The Florida Bar, the state's guardian for the integrity of the legal profession, announced that the Florida Supreme Court in recent court orders disciplined 22 attorneys, disbarring 10 and suspending eight. Some attorneys received more than one form of discipline. Three attorneys were placed on probation; four attorneys were publicly reprimanded.
Three Northeast Florida attorneys were disciplined. Richard Scott Draughon of Ponte Vedra Beach and Schuyler Stewart Smith of Jacksonville were suspended.
Raymond Edmund Makowski of Jacksonville was permanently disbarred.
As an official arm 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 93,000-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.
• Jeffrey Wayne Day, 13 Mountain View Road, Flint Hill, Va., suspended until further order, effective 30 days from a June 1 court order. (Admitted to practice: 2004) Day was found in contempt for failing to respond to multiple official Bar inquiries. (Case No. SC12-639)
• Richard Scott Draughon, 830 Florida A1A N., Suite 13, Ponte Vedra Beach, suspended for one year, effective 30 days from a June 28 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1987) Draughon deliberately and knowingly engaged in professional misconduct including dishonesty. Draughon formed the National Lease Management Corporation, an organization in which he was the sole shareholder. He then purchased a residential property for a client that was his friend. After signing a promissory note to the residential property owner under his organization’s name, Draughon transferred the property to himself without paying any consideration at a time when the organization had no other viable assets. He failed to pay the outstanding balance of $110,000 on the promissory note. (Case No. SC09-2056)
• Paul Lawrence Erickson, 604 Vista View Drive, Asheville, N.C., suspended until further order, following a June 5 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1983) According to an emergency suspension order, Erickson, also a member of The North Carolina State Bar, appeared to be causing great public harm in that state by participating in a fraudulent mortgage elimination scheme. In August 2008, he was suspended by The North Carolina State Bar and prohibited from practicing law for five years. (Case No. SC12-1096)
• Veverly Gary-Hamilton, 301 Clematis St., Suite 3000, West Palm Beach, publicly reprimanded following a May 24 court order. (Admitted to practice: 2006) Gary-Hamilton is further directed to attend ethics school. Gary-Hamilton entered into a contingency fee agreement to represent her cousin, a Georgia resident, for purposes of a personal injury matter. The representation was claimed to be of a limited scope, but Gary-Hamilton did not obtain the client's informed consent in writing as required by Bar rules. Gary-Hamilton failed to diligently pursue settlement or advise her client to file suit prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations, depriving him of the opportunity to make an informed decision on the case. (Case No. SC12-422)
• David William Iverson, 2225 N. Commerce Parkway, Suite 7, Weston, suspended for 90 days, effective 30 days from a May 29 court order. Further, upon reinstatement, Iverson is placed on probation for one year. (Admitted to practice: 1984) Iverson associated himself with an accounting consulting firm that assisted a client with immigration matters without adequate supervision by Iverson. (Case No. SC12-660)
• Janet L. Langjahr, 3330 S. Federal Highway, Suite 208, Boynton Beach, publicly reprimanded following a May 24 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1993) Langjahr was retained by a client to handle a matter in a limited representation agreement. Langjahr expressed to the client that an additional retainer fee would be charged to her in the future, but never stated the exact amount nor the date due. On the day prior to an injunction hearing, Langjahr advised the client that she needed to pay an additional $5,000 plus. Although the morning of the hearing the client offered to pay an additional $2,500, Langjhar terminated representation and failed to appear at the hearing failing to protect her client's interest. (Case No. SC12-624)
• Sara Lawrence, 850 Ives Dairy Road, Suite 53-B, Miami, publicly reprimanded by the Board of Governors following a May 22 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1982) Lawrence is further directed to attend a Florida Bar professionalism workshop. Lawrence represented a client (the wife) in a dissolution of marriage matter. On the eve of the divorce trial, phoning from Lawrence’s office, her client attempted to participate in a court authorized and ordered telephone visitation with the couple’s children. The call was forwarded to the husband’s answering service. The message on the husband's voice mail contained Lawrence's voice directly addressing the husband concerning the subject matter of the representation. Opposing counsel did not authorize Lawrence to engage in direct communication with the husband. When it was brought to the presiding judge's attention that Lawrence had directly communicated with the husband the night before, Lawrence repeatedly denied it. Later, when the aforementioned voice mail message was played in open court, Lawrence admitted that her voice was on the message, but that she did not recall the incident. (Case No. SC11-2197)
• Raymond Edmund Makowski, P.O. Box 551174, Jacksonville, permanently disbarred effective immediately, following a May 29 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1974) Makowski prepared and executed a living trust for a longtime client. Subsequently, the client died. The client's daughter, who was the trustee and sole beneficiary, also died. As successors’ trustees, the client had named Makowski and an associate. The client’s granddaughter was now the sole beneficiary of the trust. The terms of the trust dictated that it should’ve been terminated at the time of her death, and the remaining assets were to be given to the beneficiary, the client’s daughter. Makowski failed to notify the daughter of this provision, failed to distribute the assets as directed, and failed to comply with numerous requests for accountings and finances of the trust. He also failed to respond to official Bar inquiries. (Case No. SC11-1125)
