A “Cranky Lawyer,” a litigator who saved a nightclub after three women got naked on the dance floor, six arrested personal injury attorneys and a bankruptcy counsel who took off for Peru as $34,400 disappeared from his trust account were all central characters in some of the strangest stories of 2017.

In a year packed with news, here are some of the most unusual stories:

1. The accused stalker who targeted Broward judges: Disgruntled litigant Todd Watson wanted the world to know his thoughts about Broward's judiciary, so he recorded himself leaving voicemails for several judges, whom he accused of criminal conduct. A YouTube channel featuring his calls included more than a dozen videos, targeting Judges Peter Weinstein, Jeffrey Levenson, David Haimes, Kenneth Gillespie, Sandra Perlman and Merrigan, as well as State Attorney Michael Satz. Deputies arrested Watson on five counts of stalking and 10 counts of making obscene or harassing phone calls. A 39-page arrest report detailed the allegations.

2. The lawyer who saved the party: La Covacha, a popular nightclub in Sweetwater, faced an uncertain fate until Greenspoon Marder shareholder Louis J. Terminello saved the day. The club and restaurant had been in business nearly 30 years, but the city's building department shut it down for “adult entertainment”—a use not permitted in La Covacha's zoning ­district. The closure stemmed from a 95-second-long video showing three women vying in a dance contest to win tickets to a concert by Cuban musicians Yomil y El Dany. As the competition heated up, the determined dancers whipped off their dresses and bras, winning applause from the crowd but a wag of the finger from city officials. “They correctly asserted that for a minute and 32 seconds La Covacha operated as adult entertainment,” conceded Terminello, who co-chairs Greenspoon Marder's Alcohol Beverage Industry Group. “They were just not getting my argument that this was like shooting a fly with an elephant gun.” Terminello filed suit with an emergency motion for temporary and permanent injunctive relief to set aside the suspension. But in the end, he worked with city officials to settle the case with assurances that the club would control its environment to prevent a repeat performance.

3. The six arrested attorneys: Investigators put the spotlight on insurance fraud with the arrest of six personal injury attorneys accused of participating in a far-reaching scheme. Arrested were: Jason Dalley, 66, of Lake Worth; Vincent Pravato, 48, and Mark Spatz, 58, of Davie; Adam Hurtig, 46, of Fort Lauderdale; Alexander Kapetan, 44, of Lighthouse Point; and Steven Slootsky, 57, of Boca Raton. Investigators say in most cases, the personal injury lawyers paid accomplices $500 to $1,500 per client to refer “unsuspecting vehicle accident victims” to make insurance claims. Law enforcement sources say more arrests are coming as part of an FBI-led multi-agency investigation into alleged wrongdoing by personal injury attorneys. Slootsky and Pravato have reached plea agreements and cooperated with investigators. Slootsky agreed to plead guilty to 15 felonies, spend up to five years in prison and pay more than $170,200 in restitution. Pravato, meanwhile, agreed to a sentence of five years probation, 250 hours of community service and $16,408 in restitution payments to insurers Geico, Mercury, Allstate and Progressive.

4. The lawyer accused of using client funds to jet to Peru: West Palm Beach attorney Brett A. Elam was suspended from practicing in bankruptcy court for a year and faces potential Florida Bar disciplinary action over mismanagement and lies about his trust account. Elam cited surgery for his wife, but a creditor's attorney pointed to a family vacation in Peru. Elam misappropriated $34,400 and later refused to comply with court orders to account for the missing money, according to court documents. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Paul G. Hyman Jr. found he “committed professional misconduct, warranting sanctions.”

5. The firm that gained unauthorized access to the opposing side's computer network and GPS tracker: Insurance defense attorney Michael P. Rudd and his Hollywood civil ligation firm, Rudd & Diamond, accessed a litigant's proprietary business records to help defeat claims against a client. “Absolute privilege cannot be stretched that far,” Third District Court of Appeal Judge Robert J. Luck wrote in a unanimous decision with Chief Judge Leslie B. Rothenberg and Judge Edwin A. Scales concurring. Rudd & Diamond in 2013 defended Citizens Property Insurance Corp. in a lawsuit over a homeowner's plumbing claim. Court records suggest the state-backed insurance carrier suspected Miami-based Arko Plumbing Corp. fraudulently pushed homeowners to file claims to replace cast-iron drain pipes that allegedly eroded over decades.

During litigation against one of the owners, Rudd and his firm had help from John Collucci, a former Arko employee who used his password, which remained active after he left, to access the company's global positioning system account. This GPS access allowed them to track the plumbing company's service vans and identify addresses and other information for 18 clients. The law firm then subpoenaed the GPS records and used them to suggest a link between Arko's visit and subsequent insurance claims by their clients. Court records suggest the insurers suspected Arko of helping policyholders stage water damage and other losses. The appellate court ruling cleared the way for Arko to pursue compensatory and punitive damages against Rudd.

6. The Cranky Lawyer: Miami attorney Elizabeth Beck raised eyebrows, even on Twitter, with her brazen, middle-finger-waving social media persona. Through several social media accounts with thousands of followers, Beck cuts down rivals, swings at critics and even taunts the Florida Bar. Her most notorious outlet, The Cranky Lawyer Twitter page, is rife with profanity, conspiracy theories, jabs at Miami's FBI office and insults traded with those who take offense at her tweets. “It's not an exercise in anything,” Beck said. “I'm venting.”