South Florida attorneys defeated a $7 million defamation lawsuit over a Boca Raton lawyer's testimonial that his initial real estate broker didn't help him sell his house.
Real estate brokerage Royal Palm Properties LLC and its manager, David Roberts, sued attorney Rick Felberbaum, who wrote the testimonial, and Christie's International Real Estate Inc., whose name was on the brochure.
Christie's licenses the use of its logos to brokers around the world, including Premier Estate Properties Inc., which sent the newsletter with Felberbaum's testimonial in 2009. Premier settled earlier in the case, which left Felberbaum and Christie's as trial defendants.
Felberbaum listed his Boca Raton home in the exclusive Royal Palm Yacht and Country Club subdivision for nearly $4 million with Royal Palm Properties. His testimonial did not name Royal Palm Properties but said he and his wife initially chose the real estate agent who seemed to have a corner on the Royal Palm market.
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"We argued that the statements in the testimonial were completely true and that the evidence supported such," said Stephen Mendelsohn of Greenberg Traurig in Boca Raton, who represented Felberbaum with Greenberg Traurig colleague Jerold Budney and Miami solo practitioner Stephen Binhak.
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