The Florida Supreme Court disciplined 32 attorneys; disbarring eight, revoking the license of one, suspending 14 and publicly reprimanding nine.
Two are from Jacksonville:
• Anthony Wayne Blackburn was suspended for 30 days. After being retained, Blackburn failed to exercise due care while transferring custody of a child from the guardian to the birth mother.
• Scott Douglas Leemis was suspended for one year. In at least four separate cases, Leemis failed to adequately represent clients and failed to properly communicate with them. Initially, Leemis was held in contempt for non-compliance and failure to respond to official Bar inquiries.
Others disciplined were:
•?Russell Leroy Akins, Fort Pierce, suspended for one year. Upon reinstatement, Akins is placed on probation for three years. Akins failed to adequately communicate with a client regarding the legal fees he would be charged and failed to communicate with other clients who hired Akins for a loan modification. He entered into a financial agreement with two E-commerce referral services that were not sanctioned by Florida Bar rules governing lawyer referral services. Some of the clients resided outside of Florida, despite the fact that Akins was not licensed to practice law in any other state.
• Richard Russell Baker, Winter Park, suspended until further order. Baker pleaded guilty in court to tax evasion, a felony offense. He knowingly failed to file his personal income taxes from 2002 to 2008.
• Thomas Theodore Clifford, Tampa, suspended for 91 days. Clifford was found in contempt for failing to comply with the terms of a March 14 suspension order. Specifically, Clifford was required to provide a sworn affidavit to The Florida Bar within 30 days of his suspension, listing the names and addresses of all persons and entities that were furnished a copy of his suspension order.
•?Larry Herbert Colleton, Orlando, suspended for one year, retroactive to July 29, 2012. Colleton was hired in early 2010 to pursue legal action against an insurance company. He filed a wrongful death suit in 2011 but failed to take any further action on the case. He also failed to communicate with the client.
• Robert B. Cook, Tequesta, to receive a public reprimand to be administered by publication in the Southern. Further, Cook shall pay restitution of $8,310 to four clients. From 2010 to 2012, Cook engaged in a continuing course of conduct involving cases in which clients sought credits on their credit cards, claiming that the purchased services did not occur. Cook was affiliated with an entity as a referral source, which solicited business on his behalf. Although he was unaware of the solicitation, Cook allowed his non-lawyer staff to handle the cases with little supervision from him. Cook was suspended for 90 days following a Nov. 2013 court order and paid restitution of $57,000 to 13 clients. The public reprimand case concerns complainants who were not part of the 90-day suspension and restitution order.
•?Timothy Daniel, Ormond, disbarred effective immediately. Daniel intentionally misappropriated funds he was holding on behalf of a client. Additionally, Daniel made misrepresentations under oath in connection with the Bar’s investigation regarding the client’s funds in question.
• Marcia Vestylena Forsett, Frostproof, suspended until further order. Forsett was found in contempt for failing to comply with the terms of an Aug. 7, 2013, Supreme Court order, in which she was publicly reprimanded and ordered to attend and successfully complete ethics school. On three occasions, Forsett failed to attend ethics school after being scheduled by the Bar.
• John Christopher Getzinger, Coral Springs, suspended until further order. Getzinger was found in contempt by a grievance committee for failing to respond to Bar inquiries dated Dec. 11, 2013, and Feb. 11, 2014.
• Mikal Winston Grass, Coral Gables, suspended until further order. Grass was found in contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena served by The Florida Bar, requesting trust accounting and other records.
•?Michael J. Hernandez, Hacienda Heights, Calif., disbarred effective immediately. Hernandez did not inform any of his clients that he was suspended in Florida and the Immigration court, or that he was not licensed to practice in California. He also continued to hold himself out as a Florida attorney in good standing with both his clients and the courts.
• Frances Grace Jaynal, Pinellas Park, disbarred effective immediately. A compliance audit of Jaynal’s bank records indicated a misappropriation of funds from her trust account from the estates of three separate clients totaling more than $132,000. Jaynal also ceased communication with one client regarding the status of her case.
•?Carlo Jean-Joseph, Fort Lauderdale, disbarred effective immediately. Jean-Joseph was suspended from the practice of law from Dec. 8, 2008, through Oct. 30, 2013, yet he continued to practice law. In one instance, he collected a fee to handle an immigration case, failed to keep the client informed of action taken on the case, and subsequently caused the woman’s petition for temporary protected status to be denied.
• S. Antonio Jiminez, Miramar, to receive a public reprimand following an Aug. 21 court order. Jiminez did not properly supervise the activities of his non-lawyer staff in the handling of a property insurance claim. This resulted in his submission of inaccurate affidavits to the court.
•?Rendi Katalinic, Destin, to receive a public reprimand administered by the referee. Katalinic was hired in November 2010 to handle an immigration case, but he did not submit the immigration application until June 2011. From September 2011 until January 2012, the clients contacted Katalinic’s office 11 times and were unable to speak with him. Due to errors by Katalinic, the clients were instructed by Immigration Services to resubmit the application with the correct fee. Assisted by an IRS certified tax preparer, the clients completed the forms and resubmitted the application on their own.
