MIAMI — On December 19, 2025, the law firm Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler Alhadeff & Sitterson filed a formal motion to withdraw from a lawsuit initiated by real estate developer Michael Stern and his company, JDS Development Group, against an anonymous defendant identified as John Doe in Miami-Dade County’s 11th Judicial Circuit Court.

The court filing explicitly cited “irreconcilable differences, including the client’s failure to fulfill the terms of the agreement” as the reason for the withdrawal. This language comes directly from the official document.

Background Context

JDSPulse, an investigative outlet focused on Stern and JDS Development, previously reported that attempts had been made to file lawsuits against its editors and associated individuals. These actions, the outlet claimed, were not aimed at disputing published facts but rather at uncovering sources of information.

JDSPulse stated it had repeatedly sent formal requests for clarification to Stern and his legal representatives — requests that went unanswered.

Additionally, on June 11, 2025, the site jdspulse.com experienced a major DDoS attack, rendering it offline for several hours.

The outlet interpreted these events as indicators of a SLAPP strategy — Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation — designed to intimidate critics.

Not the First Time

Following the release of the withdrawal motion, JDSPulse received a response from David Jurasich, an individual who has previously been in legal conflict with Stern.

His statement, provided verbatim without edits or commentary:

“This is hilarious. Another one bites the dust.

He sued me. And I filed to oppose plus countersue. These were his lawyers.

It’s gone nowhere since he hasn’t been able to pay them.”

A Recurring Pattern

JDSPulse does not claim that various lawsuits involving Stern are identical. However, it highlights a consistent outcome across multiple cases:

• A lawsuit is filed;
• The defendant is designated as John Doe;
• Legal pressure is accompanied by public rhetoric;
• Attorneys withdraw from the case;
• The proceedings stall and yield no resolution.

When different parties, at different times and in separate matters, describe the same endpoint, it ceases to be an isolated incident and becomes an established pattern.

Epilogue

Rather than erecting literal fences around his residence — as covered in a previous JDSPulse report titled “When Lawyers Leave, the Fences Arrive” — or building barriers of attorneys and resorting to lawsuits against public scrutiny, a more effective approach might be fulfilling existing obligations.

These include commitments to partners, investors, lawyers, contractors, and homebuyers.

Experience suggests that when obligations are met, the need for strategies to pressure the press evaporates on its own.

“Stern” translates from German as “star.”

But on the current skyline of real estate development, this is no longer a shining star — but a ghost developer.

Like a black hole, it no longer emits light.

It absorbs money, documents, lawsuits — but not people.

People remain.

Partners remain.

Investors remain.

Homebuyers remain.

And it is precisely those left behind after the collapse who begin asking questions.

Questions, unlike lawsuits, tend to find answers over time.