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.
The state court issued its two-page order granting 58-year-old Spatz's uncontested petition for disciplinary revocation, giving the attorney leave to seek readmission after five years. Spatz's disbarment was set to be effective 30 days from the order's date to allow him time to can close out his practice and protect the interests of existing clients, according to the order. The high court also ordered Spatz to pay $1,250 in costs.
In Florida, court orders are not final until after time to file a rehearing motion expires. 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.
The Florida State Bar announced Spatz's disbarment and the Supreme Court's order n Nov. 21. Spatz was admitted to the bar in Florida on Oct. 5, 1987, according to his profile at the state bar website. Spatz had no other discipline, according to his profile and his uncontested petition for disciplinary revocation.
Spatz was one of five Florida attorneys and five alleged accomplices arrested in September as part of a Broward County sheriff investigation into a patient brokering scheme that between May 2015 and December 2016 brought in more than $521,000 in kickbacks, according to a sheriff's department report and a Florida Attorney General's Office news release. Allegations against those arrested included organized fraud, criminal solicitation and patient brokering, according to the sheriff's department report.
Other attorneys arrested were Adam Hurtig of Fort Lauderdale, Alexander Kapetan of Lighthouse Point, Vincent Pravato of Davie, and Steven Slootsky of Boca Raton, according to the sheriff's report and a Florida attorney general's news release.
While Spatz acknowledged in his uncontested petition for disciplinary revocation that multiple charges of patient brokering are pending against him, he made no factional admission about them. Spatz also acknowledged "that the allegations, if proven, would form the predicate for disciplinary action by this court," he said in his uncontested petition for disciplinary revocation.