•?Terry Lee Locy, disbarred effective immediately. Locy has abandoned his law practice. After being retained to handle a civil lawsuit, Locy failed to diligently pursue the matter and failed to adequately communicate with the clients. He also failed to timely respond to Bar inquiries regarding the matter and he failed to appear at a final hearing.
• Alberto J. Matta, Miami. The Supreme Court granted Matta’s request for a disciplinary revocation, effective immediately, with leave to seek readmission after five years. Disciplinary revocation is equivalent to disbarment. Matta had several disciplinary charges pending including allegations of misappropriation of client funds.
•?Richard Kinney Edward Middagh, Coral Gables, suspended for 18 months, effective 30 days from an Aug. 28 court order. Further, upon reinstatement, Middagh shall be placed on probation for one year. A Bar audit found that Middagh was ignorant of the technical Bar rules governing trust accounts and he failed to maintain appropriate trust accounting records. There were also periodic shortages in his trust account.
• Salvatore Dennis Mollica, Earleton, to receive a public reprimand. In July 2010, after assuring a client that he’d timely file an appeal on his behalf, Mollica failed to do so. He eventually filed a petition for a belated appeal. When Mollica failed to respond to a letter from the First District Court of Appeal, it was dismissed for failure to file the docketing statement. The appeal was subsequently taken over by the Office of the Public Defender. The Bar wrote multiple letters to Mollica regarding the matter, but they went ignored. He finally responded in August 2012, after being contacted in writing by Bar counsel.
• Yvonne Marquette Nelson, Orlando, suspended for 91 days. Nelson was found in contempt for failing to comply with the terms of a Dec. 19, 2013, suspension order. Nelson was required to contact Florida Lawyers Assistance.
• David Karl Delano Osborne, Orlando, disbarred effective immediately. A Bar audit found that Osborne misappropriated client funds. It also revealed that he used those funds to correct personal bank account shortages and overdrafts. He failed to maintain adequate funds in his trust account to meet liabilities he owed to his clients.
• David Frank Petrano, Hawthorne, suspended for 91 days. Petrano was found in contempt for violating the terms of a Nov. 12, 2013, court order placing him on indefinite probation and ordering him to undergo an evaluation to determine his fitness to practice law.
• Michael James Powers, Norwood, Mass., to receive a public reprimand following an Aug. 28 court order. This is a reciprocal discipline action. Powers is also a member of the State Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where he received a public reprimand on Feb. 21, 2013. Powers intermingled personal funds with those held in trust and
failed to follow trust accounting rules.
• Thomas Edward Pryor Jr., Orlando, suspended until further order. A Bar audit found that Pryor had $8,000 in his trust account that was not accounted for in the client ledger cards. In a deposition, Pryor said that most of that balance represented his own funds, which he kept in the trust account to prevent seizure by the Internal Revenue Service. The Bar’s investigation also uncovered liens against Pryor by the IRS, for failure to pay annual and quarterly business taxes over many years.
• Brent Rainey, Orlando, suspended for three years. Rainey engaged in a pattern of neglect and lack of communication in regard to several clients. He also refused to respond to multiple requests from The Florida Bar.
• William J. Rinaldo, Lakeland, disbarred effective immediately. Rinaldo accepted legal fees from clients to file bankruptcy petitions and thereafter failed to communicate, failed to file the petitions in some instances and abandoned the cases in other instances.
• Sharon B. Roberts, Tallahassee, to receive a public reprimand. Roberts listened in on a conference call without the authorization or knowledge of the parties involved. She then shared details of the call with her employer who made a public records request for a document that was discussed on the call. Roberts was arrested and jailed on felony charges stemming from her actions. Criminal charges were dropped and the record expunged after she successfully completed a one-year pretrial intervention agreement.
•?Scott David Rubinchik, Plantation, to receive a public reprimand to be administered by publication in the Southern Reporter. After being retained, Rubinchik failed to provide competent representation to several clients.
•?Michael Udowychenko, 3282 Greenwald Way N., Kissimmee, to receive a public reprimand. On three separate occasions in court, Udowychenko’s behavior was inappropriate and disrespectful. In one instance he filed motions alleging fraud on the court. He also filed a recusal motion in court alleging potential collusion between a judge and co-counsel.
• Robert Keith Williams, Melbourne, to receive a public reprimand to be administered by the Board of Governors of The Florida Bar. Williams had a personal and professional relationship with a husband and wife for many years, but when the two decided to divorce, Williams took sides with the wife, who also worked for him. Williams represented the wife in the divorce but it was clear that he was personally involved before litigation began and chose to act as an advocate, knowing that his actions were already subject to scrutiny and suspicion by the husband.
• Henry Lamar Willis, 2745 Tell Place Way S.W., Atlanta, disbarred effective immediately, following an Aug. 14 court order. Willis was also a member of The State Bar of Georgia. On Oct. 7, 2013, the Supreme Court of Georgia issued an opinion disbarring Willis, due to his extreme disregard of his duty to safeguard the property of a client. Willis represented a client in a personal injury matter. When the case settled, a check was made payable to Willis and the client. Willis converted the funds to his own use.