• J. William Masters, II, 1229 Burning Tree Lane, Winter Park, permanently disbarred effective immediately, following a May 24 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1973) Masters was found in contempt for failing to comply with the terms of a Sept. 14, 2010, disbarment order. Masters was ordered to notify his clients, opposing counsel and tribunals of his disbarment, and provide The Florida Bar within 30 days of his disbarment, a sworn affidavit listing the names and addresses of all persons and entities that were furnished a copy of the order. (Case No. SC11-961)
• Kenneth J. Morilak, 3825 Appaloosa Drive, Woodbridge, Va., disbarred effective immediately, following a May 24 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1998) Morilak, also an officer with the Judge Advocate General’s Corp in the U.S. Army Reserves, pleaded guilty in U.S. district court to one felony count of violating False Claims Against the Government. (Case No. SC12-517)
• William Timothy O’Toole, 120 E. Oakland Park Blvd., Suite 105, Fort Lauderdale, disbarred effective immediately, following a May 22 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1992) O’Toole was the subject of 20 Bar disciplinary matters. O’Toole failed to properly communicate with clients and failed to diligently handle their cases. O’Toole allowed nonlawyers to improperly solicit clients on his behalf for loan modifications and foreclosure defense on a nationwide basis, despite the fact he could only practice law in Florida. He also split fees with nonlawyers, a violation of Bar rules. (Case No. SC11-1815)
• Jaime Roberto, 645 Barretto St., Apt. C, Bronx, N.Y., to be publicly reprimanded following a June 6 court order. (Admitted to practice: 2006) Roberto was found in contempt for failing to respond in a timely manner to official Bar inquiries. (Case No. SC12-558)
• Scott Elliott Rovenger, 8 Port Side Drive, Fort Lauderdale, disbarred effective immediately, following a May 22 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1978) Rovenger was the subject of a Bar disciplinary matter accusing him of engaging in the inappropriate disbursement of funds from his trust account. In March 2001, Rovenger received a settlement check for $450,000, on behalf of a client, stemming from a personal injury matter. A review of Rovenger’s trust account between July 2010 and February 2012 revealed balances below $10,000 for several months, indicating that monies from the $450,000 settlement were no longer there. (Case No. SC12-625)
• Benjamin Rosen Schulman, 4340 Sheridan St., Suite 102, Hollywood, disbarred effective retroactive to Nov. 28, 2011, following a May 29, court order. (Admitted to practice: 1986) Schulman improperly disbursed third party funds held in his trust account without their consent. He also failed to maintain the minimum trust account records required by Bar rules. (Case No. SC11-2427)
• Jeffrey Alan Schwarz, 801 N.E. 167th St., Floor 2, North Miami Beach, permanently disbarred effective immediately, following a May 21 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1976) Schwarz was the subject of a Bar disciplinary matter alleging that he did not timely disburse settlement funds received in a personal injury matter and failed to adequately communicate with the client regarding the status of representation. Schwarz also failed to comply with the terms of a subpoena served by The Florida Bar, commanding him to produce specific trust accounting records. (Case No. SC12-562)
• Jonathan Stephen Schwartz, 200 S.E. First St., Suite 505, Miami, suspended for 90 days, effective 30 days from a May 29 court order. Further, upon reinstatement, Schwartz is placed on probation for one year. (Admitted to practice: 1986) On three separate occasions, Schwartz knowingly made misrepresentations to the court regarding the improper notarizations of documents, while representing a client in a child paternity case. Schwartz also loaned money to the client for living expenses, a violation of Bar rules. (Case No. SC11-2143)
• Schuyler Stewart Smith, 118 W. Adams St., Suite 800, Jacksonville, suspended for two years, effective 30 days from a May 22 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1982) On numerous occasions, Smith forged the signature of an attorney on fee affidavits without the attorney’s permission. (Case No. SC11-2199)
• Robert Andrew Smoley, 20533 Biscayne Blvd., Suite 648, Aventura, disbarred effective retroactive to June 2, 2011, following a May 22 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1978) Smoley pleaded guilty in U.S. district court to one felony count of drug conspiracy and one felony count of conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. (Case No. SC11-837)
• Steve Stavrakis Jr., 623 E. Tarpon Ave., Tarpon Springs, suspended for one year, effective 30 days from a May 22 court order. Further, upon reinstatement, Stavrakis is placed on probation for two years. (Admitted to practice: 1992) Shortages in Stavrakis’ trust account ranged from $235.89 in November 2009 to $39,759 in September 2010. A Bar audit of the account, during that period through February 2012, revealed that Stavrakis did not have an operating account, used his trust account to operate his law practice and did not maintain any of the required trust records. (Case No. SC12-1016)
• Herman Thomas, 2200 Rue de Le Flore St., Mobile, Ala., disbarred effective immediately, following a June 4 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1986) This is a reciprocal discipline case. Thomas was twice disbarred by the Alabama State Bar. (Case No. SC11-925)
• Eric Jefferson Tinsley, 11780 Saint Andrews Place, Apt. 305, Wellington, disbarred effective retroactive to April 4, 2011, following a May 22 court order. (Admitted to practice: 2003) Tinsley admitted to misappropriating trust funds and using client monies for his own purposes rather than the intended purposes. He also commingled personal funds with client funds in an attempt to fix the shortages in his trust account and failed to maintain the minimum trust account records required by Bar rules. (Case No. SC11-802)
• Kenneth Paul Whiting, 53 Chenango St., Suite 700, Binghamton, N.Y., suspended for one year, effective retroactive to Oct. 24, 2011, following a May 22 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1989) This is a reciprocal discipline case from New York. Whiting pleaded guilty in U.S. district court to one count of a multi-count indictment, covering four years of failure to file federal income tax returns, a federal misdemeanor. (Case No. SC11-2056)