The Florida Supreme Court disciplined 15 attorneys — permanently disbarring one, revoking the license of one, suspending eight and publicly reprimanding six. Four attorneys received more than one form of discipline.
Three are from Northeast Florida. They are:
• John Richard Geiger, P.O. Box 860217, St. Augustine, suspended for 45 days. Further, Geiger is placed on probation for two years. (Admitted to practice: 1994) A Bar audit found Geiger was not in substantial compliance with Bar rules governing trust accounts. At times during the audit period, Geiger improperly commingled his trust funds with personal funds.
• Christopher Michael Ochoa, 4237 Salisbury Road, Suite 407, Jacksonville, to be publicly reprimanded. (Admitted to practice: 2011) Ochoa hired NVA, a non-attorney third-party out of Virginia to do case processing. Although the company did the initial intake, Ochoa and other network attorneys provided supervision. Ochoa later learned that despite his supervision, NVA acted outside the scope of his authority. Instead of complying with his instructions, the company modified approved forms and randomly switched clients from one attorney to another without explanation. In addition, some clients complained NVA was neglecting their cases and was not communicating appropriately.
• Clyde M. Taylor Jr., 2303 N. Ponce de Leon Blvd., Suite L, St. Augustine, to be publicly reprimanded by publication and further placed on probation for six months. (Admitted to practice: 1970) Taylor’s poor communication with a client resulted in the client filing unauthorized pro se documents in the case.
Other attorneys disciplined by the Supreme Court are:
• Michelle Erin Berthiaume, Port Charlotte, suspended for two years, retroactive to Dec. 5, 2011. Further, Berthiaume is also publicly reprimanded. (Admitted to practice: 2000) Berthiaume displayed a lack of competence. She settled a claim for a client in a discrimination suit against his former employer, the Lee County School Board. Eight months later, Berthiaume filed a lawsuit on behalf of the same client against a Lee County School Board member and others. The court found Berthiaume’s legal arguments were not meritorious nor did they form a good faith basis to modify the law.
• Renee Binns, Cape Coral, suspended until further order. (Admitted to practice: 1994) Binns was found in contempt for non-compliance and failure to respond to an official Bar inquiry regarding a case.
• Joseph P. Hoffman, Fort Myers, to be publicly reprimanded. The reprimand shall also be published in the Res Gestae magazine for the Lee County Bar Association. (Admitted to practice: 1979) Hoffman behaved unprofessionally while representing a client in post-dissolution of marriage proceedings by making disparaging comments in pleadings directed toward the opposing party. Also, during the Bar’s investigation, Hoffman revealed he charged non-refundable fees for his legal services in all the cases he handled, without having written fee agreements with clients. He also deposited all fees into his operating account because he did not have a trust account.
• Julie Boggan Kaminsky, Auburn, Ala., suspended for 91 days. (Admitted to practice: 1985) Kaminsky also is a member of the Alabama State Bar. This is a reciprocal discipline action based on an order from the Alabama State Bar and the Supreme Court of Alabama. Kaminsky admitted she was inadvertently issued a check from the Social Security Administration in the amount of $5,097, which she failed to timely return. In another matter, Kaminsky failed to diligently pursue her client’s case by requesting two extensions of time to file an appeal brief, but failing to file the required brief.
• Richard Sam Lehman, Boca Raton, to be publicly reprimanded. (Admitted to practice: 1969) Lehman commingled funds. While acting as ancillary personal representative for a deceased client, he withdrew funds from the client’s estate account and transferred them into his operating account. Lehman then used the funds to pay the estate expenses from his operating account, thus violating Bar rules.
• Scott Gregory Millard, Winter Park, to be publicly reprimanded and further placed on probation for two years. (Admitted to practice: 2014) Millard had been conditionally admitted to The Florida Bar and was placed on probation for one year during which time he was to be monitored by Florida Lawyers Assistance. Millard violated the terms of his contract with FLA by failing to meet in person with his monitor once a month during the first six months of the contract.
• Garry Lee Potts, Clearwater, suspended until further order. (Admitted to practice: 1988) Potts was found in contempt of court for failure to respond to an official Bar inquiry. He also failed to appear and failed to produce records related to a client as directed in a subpoena served upon him by The Florida Bar.
• John Rex Powell, Cape Coral, permanently disbarred. (Admitted to practice: 2007) Powell was sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Indianapolis, Ind., and sentenced to federal prison for 30 years for felonies including engaging in a child pornography enterprise and sexual exploitation of a minor. In addition, Powell failed to pay annual Florida Bar membership fees and failed to complete his basic skills continuing legal education credits within three years of his admission to the Bar.
• Andre Keith Sanders, St. Petersburg. The Supreme Court granted Sanders’ request for a disciplinary revocation, with leave to seek readmission after five years. (Admitted to practice: 1991) Sanders had several matters pending including an order entered by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division, permanently and indefinitely terminating his admission to practice, based on findings Sanders had previously practiced law in that jurisdiction while ineligible.
• Christopher LeGrande Scileppi, Tucson, Ariz., suspended for 60 days. (Admitted to practice: 2000) Scileppi received a 60-day suspension along with six months’ probation in an Arizona court for his poor communication with a client and failure to comply with court obligations. In three separate matters, he failed to appear for court hearings.
• Nadine Rhodes Smith, Fort Myers, suspended for 91 days. Further, Smith is required to pay the arrearages of her monthly monitoring fee before she can file a petition for reinstatement. (Admitted to practice: 1994) Smith was found in contempt for violating the terms of a June 17, 2013, report of minor misconduct. Smith was required, in part, to submit to an evaluation with Florida Lawyers Assistance within 30 days of the acceptance of the report. During the two-year contract period, Smith was required to remain alcohol and drug-free. She tested positive for alcohol, failed to appear for two randomly scheduled tests and failed to record her monthly meeting attendance.
• Danielle E. Weber, Tampa, suspended for 91 days. (Admitted to practice: 2006) Weber represented a client on criminal charges and fell asleep in court, causing the court to defer consideration of the case. She was denied access to visit clients at a jail because she was impaired due to alcohol and/or other substances. Weber failed to respond to multiple inquiries from The Florida Bar regarding her conduct. In addition, Weber pleaded no contest and was adjudicated guilty of a misdemeanor for driving under the influence. In representing another client, Weber appeared late to at least one hearing and failed to appear for another.