TALLAHASSEE — Two attorneys from Miami and an attorney from Fort Lauderdale face public reprimands following separate April 12 Florida Supreme Court orders over allegations arising from their former foreclosure defense and mortgage modification service, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
Miami attorney Lisa Ehrenreich and Fort Lauderdale attorney Alexandra Brzostowicki Kontos will be publicly reprimanded by publication in the Southern Reporter, placed on three years of conditional probation and required to attend the state bar's ethics school, according to the Supreme Court's separate two-page orders. Miami attorney Monica Reyes will be publicly reprimanded and placed on three years of conditional probation, according to the Supreme Court's two-page order in her matter.
All three were required to pay $1,200 and the high court ordered that more than $11,000 in restitution be paid to three clients.
The trio owned and were managing partners of a law group providing foreclosure defense and mortgage modification services, according to the state bar's May 29 announcement of the disciplines and the Supreme Court's orders.
"They engaged in a billing practice that resulted in the firm's charging and collecting clearly excessive or illegal fees," the announcement said.
"In addition to the fees, Ehrenreich and her partners delegated the client matters to inexperienced associates and failed to keep clients reasonably informed."
In Florida, court orders are not final until after the time to file a rehearing motion expires. Filing such a motion would not alter the effective date of the three attorneys' discipline.
Ehrenreich was admitted to the bar in Florida on May 7, 2007, Kontos on April 16, 2009 and Reyes on May 14, 2008, according to their separate profiles at the state bar website. None of the attorneys had prior discipline before the state bar, according to their state bar profiles and separate consent judgments filed with the court. Their consent judgments also included their unconditional guilty pleas.
The partners in RKE Law Group "engaged in a billing practice which resulted in the firm's charging and collecting a clearly excessive and/or illegal fee," Ehrenreich's consent judgment said.
The three "were relatively inexperienced in the practice of law at the time of these offenses," Ehrenreich's consent judgment said. "They have since closed their practice and are not presently engaged in the practice of law."