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.
The state Supreme Court's two-page order held Rosenberg in contempt, made permanent his prior disbarment and ordered Rosenberg to pay $1,250 in costs. The order followed a Florida Bar Association petition for contempt, for alleged violations of the April 15, 2016, disbarment order.
While the state court's disbarment order against Rosenberg this past spring had been effective immediately because Rosenberg was still under a previous suspension, it was not permanent. Attorneys disbarred in the state may not reapply for admission for five years and then must pass through an extensive process that includes a rigorous background check and retaking the bar exam.
With the high court's most recent decision, Rosenberg no longer has leave to reapply for admission. In Florida, court orders are not final until after time to file a rehearing motion expires. The Florida State Bar announced Rosenberg's permanent disbarment and the Florida Supreme Court's order Nov. 21.
Rosenberg was admitted to the bar in Florida on April 14, 1999, according to his profile at the state bar website.
Rosenberg continued to practice law following his disbarment, according to the state bar's announcement, which also referred to "numerous pleadings" in which "Rosenberg repeatedly challenged the court’s authority to disbar him from the practice of law".
In May 2015, Rosenberg was suspended one year following an 18-page state court opinion that found him guilty of professional misconduct in reference to an October 2013 state bar complaint against Rosenberg. The state bar's complaint followed a Palm Beach County circuit court judge's sanction against Rosenberg in 2007 for bad faith conduct, ordering him to pay plaintiffs' attorney's fees in a case in which he'd withdrawn as counsel for the defense. The sanction was affirmed on appeal, according to the state court’s opinion.
Rosenberg had not paid sanctions imposed by the judge as of the date of the high court's opinion, according to the opinion.