Paralegal accused of stealing from law firm

Recent Cases

Authorities say a South Florida paralegal stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from her Fort Lauderdale law firm.

Miami-Dade officials on Tuesday charged 53-year-old Brenda Wilcott-Kelly with more than 80 felonies, including grand theft and forging documents. Records show she's also took money from a lawyer who was on his deathbed.

Employees of Hermelee & Geffin were in court Tuesday as Judge Dennis Murphy set Wilcott-Kelly's bond at $116,000.

Defense attorney Morgan Cronin said his client is innocent.

According to the arrest affidavit, Wilcott-Kelly took $82,472 from the firm to pay off her husband's credit cards. She is also accused of stealing $31,050 from lawyer Steven A. Schultz, while he was in the hospital. Schultz leased space from the firm.

Related listings

  • Lawyer defends Nevada truck firm in Amtrak crash

    Lawyer defends Nevada truck firm in Amtrak crash

    Recent Cases 07/11/2011

    A lawyer for the Nevada trucking company whose tractor-trailer slammed into an Amtrak train, killing six people, defended the company’s safety record Thursday and said it was not at fault in two previous accidents cited in state safety records. John ...

  • Law school enrollment in Missouri lags as legal jobs dry up

    Law school enrollment in Missouri lags as legal jobs dry up

    Recent Cases 07/03/2011

    Missouri law schools expect fewer students in the fall after several years of significant enrollment growth both regionally and nationally. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported this week that the University of Missouri's flagship campus in Columbia h...

  • Los Angeles Dodgers file for bankruptcy

    Los Angeles Dodgers file for bankruptcy

    Recent Cases 06/27/2011

    The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection, blaming Major League Baseball for rejecting a television deal with Fox Network to give the storied baseball team an urgent injection of cash. Monday's filing marks a dramatic attempt by Dodgers...

USCIS Will Begin Accepting CW-1 Petitions for Fiscal Year 2019

On April 2, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting petitions under the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) program subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2019 cap. Employers in the CNMI use the CW-1 program to employ foreign workers who are ineligible for other nonimmigrant worker categories. The cap for CW-1 visas for FY 2019 is 4,999.

For the FY 2019 cap, USCIS encourages employers to file a petition for a CW-1 nonimmigrant worker up to six months in advance of the proposed start date of employment and as early as possible within that timeframe. USCIS will reject a petition if it is filed more than six months in advance. An extension petition may request a start date of Oct. 1, 2018, even if that worker’s current status will not expire by that date.

Since USCIS expects to receive more petitions than the number of CW-1 visas available for FY 2019, USCIS may conduct a lottery to randomly select petitions and associated beneficiaries so that the cap is not exceeded. The lottery would give employers the fairest opportunity to request workers, particularly with the possibility of mail delays from the CNMI.

USCIS will count the total number of beneficiaries in the petitions received after 10 business days to determine if a lottery is needed. If the cap is met after those initial 10 days, a lottery may still need to be conducted with only the petitions received on the last day before the cap was met. USCIS will announce when the cap is met and whether a lottery has been conducted.

Business News

Clayton, MO Federal Criminal Defense Attorney The Law Offices of John M. Lynch, LLC, provides strong representation for clients with federal criminal defense. >> read
DuPage IL worker's comp lawyers The law firm of Krol, Bongiorno & Given, Ltd. has been a leader in the field of workers’ compensation law in DuPage, Illinois. >> read