The Florida Supreme Court in recent court orders suspended 11 attorneys, reprimanded seven others, disbarred two, accepted the resignation of two and placed one on probation. None was from Northeast Florida.
Court orders are not final until time expires to file a rehearing motion and, if filed, determined. The filing of such a motion does not alter the effective date of the discipline. As an official agency of the Supreme Court of Florida, The Florida Bar and its Department of Lawyer Regulation are charged with the administration of a statewide disciplinary system to enforce Supreme Court rules of professional conduct of the 69,000-plus lawyers admitted to practice law in Florida.
The following lawyers are disciplined:
• Vaugn Carpenter Brennan, Gretna, La., placed on probation following a Dec. 6 court order. Brennan violated trust account rules.
• Jeffrey Evan Cosnow, Palm Harbor, suspended from practicing law in Florida until further court order, effective immediately following a Dec. 21 court order. Cosnow is currently serving a 60-day suspension and appears to be causing great public harm by abandoning his practice. With no prior notice, he delivered 43 boxes, containing approximately 400 client files, to the Tampa office of The Florida Bar. Many of the clients have pending legal matters that require immediate attention.
• Shirley Ann Dvorak, Grand Forks, N.D., suspended from practicing law in Florida for one year, effective retroactive to Jan. 1, following a Nov. 29 court order. Dvorak was suspended from practicing law in North Dakota for attempting to influence a witness in a domestic matter to change her testimony and communicating to a witness’s employer an allegation that the witness’s records were untruthful. She failed to file a copy of the suspension orders with the Supreme Court of Florida within 30 days of their entry.
• Allan M. Elster, Miami, disbarred from practicing law in Florida, effective immediately following a Nov. 21 court order. In three unrelated cases, Elster violated rules regulating The Florida Bar. In one case, despite being notified that he was no longer licensed to practice law in Florida, he willfully and intentionally continued to accept new business, hold himself out as an attorney and otherwise engage in the practice of law. Elster is also guilty of failing to provide competent representation to a client and failing to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client.
• Marilyn Elizabeth Hafling, Largo, reprimanded for professional misconduct following a Nov. 21 court order. While representing a client in a divorce case, Hafling failed to provide competent representation, act with reasonable diligence and promptness, and explain a matters to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation. She failed to respond in writing to an official Bar inquiry into the matter.
• Martin James Hanna, Coral Springs, reprimanded for professional misconduct following a Nov. 21 court order. Hanna represented a client in a divorce, and then represented the other party in the divorce in a modification of the final judgment of the dissolution of marriage. Hanna did not discuss the issue of conflict with the second party, nor did he ever obtain a consent to the representation or waiver of the conflict.
• James Phillips Jamieson, Gainesville, suspended from practicing law in Florida for 91 days following a Nov. 21 court order. Jamieson failed to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client and keep the client reasonably informed about the status of a matter. Jamieson also failed to respond to a Bar inquiry into the compliant filed against him.
• Marvin Kurzban, Miami, reprimanded for professional misconduct following a Dec. 20 court order. While representing a plaintiff in a civil rights action, Kurzban was found guilty of aggressive conduct. His actions include obnoxious, insulting and belligerent behavior to his adversaries outside the presence of the judge and jury, and making facial gestures after rulings by the Court.
• Eliot Jay Lupkin, Ft. Lauderdale, suspended from practicing law in Florida for 90 days, effective 30 days following a Dec. 6 court order. In September 2000, Lupkin was charged with obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, possession of blank prescription forms, uttering a forged instrument, forgery of a prescription, unlawful license tag and failure to register a motor vehicle.
• Lisa Marie Macci, Boca Raton, reprimanded for professional misconduct following a Dec. 6 court order. In November 1995, Macci entered into a marriage ceremony in Hawaii. At the time of the ceremony she was a party in divorce proceedings, but the divorce was not final. Bigamy, if proven in Hawaii, is a petty misdemeanor.
• William Mitchell Moran, Miami, resigned in lieu of disciplinary proceedings, with leave to seek readmission after five years, effective immediately following a Dec. 13 court order. In July 1999, Moran was adjudicated guilty of one count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and was sentenced to a prison term of 60 months.
• Pedro R. Munilla, Miami, resigned in lieu of disciplinary proceedings, with leave to seek readmission after five years, effective 30 days following a Dec. 20 court order. Munilla allegedly violated trust account rules.
• Thomas P. Nichols, Coral Gables, disbarred permanently from practicing law in Florida, effective immediately following a Nov. 21 court order. Nichols continued to engage in the practice of law, in violation of a Feb. 1, 1996 court order.
• Maria Lara Peet, Ft. Myers, suspended from practicing law in Florida until further court order, effective 30 days following a Nov. 28 court order. On or about Sept. 20, Peet was charged with second degree grand theft, a second degree felony, and grand theft, a third degree felony, in connection with the misappropriation of a client’s settlement funds.
• Wendy Beth Tabb, Plantation, suspended from practicing law in Florida for 30 days, effective Dec. 22, following a Dec. 20 court order. Tabb was suspended from the practice of law in California for making misrepresentations to a client and terminating her representation of the client without taking reasonable steps to avoid foreseeable prejudice to her client.
• Robert Ullman, Pembroke Pines, suspended from practicing law in Florida for three years, effective retroactive to Feb. 1, 2000, following a Dec. 13 court order. Ullman pleaded guilty to one count of using a telephone in the commission of and to facilitate acts constituting a drug crime.
• Alejandro Jose Vazquez III, Hollywood, suspended from practicing law in Florida for three years, effective retroactive to March 31, 2000, following a Dec. 6 court order. Vazquez entered a plea of nolo contendere in a bribery case in Feb. 2000, wherein adjudication was withheld.
• Lorenzo Vieito III, Coral Gables, suspended from practicing law in Florida for two years, effective 30 days following a Dec. 20 court order. In several unrelated matters, Vieito failed to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client and to keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter and promptly comply with reasonable requests for information.
• Kenneth B. Wheeler, Winter Park, reprimanded for professional misconduct following a Nov. 21 court order. Wheeler engaged in a conflict of interest by representing multiple clients without fully explaining the implications of the common representation or the risks involved to obtain a knowing waiver of the potential conflict of interest.
• Laura L. Whiteside, Tampa, reprimanded for professional misconduct following a Nov. 29 court order. Whiteside continued to practice law while she was delinquent in her Continuing Legal Education credits.
• Michael Howard Wolf, Plantation, reprimanded for professional misconduct following a Dec. 6 court order. Wolf was the subject of two criminal proceedings and pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor violations.
• Wendell Roosevelt Wylie Jr., Philadelphia, suspended from practicing law in Florida for three years, effective 30 days following a Dec. 6 court order. Wylie was suspended from the Bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for five years, as ordered by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on Feb. 17, 2000. His misconduct includes making misrepresentations to the Pennsylvania Bar, client neglect, and the improper handling of client funds.
• Alexander Zouzoulas, Orlando, suspended from practicing law in Florida for 60 days, effective 30 days following a Dec. 13 court order. Upon reinstatement, he is further placed on probation for three years. Zouzoulas violated rules regulating The Florida Bar in 12 unrelated instances. In several cases, he failed to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client and to keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter, promptly comply with reasonable requests for information, and explain a matter to the extent
reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation.