IRS to Add More Law Enforcement Officials

Posted on - February 21st, 2011
Kendall Coffey, a Florida tax attorney, comments to Moneywatch on the upcoming IRS changes.
 
After resolving to step up efforts against tax evaders to help fight the federal deficit, the Obama administration announced plans to increase the number of employees at the IRS for 2012. After resolving to step up efforts against tax evaders to help fight the federal deficit, the Obama administration announced plans to increase the number of employees at the IRS for 2012.The IRS wants to add nearly 5,112 positions, 3,000 of which would made in the tax enforcement and collection sectors of the agency. "This means more audits and more risk for people who have been either evasive or negligent in paying their taxes," Kendall Coffey, a Florida tax attorney, told Moneywatch.

Read More:http://www.taxlawhome.com/Tax-News/800415319/IRS-to-add-more-law-enforcement-officials--

InnoVida Placed in Receivership

Attorney Kendall Coffey, who is handling Chris Korge’s lawsuit, said receivers have taken over operations of a company as dictated by a court order. The receiver, appointed by Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Valerie MannoSchurr, comes in response to a request from developer and attorney Chris Korge, who alleges that Osorio fraudulently misappropriated $4 million. The judge appointed Mark Meland, a partner at MelandRussin&Budwick in Miami. Two other investor lawsuits have been filed against Osorio by his neighbors on Miami Beach’s Star Island. Miami Beach businessman Claudio Osorio’s company, InnoVida Holdings, InnoVida and its subsidiary, InnoVida Services, manufacture affordable housing construction components from a fiber composite.InnoVida made headlines last year when it announced it would donate 1,000 small homes to Haiti following the disastrous earthquake in January 2010.

Read More: http://assets.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2011/03/02/innovida-placed-in-receivership.html

Receiver asks: Where Are Millions at InnoVida?

Posted on - March 9, 2011

Embattled Miami Beach businessman Claudio Osorio transferred millions of dollars out of his manufacturing company, InnoVida, before it was taken over by a court-appointed receiver, according to a report dated March 9. “InnoVida is not paying its debts as they become due,” receiver Mark Meland said in a court filing. Meland also said millions of dollars from InnoVida were moved to offshore bank accounts in the last few years. He said an InnoVida report in June indicated $37.5 million in funds moved offshore, but he had so far been unable to find out what happened to the money. The report was bad news for investors who have been trying to get money back from Osorio, including Miami Beach developer Chris Korge. “Sadly, almost all of our worst fears have been realized,” said Kendall Coffey, the attorney representing Korge. “We would have much preferred that the receiver had found a healthy company.
Read More: http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2011/03/09/receiver-asks-where-are-millions-at.html

Literary Feast

Posted on - March 9, 2011

Description:The 23rd edition of “Literary Feast”, Broward County’s premier literary festival, will host an exceptional lineup of 21 nationally known authors from March 25 to 28. The appearance of former US attorney Kendall Coffey, Pulitzer Prize nominee David Eisenhower, TV host Jane Velez-Metchell and novelist Scott Spencer will make this an outstanding festival. The festival is a treat for book lovers who will enjoy book signings, free lectures and discussions with the authors. Apart from these activities, during four days festival, authors will take part in several unique events including literary, social and educational elements in support of the local community. "The dollars raised help us provide children's literacy programs, such as the Summer Reading Program, the Children's BookFest and the Storybook Festival, all year long" said Library Foundation Board of Directors member Gordon Devens. This year, AutoNation is the presenting sponsor of "Literary Feast," Nova Southeastern University is the sponsor of "LitLIVE!," and Bank of America is the co-sponsor of "Novel Day for Students."

Read More: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/community/custom/society/broward/fl-societyse-literary-0309-20110309,0,6100189.story

Judge Names Receiver For Beach Firm

Posted on Tuesday, 03.01.11

Last year, InnoVida, a company that pledged to build fiber-composite wall panels for low-cost housing in Haiti, the Middle East and other areas of the world, also pledged to build a factory in Haiti and thousands of low-cost homes. This pledge drew a lot of publicity after the January 2010 earthquake. But it now appears that the company may have been deceiving its investors. Miami businessman Chris Korge, who invested $4 million in the company asked the judge to place it in receivership. Korge’s attorney, Kendall Coffey, said that based on the judge’s ruling, he expects the receiver will control the operations of the company, conduct an accounting of its assets and liabilities, and determine how much money is owed angry investors and lenders — a figure that could total tens of millions of dollars, according to suits filed by Korge and others. “It will be of huge interest to investors to see what the receiver can share with them in determining the truth about the company’s finances,” Kendall Coffey said. “There’s been so much stonewalling.”

