The Florida Bar announced that the Florida Supreme Court in recent court orders disciplined 22 attorneys, disbarring eight and suspending 12. Some attorneys received more than one form of discipline. Two attorneys were publicly reprimanded and one was ordered to pay restitution.
Raymond Edmund Makowski of Jacksonville was suspended for failing to comply with the Bar’s subpoena for trust account records.
As an official agency of the Florida Supreme Court, The Florida Bar and its Department of Lawyer Regulation are charged with administering a statewide disciplinary system to enforce Supreme Court rules of professional conduct for the 88,000-plus lawyers admitted to practice law in Florida. Since Aug. 1, 2007, case files have been posted to attorneys’ individual Florida Bar profiles and may be reviewed at and/or downloaded from The Florida Bar’s website, www.floridabar.org.
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.
Disbarred lawyers may not re-apply for admission for five years. They are required to go through an extensive process that rejects many who apply. It includes a rigorous background check and retaking the bar exam. Historically, fewer than 5 percent of disbarred lawyers seek readmission.
The following lawyers are disciplined:
• Jack S. Carey, 635 19th Ave. N.E., St. Petersburg, disbarred, following a Sept. 14 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1951) (Case No. SC10-1399) Carey violated Florida Bar rules regarding conflict of interest. Carey represented a client for many years and oversaw her will through several amendments. After her death, the court found that Carey took advantage of the business relationship he had with the client and procured substantial benefits for himself. (Case No. SC10-1399)
• Darlene Fernandez Carus, 7234 N.W. 66th St., Miami, suspended for 30 months, effective 30 days from an Aug. 10 court order. (Admitted to practice: 2001) Carus allowed an attorney friend to use her Attorney’s Title Insurance agent identification and trust account to conduct closings because the friend claimed to have minor problems with her own membership. Unbeknownst to Carus, the friend’s Attorney’s Title membership had previously been revoked. The friend, an attorney who was later permanently disbarred, was not supervised by Carus and conducted numerous fraudulent transactions resulting in a loss in excess of $1 million. (Case No. SC10-1535)
• Michelle H. Clark, P.O. Box 173, Tavares, suspended for six months, effective 30 days from a Sept. 15 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1997) Clark was placed on probation for three years in February 2007. She agreed to sign a rehabilitation contract with Florida Lawyers Assistance Inc. and pay restitution of $5,500 to two clients. She failed to comply with the court order. (Case No. SC10-195)
• Fred Clinton Cohen, P.O. Box 13146, North Palm Beach, suspended for 90 days, effective 30 days from a Sept. 17 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1973) Cohen failed to properly supervise and shared fees with a disbarred lawyer who worked in his office as a paralegal. (Case No. SC10-353)
• Robert Joseph Dorn Jr., 7815 W. Commercial Blvd., Tamarac, suspended until further order, effective 30 days from a Sept. 17 court order. (Admitted to practice: 2002) Dorn failed to respond to official Bar inquiries regarding a complaint. Also, the telephone number he provided to the Bar was disconnected with no forwarding number. (Case No. SC10-1491)
• James Bernard Hayes, 5301 N. Federal Highway, Suite 130, Boca Raton, permanently disbarred effective immediately, following an Aug. 24 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1978) Hayes misappropriated client trust funds and converted them for his own purposes. (Case No. SC10-939)
• Robin Ann Hellman, 12000 N.E. 8th Ave., Miami, disbarred effective retroactive to May 14, following a Sept. 17 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1998) Hellman misappropriated client funds. She consistently transferred client funds from her trust account to her operating account. (Case No. SC10-1018)
• Joel Scott Jacobi, 12555 Biscayne Blvd. #844, North Miami, suspended for 91 days, effective 30 days from a Sept. 21 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1997) While running for re-election to a city council seat, Jacobi made false or misleading statements under oath regarding his residency. He was issued a letter of reprimand and required to pay $3,500 in fines by the Ethics Commission. Jacobi later resigned his seat after an opponent filed a lawsuit seeking his removal from the council. In another matter, Jacobi failed to appear at a hearing in a client matter, resulting in a judgment against his client, which Jacobi subsequently satisfied after a bar grievance was filed. (Case No. SC10-400)
• Jussi Kustaa Kivisto, 1010 10th Ave. N. #2, Lake Worth, disbarred effective immediately, following a Sept. 28 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1983) Kivisto established a pattern of willful, deliberate disregard for the orders of the court. His behavior included lying to the referee in open court, frivolous objections to discovery, repeated failure to appear for deposition and filing a federal lawsuit against Bar counsel. The court found that Kivisto’s defiant and inappropriate behavior was premeditated and carried out with deliberate malice aforethought. (Case No. SC07-2281)
