TALLAHASSEE — Despite improvements last year, Florida's "most unfair" court system in civil litigation helped the Sunshine State beat out California to take the top spot in American Tort Reform Foundation's (ATRF) latest list of "judicial hellholes," the organization said in its latest annual report.
West Palm Beach attorney David Andrew Jaynes has been suspended following a Sept. 22 Florida Supreme Court order that found him in contempt for failing to comply with requirements of his suspension handed down this past March.
Orlando attorney Michael Kevin Rathel has been disbarred following a Nov. 1 Florida Supreme Court order that found him in contempt for failing to comply with requirements of previous suspensions that stem from a Florida Bar Association inquiry into a second mortgage on his home.
Fort Lauderdale attorney Mark Mayer Spatz has agreed to his own disbarment following an Oct. 26 Florida Supreme Court order after his arrest in September for alleged involvement in a patient brokering scheme.
Miami Beach attorney Erwin Rosenberg has been permanently disbarred following a Sept. 25 Florida Supreme Court order over allegations he continue to practice law after being disbarred in April and challenged the high court's authority to say he can't.
Coral Gables attorney Aura Olivas has been disbarred following an Oct. 26 Florida Supreme Court order that also directed her to pay more than $305,000 in restitution to a client.
Cooper City attorney Melissa A. Heaton has been suspended until further order following an Oct. 25 Florida Supreme Court order after failing to notify the Florida State Bar of her no contest plea to a drug possession charge.
Tallahassee attorney Robert Augustus Harper has been publicly reprimanded by publication following an Oct. 21 Florida Supreme Court order for allegedly recruiting a client after convincing her that she was being investigated and failing in certain court filings.
Jacksonville attorney Stephanie J. Hartley has been suspended following an Oct. 26 Florida Supreme Court order following a no-contest plea to an alcohol-related breach of peace/disorderly conduct charge.
Jacksonville attorney Robert Charles Grady has been publicly reprimanded by publication and placed on two years' probation following an Sept. 22 Florida Supreme Court order after he pled guilty to DUI.
Hollywood attorney Mizell Campbell Jr has been suspended indefinitely following an Oct. 12 Florida Supreme Court emergency suspension order over allegations he commingled trust funds and with his personal funds and misappropriated almost $20,000.
TALLAHASSEE – Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente will not be recused from a case that centers on who will make the decision to appoint replacements for her and two colleagues on the bench.
Merritt Island attorney Daniel S. Ciener, practicing in Florida more than 50 years, has been publicly reprimanded by publication in the Southern Reporter following an Oct. 12 Florida Supreme Court order over allegations he was rude to a court deputy.
Coral Gables attorney George Joseph Charnota has been suspended for the fourth time in less than three years following an Oct. 25 Florida Supreme Court order finding him in contempt for failing to comply with the conditions of a suspension handed down in January.
Brandon attorney Richard Luther Bradford has been suspended for the second time this year following a Nov. 2 Florida Supreme Court order finding him in contempt for failing to comply with the terms of his prior suspension.
TALLAHASSEE - Governor Rick Scott today moved to disqualify Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente from the case of League of Women Voters Florida, et al. v. Rick Scott, in the wake of the justice's controversial "hot mic" remarks after the conclusion of oral argument in the case nearly three weeks ago.
North Carolina attorney Vasilios Alexander Venakides has been publicly reprimanded after a Sept. 14 Florida Supreme Court order following allegations he stopped communicating with a client in a marriage dissolution case.
TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Supreme Court has approved punitive measures against Judge Philip James Yacucci Jr., accused of violating the Code of Judicial Conduct when making rulings in cases involving a former political rival, DUI attorney Stephen Smith.
New York attorney Stewart Meagher McGough will receive a public reprimand following a Sept. 14 Florida Supreme Court order over allegations he engaged in a conflict of interest, according to a Florida State Bar announcement.
