from staff
The Florida Bar recently announced that the Florida Supreme Court in recent court orders disciplined 23 attorneys, disbarring six, suspending 13 and placing six on probation. None of the attorneys on the current discipline list are members of the Jacksonville Bar Association or from the Northeast Florida area. Some attorneys received more than one form of discipline. Four attorneys were reprimanded.
The following lawyers are disciplined:
• John Bruce Thompson of Coral Gables was permanently disbarred without leave to apply for readmission, effective 30 days from a Sept. 25 court order. Thompson is charged with extensive misconduct and a complete lack of remorse. In five separate cases over a three-and-a-half year period, Thompson engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.
• Adenet Medacier of Weston was disbarred for five years, effective 30 days from an Oct. 23 court order. In numerous instances, Medacier failed to apply client trust fund money for its intended purpose and failed to maintain minimum trust account records.
• Loel Seitel of New York, N.Y. was disbarred retroactive to Oct. 22, 2007, following a Sept. 18 court order. In September 2007, Seitel was found guilty of conspiracy to make a false statement, a felony, and sentenced to five months imprisonment, followed by two years probation and a fine of $30,000.
• Steven M. Siegel of Hollywood was disbarred for five years, retroactive to April 24, following an Oct. 8 court order. In February, Siegel was found guilty of attempting to solicit a minor over the Internet, a felony.
• Jessica Kathleen Miller of Holiday was disbarred for five years, retroactive to Jan. 15 following a Sept. 18 court order. In August 2007, Miller was arrested on a contempt of court charge for violating an order to appear. She had already violated two prior orders to appear on behalf of clients in a guardianship proceeding. In other instances, Miller failed to account for and deliver client trust funds and after being retained to represent several clients, she failed to do so and neglected to return the fees.
• Thomas Green Watkins III of Phoenix, Ariz. was disbarred effective 30 days from an Oct. 16 court order. Watkins, also a member of the State Bar of Arizona, was disbarred in that state in February, 2007, due to a conflict of interest in a case in which he was a patent lawyer who also claimed to be an inventor.
• Jeffrey A. Blau of Tampa was suspended for 90 days, effective 30 days from a Sept. 11 court order. Upon reinstatement, Blau is further placed on probation for three years. In December 2006, Blau was arrested after police found small amounts of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in his car and law office desk.
• Ronald Wayne Davis of Pensacola was suspended for 90 days, effective retroactive to June 11 following an Oct. 8 court order. Davis is further placed on probation for three years. In January 2004, Davis pleaded no contest to two felony counts of possession of cocaine and two felony counts of possession of a controlled substance without prescription. He was also found guilty of one misdemeanor first offense of Driving Under the Influence and sentenced to 11 months and 15 days in jail.
• Brook Eugene Fisher of West Palm Beach was suspended until further order of the Court, effective immediately, following a Sept. 22 emergency order. According to the petition for emergency suspension, Fisher appeared to be causing great public harm by misappropriating client trust funds or property. Fisher’s trust account had significant and ongoing shortages throughout a Florida Bar 18-month audit, ranging from $78,492.72 to $463,301.98.
• Eric D. Hightower of West Palm Beach was suspended until further order of the Court, effective immediately, following a Sept. 22 emergency order. According to the petition for emergency suspension, Fisher appeared to be causing great public harm by converting and or misappropriating client funds. A Florida Bar compliance audit found that Hightower had persistent trust account shortages during a Florida Bar 12-month audit, ranging from $4,880 to $20,583.
• Jeffrey Merrill Leukel of Sanford was suspended until further order following an Oct. 20 court order. Leukel was sentenced to 60 days in jail, 12 months probation and 100 hours of community service for a DUI charge. In another instance, he accepted $1,000 toward his fee to represent a client and neglected to do so. Finally, after requesting the hearing time, Leukel failed to appear in court to represent a client.
• David Mogul of Fort Lauderdale was suspended until further order of the Court, effective immediately, following an Oct. 3 court order. According to the petition for emergency suspension, Mogul appeared to be causing great public harm by misappropriating client trust funds or property for his personal use. An audit determined he withdrew $110,349.53 from his trust account during the audit period, exceeding the total deposits of funds from personal sources by nearly $42,000.
• Abad Perez of Manalapan, N.J. was suspended for 91 days, effective 30 days from an Oct. 8 court order. In February, Perez was suspended from the New Jersey Bar for 90 days for misconduct. In 2006, he was indicted for making false statements while under oath, discharged from his prosecutor position and admitted to a pretrial intervention program.
• Jack Barry Phillips of Roebling, N.J. was suspended for three years, effective 30 days from an Oct. 23 court order. Phillips was hired to represent clients in immigration matters and he failed to communicate with them, resulting in rulings against them.
• John Robert Sawyer of Pensacola was suspended for 91 days, effective Oct. 31, following a Sept. 18 court order. In July 2002, Sawyer was suspended for 90 days and placed on probation for two years. Subsequently, during that period, he consumed alcohol, in violation of his Florida Lawyers Assistance rehabilitation contract.
• Richard Brian Simring of Miami Beach was suspended until further order of the Court, effective 30 days following a Sept. 9 court order. Simring pled guilty in the U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va., to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering, a felony.
• John Francis Tague III of Bronxville, N.Y. was suspended for two years, effective 30 days from an Oct. 16 court order. In August 2006, Tague, also a member of the New York Bar, was suspended from practicing law there for two years because of misconduct related to client funds.
• Mario A. Ruiz De la Torre of Miami, suspended for 18 months, retroactive to Oct. 4, 2007, following an Oct. 16 court order. De la Torre is further placed on probation for three years following the suspension. In March 2000, De la Torre pled no contest to five criminal charges, including two felonies. He failed to notify the Bar as required by Bar rules until August 2007.
• Dewey Homer Varner Jr. of suspended for one year, following a Sept. 25 order. Varner voluntarily dismissed a client’s worker compensation case without informing him and falsely testified that he had the client’s authorization.
• Richard W. Bassett of Boynton Beach, to receive a public reprimand from The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors at a date and time to be determined by the board, following a Sept. 11 court order. While representing defendants, Bassett sent a letter to the plaintiffs, who were not represented by counsel, threatening to bring criminal charges if they did not settle. The matter was referred to The Florida Bar by the presiding judge.
• Peter Randel Mayer of Lakeland received public reprimand from The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors, following an Oct. 16 court order. Mayer is further placed on probation for two years, effective retroactive to Oct. 17, 2007. In January 2006, Mayer was charged with battery, a first-degree misdemeanor. The charge was later dismissed after Mayer completed terms of a deferred prosecution agreement.
• Jacob Addington Rose of West Palm Beach to receive a public reprimand following an Oct. 8 court order. Rose is further placed on probation for one year, effective immediately. In numerous instances, Rose neglected to handle cases for clients because of health reasons, but he failed to inform them.
• Adam Ira Skolnik of Coral Springs, to receive a public reprimand following a Sept. 11 court order. Skolnik is further placed on probation for three years. In June 2007, Skolnik was hired to represent a client in a civil matter. He accepted a $1,000 legal fee but took little action in the case. Skolnik also failed to respond as required to The Florida Bar’s inquiries.
Disciplines by the numbers
The following are attorney discipline statistics from the previous fiscal years. The statistics were compiled by The Florida Bar.