The Lustick Law Firm of Bellingham has opened a new branch office in Mount Vernon.

The new branch office is at 413 West Gates Street, in the office suites once used by the Skagit Argus newspaper. The firm's local phone number is (360) 873-8882. Fax is (360) 873-8881. The standard hours of operation will be Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Mount Vernon branch attorneys will handle criminal cases (felonies and misdemeanors) and legal matters involving real estate, aviation law, military law, and family law. The office will be accepting cases in federal court and in Washington state Superior or District Court and in the various city municipal courts within Skagit, Snohomish, King, and Island counties.

Attorney Sharon Fields will serve as the acting branch manager in the Mount Vernon office, and will focus her practice on criminal and family law. Fields studied at the University of Utah where she received a bachelor's degree with honors in 1993 and a law degree in 1996.

More information about the Lustick Law Firm can be found at Lustick.com

Burns, White & Hickton LLC, Pittsburgh’s tenth-largest law firm, opened two new offices late last month, in Harrisburg, and in Cherry Hill, N.J., bringing its total number of sites to eight.

Burns, White & Hickton, founded in 1987, employs close to 100 lawyers, two-thirds of whom are based in its headquarters on Pittsburgh’s North Shore.

The firm, which focuses on litigation, transportation and transactional law, tripled the number of lawyers in its Philadelphia-area office alone over the past two and a half years.

South Jersey Magazine announced their South Jersey’s Awesome Attorneys of the Year Awards in their November issue and three from Long, Marmero & Associated were recognized. Founding partners Doug Long and Al Marmero were tabbed as top land use attorneys and Kevin Bright was identified for his work in the practice area of municipal court law.

Long was one of a handful of attorneys chosen for the pictorial centerpiece of the article. “It is always exciting to be recognized by your clients and peers for expertise in your profession,” said Long, “We have worked hard to build a responsive firm in a tough economic climate and it is gratifying when people appreciate your efforts to serve them.”

Long Marmero & Associates was founded in 2003, specializing in the areas of Land Use, Municipal Law and Government Relations. They maintain offices in Woodbury, Medford and Egg Harbor City.

A prominent and politically connected South Florida attorney was being investigated by his own firm for financial irregularities in an investment business that led his law partner to seek dissolution Monday.

The attorney, Scott Rothstein, and partner Stuart Rosenfeldt founded the firm Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler in 2002. Now Rosenfeldt is seeking to dissolve their partnership and have the 70-lawyer firm placed into court-supervised receivership "to minimize any further damage caused by Mr. Rothstein," according to court documents.

"A review of the firm's records undertaken this past weekend indicates that various funds unrelated to the direct practice of law cannot be accounted for, circumstances suggesting that investor money may have been misused by Mr. Rothstein who controlled all such accounts," Rosenfeldt said in the court papers.

A lawyer for some investors, Jeff Sonn, said initial estimates of the missing cash range from $100 million to $185 million.

"Nobody knows for sure," Sonn said.

At a brief hearing, Circuit Judge Jeffrey Streitfeld put off a decision on appointing a receiver by a day, in part to find out if Rothstein plans to return from an undisclosed foreign country to contest the move.

"This is an extraordinary effort that would have to be undertaken on an immediate basis," Streitfeld said. "Let's take a deep breath and see where we're going."

Neither Rothstein nor his attorney immediately returned telephone calls and e-mails seeking comment. An attorney hired by Rosenfeldt, former Miami U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey, said he has been assured that Rothstein will return to the U.S. Coffey also said he has notified federal prosecutors about possible criminal wrongdoing at the firm.

Leading international law firm SJ Berwin has opened an office in Shanghai.

The office is the firm’s third opening this year, its second in East Asia and its 12th office worldwide. It follows the opening of the regional office of SJ Berwin for East Asia in Hong Kong in April 2009 and the formal opening of its Dubai office last month.

SJ Berwin’s application for a license to operate a Representative Office in Shanghai was granted on 28 August 2009 at an official ceremony at the Ministry of Justice in Beijing. The new office for SJ Berwin in Shanghai, China opened in October 2009, coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.

The business of the office will start by focusing on Fund Formation, Mergers and Acquisitions, Private Equity and Real Estate, reflecting the traditional key strengths of SJ Berwin.

Jonathan Blake, Senior Partner of SJ Berwin, said: “This is a further step in our strategy of international development in our core areas, and reinforces our confidence in the expansion and growth of our firm worldwide.”

Daniel Liew, Asia Managing Partner of SJ Berwin, said: “China’s impressive economic growth continues despite the global economic challenges, and client demand is high for dedicated, capable and experienced legal resources able to assist with both inbound and outbound cross-border legal work involving China.”

Luke James Stobie, Attorney at Law, has been accepting clients since Oct. 1 at his new general practice law firm at 10702 Manchester Road, Suite 208, in Kirkwood.

The Stobie Law Firm, LLC is a general practice law firm that provides effective, vigorous representation on a primarily flat fee basis. Areas of practice include, but are not limited to: wills/estate planning, criminal defense, traffic tickets, DWI defense, business law, divorce, civil litigation, and Second Amendment law.

Stobie practices primarily on a flat fee basis. Clients pay a set amount for their case even if the matter takes more time than expected. Stobie said clients will never be surprised by an unexpected bill or have to worry about how much a pone call to discuss their matter will cost.

Initial consultations are free and have no commitment. Stobie, a graduate of Kirkwood High School and Saint Louis University School of Law, opened the Stobie Law Firm to provide affordable general practice legal services to the St. Louis area.

For more information, call 856-9645 or visit www.stobielaw.com.