The Florida Supreme Court in recent court orders disciplined 24 attorneys, including disbarring two, revoking the licenses of two, suspending eight and publicly reprimanding 12. Two attorneys were also placed on probation and another was ordered to pay restitution.
One attorney from Jacksonville was disbarred:
Thomas Harold Greene Jr., 12809 Camellia Bay Drive W., disbarred effective immediately. (Admitted to practice in 1991) An audit by the Bar revealed multiple instances of misappropriation of client funds and other serious rule violations. Greene commingled his personal assets with his trust account. He also charged and collected excessive contingency fees in 14 personal injury cases.
Others are:
• Vanessa Dominguez Bandrich, New York, N.Y., suspended until further order. (Admitted to practice in 2007) Bandrich was found guilty in court of one count of conspiracy to commit immigration fraud and sentenced to one year and one day in the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, followed by one year of supervised release. She was also ordered to forfeit her interest in a money judgment of $4.2 million.
• Marc A. Ben-Ezra, Hollywood, to be publicly reprimanded and further directed to attend ethics school. (Admitted to practice in 1990) Ben-Ezra was a managing partner in a law firm. He violated Bar rules mainly concerning a lack of supervision of employees. In one instance, an outside attorney working for the firm signed numerous affidavits without a notary present. They were subsequently notarized by non-lawyer employees who knew him. In another matter, 12 foreclosure cases were dismissed by a judge because no lawyer from the firm personally attended the case management conferences. The same judge dismissed five cases when no lawyer appeared at the designated hearings. The firm failed to file substitutions of counsel after five associates had left the firm or taken maternity leave.
• Thomas Theodore Clifford, Lutz, to be publicly reprimanded. (Admitted to practice in 1990) Clifford was found in contempt for failing to respond to official Florida Bar inquiries in a timely manner. Clifford was suspended March 10, 2014, but engaged in the practice of law while suspended. He failed to notify his client and the Department of Administrative Hearings of his suspension.
• Sean M. Coccia, Fort Lauderdale, to be publicly reprimanded by publication in the Southern Reporter. Further, Coccia shall be placed on a six-month non-reporting probation and undergo an office procedures and record-keeping analysis under the direction of the Bar’s Practice Resource Institute. (Admitted to practice in 2009) Coccia failed to carefully review a document and therefore incorrectly informed a client her deposition had been canceled and she did not need to appear. Coccia also failed to appear at two separate hearings, including a pretrial conference that he had improperly calendared.
• Joseph Henry Fernandez, Miami, disbarred effective immediately. (Admitted to practice in 1986) Fernandez continued to practice law after being suspended. (Case No. SC14-341)
• Lourdes Esther Ferrer, Weston, to be publicly reprimanded. (Admitted to practice in 2001) Ferrer was found in contempt for failing to respond to official Florida Bar inquiries in a timely manner.
• Marcia Vestylena Forsett, Frostproof, suspended for one year. (Admitted to practice in 2007) Forsett was found in contempt for failing to comply with the terms of a Feb. 18 court order. Specifically, Forsett was ordered to notify her clients, opposing counsel and the courts of her status and provide a sworn affidavit to the Bar listing the names and addresses of all persons and entities that received a copy of her suspension order.
• Thomas P. Fox, Tampa, suspended for two years, retroactive to April 20, 2014. Further, upon reinstatement, Fox is placed on probation for one year with quarterly certification by a CPA that Fox’s trust accounts are in compliance with Bar rules. He shall also participate in the fee arbitration program. (Admitted to practice in 1976) In several instances, Fox failed to competently represent clients. He often failed to take action on cases, failed to communicate and was unprepared for hearings. In one case, he charged a non-refundable fee but failed to have a written fee agreement.
• Ariel Manuel Friedler, Arlington, Va., suspended for three years, retroactive to June 25, 2014. (Admitted to practice in 2004) Friedler pleaded guilty in court to conspiring to access a protected computer without authorization. In this case, it involved the computer systems of two of his business competitors. He used the usernames and passwords of former clients who had become clients of the competition.
• Theodore Stewart Fries Jr., Ocala, suspended for 91 days. (Admitted to practice in 2002) Fries was found in contempt for failing to comply with the terms of a Sept. 26, 2014 suspension order. Specifically, Fries was ordered to notify his clients, opposing counsel and the courts of his status and provide a sworn affidavit to the Bar listing the names and addresses of all persons and entities that received a copy of his suspension order.
• Paul Aaron Herman, Boca Raton, suspended for six months. (Admitted to practice in 1984) Herman failed to supervise an office administrator whom a client believed to be an attorney. Although a client hired Herman’s firm, she never met or spoke with him. When her bankruptcy case was dismissed for failure to file certain documents, the non-lawyer employee filed a fraudulent order with the court.
• Marvin Elliott Katz, North Miami Beach, to be publicly reprimanded and further directed to attend ethics school. (Admitted to practice in 1994) Katz was a managing partner in a law firm. He violated Bar rules mainly concerning a lack of supervision of employees. In one instance, an outside attorney working for the firm signed numerous affidavits without a notary present. They were subsequently notarized by non-lawyer employees who knew him. In another matter, 12 foreclosure cases were dismissed by a judge because no lawyer from the firm personally attended the case management conferences. The same judge dismissed five cases, when no lawyer appeared at the designated hearings. The firm failed to file substitutions of counsel after five associates had left the firm or taken maternity leave.
