The Florida Supreme Court disciplined 22 attorneys; disbarring four, revoking the licenses of four, suspending 10 and publicly reprimanding four. Six attorneys received more than one form of discipline. Five were placed on probation and three were also ordered to pay restitution.
One is from Jacksonville:
Clyde Mabry Collins Jr., 233 E. Bay St., Suite 920, suspended for three years, effective Dec. 24, following an Oct. 23 court order. Further, upon reinstatement, Collins is placed on probation for two years. Collins admitted to accounting violations and commingling of trust and operating account funds.
Others are:
•?Jeffrey W. Blacher, 665 N.E. 25th St., Suite 100, Miami, suspended for 90 days, retroactive to Aug. 22, following an Oct. 9 court order. Further, Blacher shall pay restitution of $7,300 to three clients and he is placed on probation for two years. In three separate cases, Blacher was paid a retainer to perform legal services and then neglected client matters. He failed to communicate and failed to keep them reasonably informed. Once each client filed a grievance with The Florida Bar, Blacher failed to timely respond to the Bar’s requests for a response and/or more information.
•?Thomas Francis Burns, 111 N. Second St., Fort Pierce, to receive a public reprimand by publication in the Southern Reporter, following a Nov. 14 court order. Burns was the subject of several Florida Bar disciplinary matters. Burns failed to make a timely written response on several occasions to Bar inquiries. In another matter, he failed to subpoena a crucial defense witness in a criminal case. As a result the 4th District Court of Appeal reversed and remanded the client’s sentence and conviction due to ineffective assistance of counsel.
•?Richard Jay Burton, 2999 N.E. 191st St., Suite 805, Aventura, suspended for 91 days, effective retroactive to Oct. 6, following an Oct. 9 court order. Further, Burton is place on probation for one year. Burton knowingly made a material misrepresentation to a trial court, thereby inducing the court to sign an order that was never agreed to by opposing counsel.
•?James A. Cioffi, 250 Tequesta Drive, Suite 203, Tequesta, suspended for 30 days, effective Dec. 19, following a Nov. 21 court order. Beginning in 2008 through July 2014, a part of Cioffi’s practice included representing clients who sought loan modifications. At one point, a non-lawyer manager provided the primary supervision of the attorney’s non-lawyer staff who assisted with loan modifications. Some files were not processed diligently and there were communication problems with some of the law firm’s clients.
•?Anthony Harold Clifton, 7366 Highpoint Blvd., Brooksville, suspended until further order, effective 30 days from an Oct. 2 court order. Clifton was found in contempt for failing to respond to an official Bar inquiry.
•?Magdalena Cuprys, 3911 Loquat Ave., Miami, suspended for 45 days and further, placed on probation for three years, following a Nov. 20 court order. Cuprys was paid more than $30,000 to prepare and file visa petitions for a couple. In the months that followed, Cuprys did not respond to the couple’s attempts to contact her. After waiting over a year, Cuprys filed the application on behalf of one client only. Conditions of probation include restitution and other provisions.
•?Andrew Harry Drucker, 7875 S.W. 104th St., Suite 202, Miami. The Supreme Court granted Drucker’s request for a disciplinary revocation, effective immediately, following an Oct. 9 court order, with leave to seek readmission after five years. Disciplinary revocation is equivalent to disbarment. Drucker had a disciplinary charge pending regarding a client’s settlement from an automobile accident.
•?Theodore Stewart Fries Jr., 5465 N.E. First Lane, Ocala, suspended for 90 days, effective 30 days from a Sept. 26 court order. Further, Fries shall pay restitution of $200.00 to one client. Fries was retained for a dissolution matter. After being paid $400, Fries failed to communicate with the client and never filed for the dissolution of marriage. He also failed to respond to The Florida Bar’s repeated inquiries into the matter until he received a notice for contempt from the Bar.
•?Steven Howard Goldfarb, 26101 Village Lane, Apt. #302, Beechwood, Ohio, suspended for 90 days, effective 30 days from a Nov. 20 court order. Further, Goldfarb shall also pay restitution of $4,350 to one client. Goldfarb was hired to represent a client in a modification of alimony petition. He failed to competently represent and reasonably inform the client, who was charged an excessive fee of $7,700 for the work completed.