Read More: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/01/2092635/judge-names-receiver-for-beach.html#ixzz1FjzICtuY

Review of Kendall Coffey’s Book “Spinning the Law”

Spinning The Law

Along with expertise in fighting legal battles, Kendall Coffey is also known as prolific author. Coffey has written some three-dozen articles on legal topics from the Yale Law and Policy Review to the Wall Street Journal. After the success of “Foreclosures In Florida” Kendall did not rest.  His new book “Spinning the Law: Trying Cases in the Court of Public Opinion” is becoming popular among lawyers, media persons, journalists, and the general public.

Here is an example review of Kendall Coffey’s book “Spinning the Law”. This review was written by James Zirin (a former Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York):

Litigators love to tell war stories, and Miami attorney, Kendall Coffey is no exception. Coffey’s book, “Spinning the Law,” is not so much an account of his own extraordinary accomplishments in court, but a passing account of celebrity trials through the ages conducted by other lawyers, and how spin dramatically affected the proceeding. It is nothing new that a lawyer must have his unique bag of tricks. In the graveyard scene, Hamlet said to Horatio, “Why may not that be the skull of a lawyer? Where be his quiddities now, his qualities, his cases, his tenures, and his tricks?” Kendall Coffey argues that spin is just another weapon in the litigator’s arsenal.

Coffey’s premise, expressed in the opening sentence of his book, is generally accepted: “When attorneys spin, it’s about trying to win,” a snappy jingle reminiscent of Johnny Cochran’s closing mantra in the O.J. Simpson trial, “If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”

What we have in “Spinning the Law” is a handbook, laced with well-known examples for trying a high-profile case in the press. As Coffey puts it, “No one really knows the full extent to which a verdict from the court of public opinion might influence decisions inside the court of law.” Ignoring that this proposition is at odds with every conception of a fair trail based solely on the evidence adduced in the courtroom, Coffey argues that the modern advocate must try to win both verdicts for the client.

His vaunting ability to engage in and recognize spin skirts the pejorative implications often associated with the term. In public relations, the term spin generally “signifies a heavily biased portrayal.” Spin often, though not always, implies disingenuous, deceptive and highly manipulative tactics. Here  spin is seen as the counter-force, as necessary in today’s world as any other protective tactic against aggressive media forces.

The old ways of spin include many of the odious tools used by Mussolini’s Ministry of Propaganda: cherry picking, i.e., selectively presenting facts and quotes that support ideal positions (thus possibly lying by omission); using loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response; obfuscation such as the so-called “non-denial denial”; phrasing that in a way presumes unproven truths; euphemisms for drawing attention away from items considered distasteful; and ambiguity in public statements. That is why judges instruct juries to avoid media accounts of the case, which in our time must include posts on Twitter and Facebook.

Kendall Coffey argues that if prosecutors are going to announce damning indictments, laced with lush tidbits of the proof they hope to present, shouldn’t defense lawyers inform the community of the mitigating circumstances or the exculpatory evidence? After all, there are two sides to every story. It is the media’s job to dig, but their tendency is to publish the salacious. What the defense puts out needs to be more coherent. If spin is used judiciously and lawfully, it can make a tremendous difference to the client in court or, perhaps just as importantly, in the real world where reputations reign supreme.

Coffey knows whereof he speaks. He has appeared repeatedly as a savvy media analyst of high-profile cases on the Today show, Good Morning America, Larry King Live, Anderson Cooper 360,˚ CNN Headline News and many other of the usual suspects. He is clearly fascinated media in all its forms and makes the case that the skills of the advocate and the spin-doctor are very much interrelated.

Coffey displays a fascination in his book with trials that have experienced intense public interest. Every case is important to the litigants and to society, but it is the high profile case that Coffey is brings to life for us. Like skimming a rock across the surface of a pond, he begins with a fraud trial in which he participated, involving the election of the Miami mayor. He then takes us on a promenade through history in which he explores the role of spin in the trials from Socrates to Joan of Arc.  Other cases he discusses are the media trials of the century: the Lindbergh kidnapping case where the press concealed movie cameras in the courtroom as a work-around to the trial court’s ruling barring cameras, and the O. J. Simpson trial where the judge ordered gavel-to-gavel coverage on national television. Could we ever forget Judge Ito? Coffey also relates his own experiences in the Elian Gonzalez custody case and speculates on the controversy’s effect in Florida on the 2000 Bush/Gore presidential contest.

In Spinning the Law Kendall Coffey serves up a hearty stew of some of the most publicized cases of recent times, those of Michael Jackson (acquittal), Kobe Bryant (prosecutor dropped case after it was abandoned by complaining witness), Martha Stewart (conviction), Scott Peterson (conviction), Gordon “Scooter” Libby (conviction), and impeached former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (conviction on one of 24 counts).

This is an entertaining and interesting book if for no other reason than to take us down the memory lane of famous trials of our era. What Coffey points out is that in the high profile case the advocate must also consider the verdict of history, and must try to influence that verdict outside, as well as inside, the courtroom.

