If you happen to checklist the most important authorized circumstances in South Florida through the previous 50 years, anticipate William R. Scherer Jr.’s identify to dot the checklist. “Invoice” Scherer represented George W. Bush within the Bush vs. Gore recount, was basic counsel of the North Broward Hospital District for seven years, knew Scott Rothstein earlier than the Ponzi scheme was caught, and represented most of the victims who have been made entire. He has main litigation pending over the opioid disaster.
As Scherer celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the Conrad & Scherer regulation agency, he has three of his youngsters as members: Govt Associate John J. Scherer has been with the agency for 20 years and can be president and proprietor of Gulf Constructing. Final 12 months, John was joined by Senior Associate William R. Scherer III, who returned from his personal follow, and Associate Elizabeth Scherer, who lastly joined the agency final 12 months after dealing with over 75 circumstances as a prosecutor and gaining nationwide consideration because the choose who presided over the Parkland shooter trial.
Conrad Scherer is a agency with a shiny future, however the paternal member exhibits no indicators of slowing down.
The children speak
Scherer says he was a standard dad who dressed good and instructed them about regulation rising up. However he’s additionally a little bit of a prankster and has been an adrenaline junkie with regards to bikes, jet skis, and ski boats.
“If you happen to see him strolling slightly bit lopsided, it’s as a result of he’s been in so many motorbike accidents and had himself put again collectively so many instances. He used to race them,” Elizabeth says. “He likes to go quick in the whole lot he does.”
William III and a pal have been sleeping the day after a 4th of July celebration when his dad threw firecrackers of their cabin bed room to wake them up. Perhaps that’s why younger William obtained a break after he and Chris Conrad, one in every of Associate Rex Conrad’s sons, have been noticed throwing rocks off the workplace constructing throughout their lunch break whereas working as runners on the agency over the summer time.
Associate Rex Conrad referred to as younger Invoice into his workplace the following day and instructed him he had not determined if he would hearth him since his father was out of city. His father later referred to as and requested if he knew the tune Up on the Roof earlier than including that he had simply used up his free go.
Elizabeth, the center baby, says, “Our dad is a good man, he’s humorous and he performs these type of pranks–however there’s a line that you just don’t cross, thank God. I believe I used to be in all probability close to the road a whole lot of instances rising up and the one factor that saved me on the proper aspect of the road was figuring out that I’d get in large, large hassle.”
William III, the oldest of the siblings, says their father grew to become profitable within the late Nineteen Seventies and early Nineteen Eighties. “I used to be born in 1969, so we had a modest home in The Landings in Fort Lauderdale rising up. We ultimately moved to Rio Vista, and I lived there till I went to school in 1987.
He began performing in bands as a young person. His dad and mom booked time at New River Studios, and he recorded a single referred to as “Engine No. 9.” Elizabeth says her brother may be very proficient and remembers dozens of teenage women screaming when he did a gig on Las Olas Boulevard. The web site for his Crosstown Chameleons band says of Scherer: “Dude can sing, write, play guitar and bass. And write a imply regulation temporary. All on the similar time.”
William III thought he would possibly make a profession in music within the Nineties when the Miami space had a extra thriving indie scene, however it by no means fairly got here collectively. Luckily, his father had a backup plan: “He inspired me to do no matter I wished to do so long as I obtained a regulation diploma.”
Elizabeth mentioned a school English professor instructed her she was very proficient and may turn out to be a trainer, however her father defined how lecturers have been overworked and underpaid.
She went to regulation faculty and had a revelation throughout a litigation class in her third 12 months.
“I used to be higher than all the fellows. I obtained one of the best grade within the class, and I’m a little bit of an adrenaline junkie myself. I’d simply get this excessive popping out of doing a trial and I knew that is what I wished to do,” she says.
She had deliberate to affix her dad’s follow after regulation faculty however caught with State Legal professional Michael Satz after an internship.
“My dad mentioned, that’ll be an excellent job. You possibly can keep there for 3 years after which you will get a bunch of trials after which you possibly can come work for me,” she remembers. She started engaged on violent crime circumstances, and Satz satisfied her to remain for 4 extra years.
In a while, he prompt she turn out to be a choose, and he or she did.
She had many large circumstances, however the Parkland shooter case towers above them: It was probably the most broadly publicized, had the most important crime scene, and had the most important variety of witnesses and victims, and it was topped by her former boss Satz being the lead prosecutor.
She had discovered to emotionally desensitize herself from years of prosecution, together with a case the place a person set his spouse on hearth, however this was a good greater problem as a result of her daughter was the identical age because the younger victims.
“Let’s say a father is speaking about his son, who was the youngest of three youngsters, how he was a mama’s boy, and the way he was such a candy child and an outdated soul. You possibly can’t ever assume, oh my gosh, my daughter is that. … It’s onerous sufficient to maintain your cool, however if you happen to for one minute cross that line and make it private, you’ll lose it,” Scherer says. In the course of the trial, “All people was crying. Massive armed deputies who’re macho males have been crying, and I simply felt, as a girl, you’re not going to see a male choose crying. So, I can’t cry.”
