Philadelphia attorney Robert Philip Tuerk, practicing in Florida for about five years, has been disbarred following a July 20 Florida Supreme Court order after violating the terms of an August 2016 order, according to a recent Florida State Bar report.
Tuerk's disbarment follows two suspensions entered by the Florida Supreme Court last year and suspensions entered by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in fall 2015 and winter 1996.
Tuerk was required to notify his clients, opposing counsel and tribunals of his suspension, and provide the state bar within 30 days a sworn affidavit with names and addresses of everyone furnished a copy of his suspension order, according to the Florida Supreme Court order.
Tuerk had been suspended for three years in 2016 and ordered to pay the state bar's costs of $1,250, according to the state court order entered at that time. Tuerk was already under the previous suspension in Florida, which made the August 2016 suspension effective immediately.
The Florida State Bar announced the discipline and the Supreme Court's order July 31.
In Florida, court orders are not final until after time to file a rehearing motion expires. Attorneys disbarred in the state may not re-apply for admission for five years and even then they must pass through an extensive process that includes a rigorous background check and retaking the bar exam.
Tuerk was admitted to the bar in Florida on Jan. 28, 2002, according to his profile at the state bar website.
In March 2016, Tuerk was suspended for one year following a Florida Supreme Court order and directed to comply with all terms and conditions of the report and consent judgment entered in that filing. The report and consent judgment referred to a year-and-a-day suspension Tuerk received from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court January 1996 for failing to disclose a prior arrest when he applied in 1991 to be admitted to the state bar in that state.
In 2015, Tuerk received another year-and-a-day suspension from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for failing to disclose his prior disciplinary history when applying for admission to the federal bar, according that high court's order entered in October of that year.