevail.and yes,we are governed or better said RULED unwittingly by a very obviously powerful criminal enterprise.