The Florida Supreme Court disciplined 15 attorneys, disbarring three, revoking the licenses of four and suspending eight. One attorney received more than one form of discipline and was also ordered to pay restitution.
None is from Jacksonville.
• Raymond R. Beitra, Hialeah. The court granted Beitra’s request for a disciplinary revocation, effective immediately, with leave to seek readmission after five years. Disciplinary revocation is equivalent to disbarment. Beitra had several Florida Bar disciplinary complaints pending against him regarding contempt, neglect of client matters and inadequate communication.
• John Robert Green, Panama City. The court granted Green’s request for a disciplinary revocation, effective immediately, with leave to seek readmission after five years. Disciplinary revocation is equivalent to disbarment. Green had a Florida Bar disciplinary complaint pending against him regarding neglect of client matters, inadequate communication and failure to notify his clients that he had been suspended from the practice of law.
• Stuart Carl Hoffman, Boca Raton, suspended for 91 days. Hoffman was found in contempt for failing to comply with the conditions of a July 16, 2013, suspension order. Specifically, Hoffman was required to provide a sworn affidavit to The Florida Bar within 30 days of his suspension, listing the names and addresses of all persons and entities that were furnished a copy of his suspension order.
• Tara Renee James, North Miami Beach, suspended until further order. James was found in contempt for noncompliance and failure to respond to an official Bar inquiry.
• Thayer M. Marts, Tallahassee, suspended until further order. According to a petition for emergency suspension, Marts appeared to be causing great public harm. He was hired to handle the closing of an estate. He filed the initial documents and over a two-year period, he repeatedly told the family he was working on the case. Marts later admitted he had taken the funds for his personal use and no longer had them.
• Walter Mathews IV, Eagle, Colo. The Supreme Court granted Mathews’ request for a disciplinary revocation, effective immediately, with leave to seek readmission after five years. Disciplinary revocation is tantamount to disbarment. Mathews had a complaint pending stemming from a criminal investigation.
• Eric Merl, Boynton Beach, suspended until further order. Merl pleaded guilty in court to conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and to making false statements to the IRS, both federal felonies.
• Fausto Nishimoto, Winter Park, suspended until further order. Nishimoto pleaded no contest to a charge of resisting an officer with violence, a third-degree felony.
• Ronald Haury Roby, Winter Park, disbarred effective immediately. Roby misappropriated client funds. One client entrusted Roby with $65,000 to be placed in his trust account. Roby later wrote a check drawn on the trust account for $65,000. It was made payable to an entity that had nothing to do with his client.
• Gary Bruce Sack, Melbourne. The Supreme Court granted Sack’s request for a disciplinary revocation, effective immediately. Disciplinary revocation is tantamount to disbarment. Sack had complaints pending alleging misappropriation of client funds and failure to provide competent representation.
• Benson Abram Snaider, Stratford, Conn., disbarred effective immediately. Snaider, who was also a member of the Connecticut Bar, pleaded guilty in the Superior Court of Connecticut, to a first-degree felony for misappropriating $800,000 in client funds.
• Kelly Earlise Speer, Tampa, disbarred effective immediately. Speer failed to respond to the Bar’s inquiry regarding her arrest in a criminal matter. She also failed to respond to Bar inquiries and subpoenas to produce records in three cases in which she was retained to represent clients. Speer also failed to comply with the terms of an April 19, 2013, suspension. She was required to provide a sworn affidavit to The Florida Bar listing the names and addresses of all persons and entities that were furnished a copy of her suspension order.
• Joshua Johnson Stewart, New Port Richey, suspended until further order. Stewart pleaded guilty in two separate cases to grand theft, possession of a controlled substance, resisting an officer without violence and petty theft.
• Phillip Harding Taylor, St. Petersburg, suspended for six months. Taylor began representing a client in a personal injury matter. He became fee delinquent shortly thereafter due to failure to pay his annual membership dues. Taylor continued to practice law and later told another attorney in writing that he’d paid his membership fee and his membership was active, when in fact, he had not.
• Nikasha Michelle Wells, West Palm Beach, suspended for 60 days. Further, Wells shall pay restitution of $4,061 to three clients. A man hired Wells’ employer, Summit Law Group, to represent a client in a criminal matter. Wells had been previously acquainted with the client and asked him for a loan of $3,000. She failed to advise him to obtain independent counsel and she failed to repay the money she borrowed. An audit found numerous technical trust account violations and shortages due to negligent bookkeeping. Wells also failed to properly communicate with several clients and keep them informed about their
cases.