•?Charles Alexander Greene Jr., 16350 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Unit 46279, Tampa, to be publicly reprimanded following a Nov. 14 court order. Greene was appointed to file a brief on behalf of an appellant and, despite seeking and obtaining four extensions, failed to do so. He also failed to appear in response to an order to show cause. The court removed Greene as counsel and appointed another attorney to file the appeal.
•?Joshua Todd Hill Hauserman, 1771 S. Congress Ave., Suite 7, West Palm Beach, to be publicly reprimanded by publication in the Southern Recorder, and further, placed on probation for two years, following a Nov. 21 court order. Hauserman pleaded guilty to Driving Under the Influence (Enhanced) and Refusal to Submit to Chemical or Physical Test. He was sentenced to nine months in jail to be served as house arrest, five years’ driver’s license suspension and other penalties.
•?Eric R. Hurst, c/o Lenoir Brewer, 108 W. College Ave., Tallahassee, disbarred effective immediately, following a Nov. 21 court order. Hurst pleaded no contest to one count of obscene communication use of a computer to seduce, solicit a minor, and one count of traveling to meet a minor, both felonies. He was sentenced to incarceration for 60 months on count one and eight years on count two. Upon release, Hurst will serve seven years on sex offender probation.
•?Manuel R. Lopez, 770 Ponce de Leon Blvd., PH Suite, Coral Gables, suspended until further order, effective 30 days from an Oct. 15 court order. Lopez was found in contempt for failure to fully comply with a subpoena served on him on March 18, 2014, by The Florida Bar, requesting production of trust account records.
•?Eric Merl, 710 N.E. Seventh St., Apt. 304, Boynton Beach. The Supreme Court granted Merl’s request for a disciplinary revocation, effective immediately, following an Oct. 9 court order, with leave to seek readmission after five years. Disciplinary revocation is equivalent to disbarment. Merl pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and to making false statements to the IRS, both felonies.
•?Michael M. Milchman, 3903 Pinewood Lane, Hollywood. The Supreme Court granted Milchman’s request for a disciplinary revocation, effective immediately, following an Oct. 9 court order, with leave to seek readmission after five years. Disciplinary revocation is equivalent to disbarment. A pending Bar case alleged that while suspended, Milchman represented himself to be an attorney and provided legal advice.
•?Jayson O. Myers, 5728 Major Blvd., Suite 735, Orlando, to be publicly reprimanded following an Oct. 30 court order. After the departure of an attorney who had been handling a case at Myers’ law firm, Myers failed to diligently pursue a client’s case and failed to respond to her requests for information. In two additional cases, Myers also failed to communicate with clients who had hired his firm to represent them.
•?Stephen Anthony Myers, 12822 Saddle Club Circle, Apt. 201, Tampa, admission revoked effective 30 days from an Oct. 30 court order. Myers was found in contempt for failing to comply with the terms of a Sept. 24, 2012, court order, conditionally admitting him to The Florida Bar.
•?Fausto Nishimoto, 879 Wolfe Brook Terrace, Apt. 716, Winter Park, suspended for six months, effective immediately, following an Oct. 30 court order. Nishimoto pleaded no contest in court to resisting an officer with violence, a third-degree felony.
•?James Edward Rawe Jr., 4109 17th Ave. W., Bradenton, permanently disbarred effective immediately, following a Dec. 5 court order. Rawe was found in contempt for failing to file a response to a Florida Bar order to show cause. He was disbarred on Oct. 30 for misappropriating client funds and failing to maintain trust account and records in accordance with Bar rules.
•?Gene Stuart Rosen, 1550 N.E. Miami Gardens Drive, North Miami Beach, disbarred effective retroactive to Nov. 9, 2012, following an Oct. 13 court order. Rosen caused great public harm by misappropriating and/or diverting funds entrusted to him and by breaching his fiduciary duties with respect to the handling of those funds held in trust. In 2006, Rosen and a convicted felon engaged in a business purporting to sell land in Costa Rica. Evidence presented to the referee indicates that parcels of land were being sold before the property was ever purchased.
•?Edward Wilson Schmoll, 31 Island Way, Apt. 207, Clearwater, disbarred effective immediately, following an Oct. 13 court order. Schmoll was found in contempt for failure to comply with a grievance committee subpoena. A Bar investigation was initiated based on a letter from a circuit court judge. It alleged that Schmoll may have been practicing law while suspended. Schmoll failed to respond to the allegations.