• Kevin Thomas McNeeley, Fort Myers, suspended for 91 days. (Admitted to practice in 2001) McNeeley failed to act with diligence and promptness in representing a client in post-dissolution of marriage proceedings and was held in contempt by the trial court for his failure to appear at required hearings, failure to respond to emails from the court and failure to return a signed stipulation. McNeeley also failed to participate in the Bar proceedings.
• Horace Nathaniel Moore Sr., Gainesville, to receive a public reprimand to be administered by the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar. (Admitted to practice in 1981) In handling a personal injury case, Moore hired a physician to assess and treat his client. When a settlement was reached, Moore offered to pay the doctor $1,275 instead of the $3,187.50 that he was billed. When the doctor did not accept his offer, Moore disbursed the settlement funds with the exception of the $1,275, which he maintained in his trust account.
• Gary Stephen Ostrow, Fort Lauderdale, to be publicly reprimanded by publication in the Southern Reporter. (Admitted to practice in 1982) Ostrow was hired to represent a client in a divorce matter. Throughout the representation, the client spoke only to the paralegal, not to Ostrow directly. The client subsequently became dissatisfied with his ability to communicate with Ostrow and was forced to hire a new attorney. In another matter, Ostrow made multiple court appearances on behalf of a client accused of DUI. Thereafter, due to an oversight, Ostrow missed a court hearing and had not notified the client to appear. As a result, a bench warrant was issued and the client spent four hours in jail.
• William Earl Ploss, Coral Gables, to be publicly reprimanded. (Admitted to practice in 1978) Ploss was retained to appeal a client’s criminal conviction, but failed to diligently pursue the case. Ploss did not file the initial brief with the appeal court by the due date and it was subsequently dismissed. In a motion to reinstate the appeal, Ploss disclosed information impacting his ability to function effectively during the relevant time period. The client subsequently filed a motion to discharge Ploss as counsel and to have substitute counsel submit an amended brief.
• Erwin Rosenberg, Miami Beach, suspended for one year. (Admitted to practice in 1999) Rosenberg failed to provide competent representation to several clients being sued in Miami-Dade County circuit court for breach of contract. He repeatedly failed to comply with court orders and he failed to act in good faith. Further, Rosenberg refused to acknowledge the wrongful nature of his misconduct and he failed to pay any portion of the attorney’s fee award imposed against him.
• Lance John Ruffe, Pinecrest, to be publicly reprimanded. (Admitted to practice in 1999) Ruffe was found in contempt for failing to timely comply with the terms of a Sept. 11, 2014, suspension order. Specifically, Ruffe was ordered to notify his clients, opposing counsel and the courts of his status and provide a sworn affidavit to the Bar listing the names and addresses of all persons and entities that received a copy of his suspension order.
• David J. Shestokas, Lemont, Ill., to be publicly reprimanded by publication in the Southern Reporter. (Admitted to practice in 2004) In two separate instances, Shestokas failed to timely respond to Bar and grievance committee inquiries.
• Shazia Nagamia Sparkman, Tampa, to be publicly reprimanded. (Admitted to practice in 2005) Sparkman failed to provide diligent representation in four separate cases. Her husband and law partner inadvertently overdrew the firm’s trust account; Sparkman was terminated from one dissolution of marriage action because of a lack of communication. Another client seeking dissolution of marriage posted negative comments about Sparkman online and she responded online. Finally, Sparkman was retained but did not complete the work in a timely manner when she was retained to investigate matters regarding stocks in a final dissolution of marriage judgment.
• Jacob James Stone, Sebastian. The court granted Stone a disciplinary revocation with leave to seek readmission after five years. (Admitted to practice in 1996) Disciplinary revocation is tantamount to disbarment. Stone had disciplinary charges pending regarding his management of client funds in his trust account.
• Richard Manuel Viscasillas, Miami, suspended for 91 days. Further, Viscasillas shall pay restitution of $25,000 to a client. (Admitted to practice in 1989) Viscasillas was retained to represent a couple in a home purchase. When they changed their minds about buying the home, they repeatedly requested that Viscasillas return a $2,500 overpayment and a $22,500 escrow deposit. He refused to refund the money, saying he believed he was entitled to keep the deposit as a result of work performed.
• Robert L. Wunker, Ave Maria, to be publicly reprimanded by publication in the Southern Reporter. (Admitted to practice in 1974) Wunker failed to comply with the Bar’s rules regulating trust accounts. A compliance audit of his operating account determined more than $152,000 was deposited into a bank account for client costs that had yet to be expended, instead of into a trust account. Shortages existed in the operating account at various points in time, but there were no allegations or proof of theft.
• George Zednek, Boynton Beach. The court granted Zednek a permanent disciplinary revocation without leave to seek readmission. (Admitted to practice in 1957) Disciplinary revocation is equivalent to disbarment. Charges that were pending against Zednek included failure to properly supervise a non-lawyer employee.