Elizabeth, who was below intense nationwide scrutiny through the trial, knew that after the case, it could be time to maneuver on.
William III labored for the agency as a lawyer for 20 years earlier than leaving to construct his personal follow. 9 years later, he says he confronted the selection of hiring one other affiliate for his rising follow or rejoining his father’s agency.
Elizabeth mentioned she would be a part of the agency if he got here again. “I mentioned, as a result of we’ll be a group, and it will likely be two towards one as a result of my dad could be troublesome.”
Elizabeth says her older brother is sensible and hard-working, however he all the time faces the problem of individuals making assumptions due to his identify. It was good for him to get out and construct his personal enterprise, identical to she constructed a profession.
The final and youngest of the trio, John, was already on the agency. He obtained a level in Building Administration on the College of Florida. After commencement, he began working as a challenge supervisor for a building firm. He spent a lot time authorized paperwork and thought possibly he ought to get a regulation diploma like everybody else. He went to Nova Southeastern College Legislation College at evening and saved working through the day for 3 years.
He grew to become an affiliate lawyer on the regulation agency however was additionally basic counsel of Gulf Constructing. He ultimately grew to become president and CEO and purchased Gulf in 2008. His experience in building and its authorized points offers him a spotlight on the regulation agency. As an government associate, he additionally handles many managerial duties, comparable to inspecting the general enterprise, hiring workers, and managing back-of-the-house operations.
Gulf Constructing is flourishing with a formidable checklist of initiatives over the past 30 years and employs almost 90 professionals. Some current initiatives embody the YMCA on Sistrunk Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale and the Parker Theatre in Fort Lauderdale for Broward Performing Arts Heart. Gulf can be at present constructing the brand new terminal at Key West Worldwide Airport amongst different initiatives.
The Scherer regulation agency is greater than only a household affair, although, with 10 different attorneys.
Amongst them is associate Steven H. Osber, who offers one other perspective on Invoice Scherer Jr.
“He’s tenacious. He’s unrefined. He’s tough across the edges. He’s a pit bull, however he’s effectively thought. He’s a strategist,” Osber says. “He’s very effectively related and teaches the sensible points of being a lawyer very effectively. He’s obtained a legacy that he’s carved out for himself. He walks right into a courtroom and the judges give him respect.”
Scherer is sweet at forecasting how judges and juries will react and is nice at figuring out points, Osber says. “Typically he brings a ball peen hammer and generally he brings a battering ram to get his level throughout. It simply will depend on what’s occurring.”
Scherer can be the king of PowerPoint displays in courtrooms.
Indiana boy and a ‘gun bunny’
Scherer grew up in a blue-collar household in Terre Haute, Ind., along with his mom being a beautician and his father a railroad brakeman. One evening, his father was flagging automobiles to cease at a crossing when a drunk driver went by and crushed him towards the locomotive, inflicting extreme damage. A major verdict gave him an appreciation of how vital attorneys could be.
He attended Franklin Faculty, a small liberal arts school in southern Indiana, and later served as a trustee for 10 years. After graduating in 1969, he was doing effectively promoting Xerox machines when his spouse crammed out purposes for Indiana College and the LSAT regulation faculty admissions check.
“I assumed, ‘Why do I need to do this?” He was stunned to be accepted as a result of he thought his school grades weren’t ok. Years later, he heard that his school soccer coach, Stewart “Crimson” Faught, put in a very good phrase with the governor.
Throughout his first 12 months in regulation faculty, Scherer obtained a low quantity within the draft lottery amid the Vietnam Warfare, so he joined the Indiana Nationwide Guard.
Legislation faculty was interrupted by six months of fundamental coaching at Fort Campbell in Kentucky and 6 months of lively obligation at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, the place Scherer grew to become an artillery man or “gun bunny” in Military slang.
Again on campus, the regulation faculty dean organized a job working for a justice within the Indiana Supreme Courtroom. Scherer did that through the day and went to regulation faculty at evening, graduating magna cum laude.
The adjutant basic of the Indiana Nationwide Guard was additionally the Indiana lawyer basic. “When he discovered I used to be a regulation clerk and I used to be a gun bunny serving below him, he made me one in every of his [Guard] regulation clerks,” Scherer says.
After he completed regulation faculty in 1972, the dean advisable that he take a clerkship with U.S. District Courtroom Choose Charles Fulton in Miami. Scherer additionally grew to become a regulation clerk for the Florida Military Reserve.
Scherer would have headed again to Indiana after his time with the Reserve was executed, however his captain, Tom Panza, prompt he follow regulation in Fort Lauderdale, which was extra Midwestern than Miami.
A sleepy seashore city
Scherer says Fort Lauderdale was sleepy, with one downtown high-rise, the Landmark Financial institution Constructing. The federal choose in Miami advisable Scherer to the chapter court docket trustee, and he began dealing with circumstances on the new federal courthouse on Broward Boulevard. In a few years, he grew to become a associate at Druck, Grimmett, Norman, Weaver & Scherer, the agency now generally known as Conrad Scherer.
