The Florida Supreme Court in recent court orders disciplined 24 attorneys.
Seven were disbarred; two had their licenses revoked; nine were suspended; and six were publicly reprimanded. Three attorneys were placed on probation and one was ordered to pay restitution. They are:
• Lori Kellermann-Battaile, Gainesville. The Supreme Court granted Kellermann-Battaile’s request for a disciplinary revocation. (Admitted to practice: 1993) Disciplinary revocation is tantamount to disbarment. Disciplinary matters pending against Kellermann-Battaile included contempt charges for failure to comply with a court order disqualifying her in a family law case.
• David Joseph Berger, North Miami Beach, disbarred. (Admitted to practice: 2010) Berger misappropriated client trust funds and abandoned his law practice and clients. He also failed to comply with a subpoena to produce trust account records.
• Sholom Boyer, North Miami Beach, suspended until further order. (Admitted to practice: 2001) Boyer was found in contempt for non-compliance with a Bar subpoena served on him on Sept. 4. Boyer was commanded to appear before a grievance committee on Sept. 21, with trust accounting records and other documents. Boyer did not appear, did not provide records and did not provide an explanation for his failure to comply.
• Charles Broida, Columbia, Md., disbarred. (Admitted to practice: 1973) Broida was also a member of the Maryland Bar Association. This is a reciprocal discipline action. A Bar investigation indicated Broida misappropriated funds from an estate and fabricated account statements to conceal the misappropriation in Maryland.
• Jeffrey Joseph Budzik, Fort Lauderdale, suspended. (Admitted to practice: 2004) Budzik pleaded guilty in federal court in Illinois to bank fraud, a felony.
• Heather Sarah Case, Naples. The Supreme Court granted Case’s request for a disciplinary revocation, with leave to seek readmission after five years. (Admitted to practice: 2005) Disciplinary revocation is tantamount to disbarment. Disciplinary matters pending against Case included allegations that she received funds owed to clients but failed to deliver the funds and the files.
• Stephen Michael Cody, Palmetto Bay, to be publicly reprimanded. (Admitted to practice: 1981) Cody was found in contempt for non-compliance in a timely manner with an August 2013 suspension order. Cody was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of more than $13,000 to his former client within one year. More than one year later, he provided documentation to the Bar establishing he did not have the money.
• Francisco D. Coll, Clearwater, suspended until further order. (Admitted to practice: 2007) According to a petition for emergency suspension, Coll appears to be causing great public harm. A Bar investigation revealed Coll has misappropriated at least $276,726 of client funds from his trust accounts.
• David Bradley Dohner, Hallandale, disbarred. (Admitted to practice: 1994) Dohner agreed to represent five clients in various legal matters but took no significant actions on their behalf. He also failed to adequately communicate with them. When the clients were able to contact Dohner, he made misrepresentations, assuring them he was properly handling their cases. Dohner failed to respond to the Bar’s inquiries regarding grievances filed by the clients and he failed to participate at the sanction hearing.
• Marcia Vestylena Forsett, Frostproof, disbarred. (Admitted to practice: 2007) Forsett failed to appear at a sanction hearing even though she was properly noticed by U.S. mail and email. Forsett was hired to represent a client in a child support matter. She was paid $3,000 but did little or no substantive legal work on the case. Forsett was subsequently suspended from the practice of law but continued to practice law. She failed to inform the client or the court of her suspension. Additionally, Forsett failed to cooperate with The Florida Bar.
• Ralph Friedland, Sarasota, suspended for 30 days. (Admitted to practice: 1983) Friedland agreed to represent a woman he’d once dated in a probate case. Friedland believed the case was weak, although he had no experience in contested will cases. The week before the trial, Friedland engaged in sexual conduct with the client. When the judge ruled against the client, she told Friedland that he’d failed to properly prepare for and represent her at trial.
• Catharine Caldwell Fullerton, Coral Gables, to be publicly reprimanded. (Admitted to practice: 1998) Fullerton relocated to California without notifying The Florida Bar. The Bar had attempted to contact her regarding a probable cause finding by a Grievance Committee, and both the letter and email message were undeliverable.
• Tomislav David Golik, Miami, suspended until further order. (Admitted to practice: 2005) Golik pleaded guilty and was adjudicated guilty in federal court of a felony. The court charged that Golik, as an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance, knowingly possessed firearms.