• Warren Jay Knaust, 530 49th St. S., St. Petersburg, suspended until further order, following an Aug. 30 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1976) In August, Knaust pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution, a felony. (Case No. SC10-1681)
• Raymond Edmund Makowski, P.O. Box 551174, Jacksonville, suspended until further order, effective 30 days from a Sept. 14 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1974) Makowski failed to comply with the Bar’s subpoena for trust account records. (Case No. SC10-1363)
• James Robert Mann, 1220 16th Street, Miami Beach, suspended until further order, effective 30 days from a Sept. 30 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1997) Mann failed to comply with a subpoena by the grievance committee to appear and produce trust account records. (Case No. SC10-1632)
• J. William Masters II, 1229 Burning Tree Lane, Winter Park, disbarred effective Sept. 30, following a Sept. 14 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1973) Masters was retained to represent numerous clients and he failed to adequately do so. In some instances, Masters failed to communicate and keep clients apprised of their cases and he failed to timely respond to letters from the Bar. (Case No. SC10-415)
• Joseph Barry Miller, 235 Porto Vecchio Way, Palm Beach Gardens, disbarred effective immediately, following a Sept. 15 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1973) Miller pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, a felony, in relation to money obtained as a result of fraudulent mortgages. (SC10-942)
• Michael Palmer Nido Jr., 10055 N.W. 54th Place, Coral Springs, suspended for six months, effective 30 days from an Aug. 31 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1996) Nido failed to file an answer to a Bar complaint and failed to appear at a final hearing in May. He also submitted false statements about his representation of a client and he submitted a sworn statement to the Bar that included multiple fabricated attacks on the client. (Case No. SC09-642)
• Samuel Edwards Oliver, 2005 N. Meridian Road, Apt. G, Tallahassee, disbarred effective 30 days from a July 8 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1997) Further, Oliver shall pay restitution of $7,500 to one client and nearly $1,200 to another person. In several instances, Oliver was paid to represent clients and he failed to communicate and made misrepresentations about the status of the cases. He also failed to refund unearned fees to clients. (Case No. SC09-1739)
• Byron Gregory Petersen, 600 W. Las Olas Blvd., Apt. 1105, Fort Lauderdale, to be publicly reprimanded following an Aug. 26 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1976) In March 2009, Petersen pleaded guilty in court to three misdemeanor courts for criminal mischief and stalking. Adjudication of guilt was withheld and he was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to enter a domestic intervention program. (Case No. SC10-582)
• Henry Neil Portner, 1001 W. Indiantown Road, Suite 105, Jupiter, to be publicly reprimanded following an Aug. 19 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1991) Portner disseminated a misleading direct mail advertisement for foreclosure defense and loan modification representation. (Case No. SC10-288)
• Marc Benjamin Press, 6551 Arleigh Court, Apt. 102, Boca Raton, suspended for one year, effective 30 days from a Sept. 29 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1996) Further, as a condition of his reinstatement, Press shall receive a recommendation from Florida Lawyers Assistance Inc. Press was found in contempt for violating conditions of a November 2009 admonishment for minor misconduct. (Case No. SC10-1125)
• David Kenyon Richardson, 7911 N.W. 72nd Ave., Suite 109A, Medley, permanently disbarred, effective retroactive to July 20, following an Aug. 19 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1994) Richardson admitted that he received client funds and he failed to preserve or use those funds for the purposes for which they were entrusted. (Case No. SC10-1601)
• Adam Serper, 20500 W. Country Club Drive, Aventura, suspended for two years, effective immediately, following an Aug. 5 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1996) Further, as a condition of his reinstatement, Serper shall receive a recommendation from Florida Lawyers Assistance Inc. In April 2009, Serper was suspended for 91 days and ordered to sign a rehabilitation contract with Florida Lawyers Assistance Inc. Serper failed to comply with the court order. (Case No. SC10-946)
• Mark David Swanson, 1521 Alton Road No. 684, Miami Beach, suspended for 91 days, effective 30 days from a Sept. 16 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1984) Further, as a condition of his reinstatement, Swanson shall receive a recommendation from Florida Lawyers Assistance Inc. In May Swanson was suspended for 50 days and ordered to pay restitution totaling $9,300 to two clients. He was also required to contact FLA Inc. for an evaluation. Swanson failed to comply with the court order. (Case No. SC10-1402)