He quickly recruited Rex Conrad, who was broadly thought to be probably the greatest trial legal professionals in Fort Lauderdale, Scherer says. “He was acerbic and tough, however he was an excellent lawyer.”
Scherer gained mentors who helped him turn out to be a key energy participant in Broward. One was Hamilton Forman, whose father was a Broward pioneer and owned a dairy farm in Davie. Forman donated land for Nova Southeastern College and helped kind the North Broward Hospital District, the place Scherer ultimately grew to become basic counsel. Distinguished lawyer Don McClosky additionally was an in depth pal and mentor.
The unique companions, Conrad, Forman, and McClosky, have all handed away now.
Bush vs. Gore
Nevertheless, Scherer additionally has youthful associates, comparable to Jeb Bush. In 2000, Scherer was performing some professional bono work with a state company when the Gore vs. Bush recount saga started. It was obvious Broward would find yourself being an epicenter for the recount, so Scherer was tapped to signify George W. Bush within the county.
“I obtained a whole lot of face time on that Thanksgiving day the place they have been counting chads,” Scherer says. He was throughout the desk from Choose Robert Rosenberg when one of the vital well-known pictures in election historical past was taken: Rosenberg wanting by an enormous magnifying glass at a dimpled poll.
John says Gore vs. Bush is when he actually began understanding his father’s prominence.
“I used to be on the College of Florida, and I walked into my room with my fraternity brothers, and I regarded on the TV and CNN’s on. My dad’s on TV arguing for President Bush. And everybody’s like, ‘Is that your dad? I mentioned, ‘yeah. … After which they mentioned, ‘Wait, is your dad going to jail? He appears like he’s getting handcuffed as a result of he’s getting thrown out of the courtroom.’”
Scherer was indignant that the canvassing board didn’t appear to have any requirements in divining voters’ intents with the dimpled chads on the ballots. At one level, the Democratic choose main the canvassing board threatened to take away Scherer. Scherer remembers holding out his arms like he was able to be cuffed.
A mannequin for others
With all his work and connections, it’s no shock that Scherer grew to become a lawyer others wished to emulate. He remembers a Each day Enterprise Assessment article the place flamboyant lawyer Scott Rothstein mentioned he wished to be like Scherer and McClosky.
Rothstein usually approached Scherer and different leaders at Jackson’s Steakhouse on Las Olas Boulevard.
“He would have these fundraisers at his home, sit down and regale all people and play the piano superbly and sing. He was a proficient man and clearly the consummate salesman to promote folks, subtle folks, these Ponzi investments and have this main Ponzi scheme,” Scherer says.
Scherer began asking questions when Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler ballooned in measurement and Rothstein lived an ostentatious life-style. One rumor was that Rothstein had gotten in on the bottom ground of web porn.
Scherer requested him how his agency might make that a lot: “Scott, how the hell are you able to, as a result of I’m a really profitable lawyer and we don’t make that type of cash.”
Rothstein instructed him he had gotten to know some hedge fund managers.
Like many others, Scherer discovered in regards to the $1.2 billion scheme, one of many largest in Ponzi historical past, after Rothstein briefly fled to Morocco. On Nov. 3, 2009, a retired choose was appointed receiver to the regulation agency.
Rothstein had sworn his buyers to secrecy, saying their investments have been associated to out-of-court funds to sexual harassment victims.
Victims began calling Scherer and displaying him letters from banks that painted Rothstein favorably. Scherer realized the banks had authorized legal responsibility and Rothstein later admitted he compromised financial institution officers.
Rothstein was represented by legal protection lawyer Mark Nurik, who referred to as Scherer.
“I mentioned, ‘What’s Scott need?’ He mentioned he simply desires you to inform the reality that he helped cooperate with you when the time comes so that you can write a letter. And I mentioned, OK, executed,” Scherer remembers. “So, I wrote a letter to the choose that he was very useful in us getting restoration and telling us precisely how the whole lot occurred and all that, and who the bankers have been and the way he compromised them.”
On Nov. 25, 2009, Scherer filed an amended civil criticism in search of $100 million for his shoppers. Not one of the civil circumstances went to trial. Settlements with banks and insurance coverage firms, plus chapter court docket proceedings, made the victims entire, which was unprecedented in a Ponzi case.
Rothstein is at present in an undisclosed federal jail below protecting custody, serving out a 50-year sentence after ratting out some low-level mobsters.
Not slowing down but
Scherer has no plans to retire. “I need to maintain doing it so long as I’m succesful. When the day comes, I hope I do know it, that I’m now not able to convincing the jury. That day isn’t right here but.”
He has a whopper of a case forward in Broward Circuit Courtroom as a part of a group representing 25 Florida hospitals towards the producers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers of opioids. The hospitals say they’ve had a monetary burden caring for opioid customers.
Scherer is gearing up: “It’s going to go to trial in 18 months. We’re in discovery. We’re spending large quantities of money and time.”