• Brian Neil Greenspoon, Deerfield Beach, suspended. (Admitted to practice: 2003) Greenspoon pleaded “no contest” to one count of unlawful solicitation, a felony. Greenspoon unlawfully met with a potential client within 30 days of a motor vehicle accident regarding representation.
• Michael Tyrone Harris, Fort Lauderdale, to be publicly reprimanded and further, placed on probation for two years. (Admitted to practice: 1981) After agreeing to represent three defendants in a probate case, Harris failed to pursue the case diligently and competently. He did not adequately communicate with clients, failed to answer discovery requests for documents and in one instance, he admitted to inadvertently failing to appear at a hearing. Harris was subsequently terminated by the clients.
• Mitchel Brian Krause, Longwood, to be publicly reprimanded by publication in the Southern Reporter. (Admitted to practice: 1990) Krause provided his wife with funds for her judicial campaign but did not adequately document it. During his own judicial campaign, Krause made disparaging remarks about his opponent. Also, while running for judge, Krause did not adequately communicate with a client despite her requests for updates and, in one instance, he failed to provide the client with appropriate legal advice.
• Peter U. Mayas, Plantation, disbarred. (Admitted to practice: 2003) Mayas knowingly engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in federal court, falsely represented he was permitted to practice in federal court, improperly took fees which also were excessive and abandoned the case. Mayas provided testimony that was untruthful or evasive in related contempt proceedings resulting from his failure to comply with the court’s order to return the fees. In a second, unrelated matter, Mayas represented a client on criminal charges in state court but failed to appear for several hearings, resulting in the court issuing an order to show cause. His response to the Bar’s inquiry was untruthful and inaccurate.
• Kevin Thomas McNeeley, Fort Myers, disbarred. (Admitted to practice: 2001) McNeeley was paid $1,000 to represent a client in a criminal matter and he never performed any services. McNeeley also failed to respond to inquiries regarding the status of the representation. The client requested a refund and never received it.
• Zaharias A. Papantoniou, Clearwater, suspended until further order. (Admitted to practice: 2011) Papantoniou was found in contempt for failure to respond in writing to an official Bar inquiry regarding a complaint. The first letter was sent by regular mail and was returned as undeliverable. Subsequent notices were sent by certified and electronic mail.
• Joseph E. Parrish, Brandon, to be publicly reprimanded. (Admitted to practice: 2003) Parrish’s non-lawyer employee embezzled more than $100,000, including funds from his trust account. In addition, the paralegal caused an insurance company to pay $100,000 for a settlement, while Parrish and the client agreed to a settlement of $30,000. The paralegal embezzled the difference.
• Alex Jay Pearlberg, Sunrise, disbarred. Further, Pearlberg shall pay restitution of $12,700 to clients in three separate matters. (Admitted to practice: 1992) After receiving a settlement of $11,000 on behalf of one client, Pearlberg misappropriated the funds from his trust account. He also received $1,000 to represent a man in a civil matter but took no action on the case and failed to respond to the Bar’s inquiry regarding the matter. Another client paid Pearlberg $700 to represent her in a dispute with her condo association. After sending the initial letter to the association, Pearlberg took no other action to further the case and he failed to answer the client’s communications. Pearlberg failed to diligently represent another client and he was criminally charged for writing worthless checks in a separate case. Pearlberg failed to respond to the Bar’s inquiries regarding the matters.
• Ryan Jennings Peters, Live Oak, suspended for 30 days. Further, upon reinstatement, Peters shall be placed on probation for one year. (Admitted to practice: 2007) Peters failed to pursue three separate cases diligently and competently. His services were terminated in one case due to non-performance. In another case there were issues regarding conflict of interest, and in two cases, there were monetary issues.
• Joseph Silva Jr., Panama City, to be publicly reprimanded by publication in the Southern Reporter. (Admitted to practice: 2000) After being retained, Silva did not diligently pursue a case and failed to communicate. Silva and his client agreed to a $10,000 deposit plus a 20 percent contingency fee that was never written into the contract as required by Bar rules.
• Carlos R. Zepeda, Miami, suspended until further order. (Admitted to practice: 2007) Zepeda was found guilty of aggravated assault with a firearm and trespass to a structure with a firearm, both felonies.