Metro Atlanta attorney Michael Shaw pleaded guilty Wednesday to stealing more than $500,000 from Atlanta law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP.

Shaw, a 37-year-old resident of Mableton, Ga., worked as an associate attorney at Greenberg Traurig, specializing in bankruptcy and commercial-foreclosure litigation. From 2003 to 2009, Shaw regularly performed investigative services for clients himself, but submitted invoices in the name of an investigator who also worked for the firm. These invoices totaled $90,000.

At the same time, Shaw performed title-examination services for clients himself, but submitted invoices to the firm in the name of a fictitious vendor. He obtained the vendor’s social security number from federal bankruptcy filings and submitted fraudulent W-9 forms in the vendor’s name. These invoices totaled $425,000.

For almost six years, Shaw regularly performed work for clients, submitted fraudulent invoices to the firm’s accounting department, received checks, endorsed the checks over to himself, and deposited the funds into his personal checking account. He also continued to receive his regular law firm salary.

In June 2009, the law firm completed a client’s billing review, discovered the misconduct and fired Shaw. He was also disbarred by the Georgia State Bar.

He now faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is set for Jan. 5, 2011.

Broward Circuit Judge Eileen O'Connor cleared the way Thursday for a state attorney general's office subpoena to obtain foreclosure records from the Law Offices of David J. Stern in Plantation, which has filed foreclosures with the courts by the thousands for the nation's biggest lenders.

O'Connor'stwo-paragraph ruling offered no comment or insight into her legal reasoning but authorized the subpoena under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

"She's not required to give any explanation," said Jeffrey Tew, the Tew Cardenas attorney for Stern who asked to quash the subpoena.

Stern's back-office operation, the publicly traded DJSP Enterprises, issued a statement late Thursday saying the company is cutting its staff about 10 percent and an audit committee of independent directors has started an internal investigation with Greenberg Traurig as outside counsel.

O'Connor reached the opposite conclusion of Palm Beach Circuit Judge Jack Cox, who quashed a separate subpoena last week that was served on another law firm, Shapiro & Fishman of Boca Raton and Tampa. The West Palm Beach judge refused Thursday to reconsider his decision.

Attorney General Bill McCollum has been pursuing litigation against four Florida law firms accused of shoddy foreclosure practices.

The Michigan appeals court says it won't review the prison sentence of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who's in prison for violating probation in a criminal case.

The decision means Kilpatrick will remain in prison at least until next summer unless another court intervenes. He was sentenced to 14 months to five years for failing to report assets and turn over more money to reduce his $1 million restitution to Detroit.

The restitution was a consequence of his 2008 guilty plea to obstruction of justice. Kilpatrick had lied at a civil trial to conceal an affair with his chief of staff, a relationship later revealed through sexually explicit text messages.

Kilpatrick attorney Arnold Reed says he's not surprised by the appeals court's rejection and may take the case to federal court.

Armstrong Teasdale lawyer Daniel J. Burke has been selected for the 2010-2011 class of Leadership Clayton, a development program sponsored by the Clayton Chamber of Commerce. A total of fifteen individuals have been accepted into this year’s program.

An attorney at the firm since 2006, Burke concentrates his practice in the areas of real estate development, banking and financial services, and public finance. He has also been deeply involved in the creation and development of Armstrong Teasdale’s Future Energy Group.

Burke received his J.D. from Washington University School of Law in 2006 and his B.A., cum laude, in 2003 from Miami University-Oxford in Oxford, Ohio, where he was also selected for Phi Beta Kappa.

Leadership Clayton, which began in 1972, is a nine-month program for emerging and existing leaders aimed at broadening their knowledge of community issues, sharpening their leadership skills and challenging their ability to find solutions to problems affecting the surrounding area. Participants must live or work in Clayton County, demonstrate leadership ability and possess a strong commitment to serve the community.

About Armstrong Teasdale LLP: Armstrong Teasdale LLP, with nearly 250 lawyers in offices across the U.S. and China, has a demonstrable track record of delivering sophisticated legal advice and exceptional service to a dynamic client base. Whether an issue is local or global, practice area specific or industry related, Armstrong Teasdale provides each client with an invaluable combination of legal resources and practical advice in nearly every area of law. For more information, please visit www.armstrongteasdale.com.

The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from a father and son who built Adelphia Communications into a cable television powerhouse and were convicted of fraud after it collapsed into bankruptcy.

The high court refused on Monday to hear an appeal from John and Timothy Rigas.

The Rigases were sent to prison after Adelphia collapsed in 2002. At the time, it was the country's fifth-largest cable TV company.

Prosecutors said John Rigas used it like a personal piggy bank, paying for expenses as small as massages and withdrawing $100,000 from the company whenever he wished.

The Rigases say the government should have turned over to them notes taken during prosecutorial interviews with some witnesses. They also say their prison sentences were too long.

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough has renewed its lease for 7,500 square feet of office space in Winston-Salem, according to an announcement.

The law firm is located in the 380 Knollwood Street building owned by Highwoods Properties. Nelson Mullins is based in South Carolina with more than 400 employees in a dozen offices in the Southeast.

Terms of the lease deal were not disclosed. Highwoods was represented by Greg Wilson of CB Richard Ellis in the negotiations.