As Judge Leval stated in the Westmoreland libel case, “Judgments of history are too subtle and too complex to be satisfied with a verdict. It may be for the best that the verdict will be left to history.”

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This article was originally published in the New York Law Journal.

Kendall Coffey Biography

Kendall Coffey

Kendall Coffey is a founding member of the Miami-based law firm Coffey Burlington, PL, which handles matters in Florida and throughout the entire U.S.. Coffey also currently serves as the Chair of the Federal Judicial Nominating Commission for South Florida. Appointed by both of Florida's United States Senators, he presides over the 21-person commission that selects individuals to be considered by the White House to become U.S. federal judges and U.S. Attorney for South Florida. Mr. Coffey served during the 1990s as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, the nation's largest federal prosecution office.

As U.S. Attorney, he was responsible for thousands of federal criminal prosecutions as well as civil lawsuits involving the United States. After his public service, he resumed private law practice with major litigation roles in such high profile cases as the Elian Gonzalez international custody battle, and the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election Recount.

Today, Kendall Coffey’s law practice areas of specialty include business disputes and litigation, national and international litigation, fraud cases, enforcement of contracts and loan agreements, government disputes and defense of criminal investigations. Along with representing business companies, Coffey Burlington focuses on assisting business people with their financial as well as personal disputes.

He is annually recognized as one of Florida Trend’s Legal Elite, Florida “Super Lawyer,” and South Florida Legal Guide’s “Top Lawyers”, recognized by the National Law Journal as one of its Lawyers of the Year for 2000, as Member of Gore Legal Team.

A frequent teacher and guest lecturer, he has been Guest Legal Analyst providing legal commentary for international networks: CNN International, Telemundo, Univision, Canadian Broadcasting Company; national networks: CNBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, FOX, MSNBC and NBC; and several local television channels.

Currently, he appears as a legal analyst and consultant for NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo. As a teacher, Mr. Coffey is adjunct faculty member for University of Miami School of Law, Florida Constitutional Law (2008 – present), Florida International University (Administrative Law 2011), and Trial Advocacy Program (1991 – 1993).

PUBLICATIONS

BOOKS

Kendall has written several books that have acquired national acclaim. These books are:

1.Florida Foreclosures: Remedies, Defenses, and Lender Liability – provides comprehensive coverage of the law as well as the legal strategies for lenders and borrowers embroiled in litigation. The title features a detailed examination of foreclosure procedures from the inception of default all the way to the impact of foreclosure appeals by compiling an analysis of the practical consideration, the legal principles and the hundreds of Florida decisions that govern the foreclosure process.

2. Spinning the Law: Trying Cases in the Court of Public Opinion – In this book Kendall Coffey writes with lucidity, knowledge and insight. Many entertaining examples and explanations of high profile cases make this book “Spinning the Law” an ideal reading for everyone who like to read about celebrity legal problems. This book also much recommended to lawyers, public relations professionals, journalists, and media students.

Some of Kendall’s other works include:

·      Contributing Author: Real Property III (Chapter on Construction Loan Agreements) The Florida Bar Law Journal

·      The Troubled Construction Loan (Chapter on Contractors), Wiley & Sons (1991)

·      Conozca A Los Estados Unidos, - Chapters on Legal System, Role of Prosecutors and Public Corruption (2009)

Educational Career

University of Florida (J.D., graduated first in March, 1978 class)

Florida Blue Key; Phi Kappa Phi; Order of the Coif, Member, Moot Court

Article Editor and Senior Student Works Editor, University of Florida Law Review (1977-1978)

University of Florida – B.S. Degree with honors (1975)

Miami Dade Community College

Palmetto Senior High School

Career in Public Sector

U.S. Attorney, Southern District of Florida (1993-1996)

Law Clerk to Hon. Lewis R. Morgan, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit (1978)

Career in Private Sector

Founding member of Coffey & Wright, L.L.P., concentrating in complex litigation at trial and appellate levels, in federal and state courts

Founding member, Coffey, Aragon, Martin & Burlington (1988-1993)

Director and Shareholder, Greenberg, Traurig, headed firm’s banking litigation division (1984-1988)

Associate, Greenberg, Traurig (1978-1984)

Kendall Coffey has also involved with charitable activities and was named as Valor Awardee in 2006 by the American Diabetes Association.

BAR ADMISSIONS

Florida; Supreme Court of Florida; U.S. District Courts, Middle, Northern and Southern Districts of Florida; U.S. Courts of Appeals, Second, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits; Supreme Court of the United States

From Emily: Having been positively influenced by Kendall's latest book “Spinning the Law” I proceeded to gather more information about Kendall's personality and career path. Some of this has already been in the public domain, albeit scattered. In this Blog I will be adding more information about him in order to create a compendium on Kendall that may be useful to the general public as well as law professionals. Your suggestions and comments are welcome.