TALLAHASSEE — Longtime Winter Park attorney Steven Jay Kirschner has been suspended following a Feb. 20 Florida Supreme Court order over allegations he mishandled his client trust account, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
"The bar's compliance audit of Kirschner’s law office trust account revealed he failed to maintain it in compliance with the rules regulating The Florida Bar," the state bar said in its March 19 announcement of the discipline and the Supreme Court's order. "Kirschner hired a CPA who brought his trust accounting records into compliance. There were small, short-term shortages but no evidence of misappropriation and no clients lost any funds."
In its two-page order, the Supreme Court approved the uncontested referee's report filed in the matter before suspending Kirschner for 60 days, to be followed by two years of conditional probation.
Kirschner's suspension was effective 30 days from the date of the court's order to allow him time to close out his practice and protect his existing clients' interests, according to the high court's order.
Among other things, Kirschner agreed to attend the state bar's trust accounting workshop.
The court also ordered Kirschner to pay almost $5,384 in costs.
Florida court orders are not final until time to file a rehearing motion expires. Filing such a motion does not alter the effective date of Kirschner's suspension.
Kirschner was admitted to the bar in Florida in 1985, according to the consent judgment reached between Kirschner and the state bar. The consent judgment also includes Kirschner's conditional guilty plea.
In a prior and "remote" discipline, Kirschner was admonishment "for minor misconduct" about 27 years ago, the consent judgment said.
Allegations against Kirschner stemmed from an October 2017 complaint filed with the state bar alleging that Kirschner failed to honor a letter of protection, according to the consent judgment.
The audit revealed, among other things, that Kirschner's client trust account had "small shortages of brief duration" and that settlement disbursements were made before some clients signed settlement statements, the consent judgment said.
"On occasion, respondent commingled attorney and client funds in one account," the consent judgment said.