Firm of fallen foreclosure king David Stern sues another bank for fees

Another lawsuit from the law firm of David J. Stern has turned up in court, this time in federal court, with the firm bringing an action against lender IBM Lender Business Process Services for breach of contract, according to records from the Southern District of Florida.

In a three-page complaint, the firm alleges that IBM Lender had breached its contract in failing to pay legal fees and expenses owed to Stern’s firm.

According to the complaint, Stern’s firm is owed $501,742, with interest, since March 21 of this year for such fees unpaid by North Carolina-based IBM.

Stern has become the face of the foreclosure document scandal, with hundreds of employees from his host of companies laid off.

The three-count complaint claims that IBM “entered into an oral contract for Stern’s firm to provide legal and related services to IBM” but “breached the contract by failing to pay [Stern’s firm] DJSPA for the services it provided.”

In early March, attorney Jeffrey Tew, representing Stern’s firm, wrote a letter to IBM demanding payment of what were claimed as outstanding invoices; the letter is an exhibit included with the complaint, along with 55 pages of individual invoices for legal work.

In mid-March Stern brought suit against eight other banks on similar grounds, arguing that they had breached their contracts with his firm, totaling $15 million in damages.

The suit was originally served on defendant IBM on Mar. 29 after being filed Mar. 25.

No officers at Stern’s firm were available for comment.

Tew, who is a partner at Tew Cardenas in Miami, was not available for comment. Detra Shaw Wilder of Kozyak Tropin & Throckmorton, the attorney for IBM, was also unavailable for comment.