Lying to court and pulling a gun among reasons these Broward attorneys got disciplined
Misappropriated funds, lying to a court and going dark on the Florida Bar after a complaint are among reasons six attorneys from Broward and Palm Beach counties made the monthly list of lawyers disciplined by the state Supreme Court.
This month’s list included no attorneys from Miami-Dade.
In alphabetical order:
Roger Davis, Hallandale Beach
Hallandale Beach’s Roger Davis, who joined the Florida Bar in 1973, says someone must have it in for him after 50 years with a clean disciplinary record. The Florida Bar says it has two misappropriated funds grievances, one from a Kendall client and one from the niece of a man for whom Davis was appointed guardian in 1976.
READ MORE: A Broward attorney of over 50 years denies misappropriating $15,200 of clients’ money
Davis is under emergency suspension. He’s got a hearing on Wednesday before the referee, 18th Circuit Court Judge Ed Sherman.
Lee Feinberg, Coral Springs
After what an arrest report describes as a road rage incident during which Coral Springs attorney Lee Feinberg (admitted to the Bar in 1992) drew and pointed a gun at another driver after cutting him off several times, Feinberg was arrested in 2019. He reported that to the Florida Bar as well as his eventual guilty plea to misdemeanor improper display of a weapon.
Feinberg completed his probation. He received a public reprimand.
Don Gonzalez, Weston
To settle a matter having to do with her mother’s estate, Gaby Gisella Solari Montoya retained Weston’s Don Gonzalez (admitted in 1993) in January 2022. Solari fired Gonzalez a year later. Through Schutts & Bowen, Solari filed a Bar complaint:
“Mr. Gonzalez failed to communicate with Ms. Solari in a timely manner regarding·the litigation in her case; failed to timely present the appropriate documents to the probate court; failed to properly investigate the matters of the estate; failed to provide Ms. Solari and her new counsel with the estate proceeds rightfully belonging to Ms. Solari in her capacity as personal representative of the estate; and failed to provide Ms. Solari with an accounting of the alleged trust account despite her continuous demands.”
Gonzalez hasn’t responded to any letters or communication from the Bar. His voice mail asks callers to text him, but he didn’t respond to a text from the Miami Herald.
As database checks don’t show Gonzalez’s death, he’s suspended as of May 22 until he answers the Bar inquiries.
Frantz Nelson, Hollywood
Frantz Nelson (admitted in 2006) was the back end of Font & Nelson, a Fort Lauderdale law firm. The front end, Jose Font, filed over 700 motions to withdraw from cases involving Southern Fidelity Property & Casualty, each motion a 189-page pile of conspiracy theories, accusations of criminal behavior by other attorneys and attachments concerning lawyers unconnected to that case.
READ MORE: Misused money among things that get Miami metro attorneys disciplined
Font is serving a three-year suspension until Nov. 29, 2026, for the numerous ethics violations in his motions. For signing or allowing his name to be signed onto Font’s motions, Nelson started serving a 30-day suspension Saturday.
Michael D.P. Phillips, Boynton Beach
As the attorney for the defendants in a civil suit, Boynton Beach’s Michael Phillips (admitted in 2003) didn’t have his clients sit for a previously scheduled deposition, didn’t answer discovery requests, then said he did satisfy discovery requests. The court ordered a hearing to clear up what was done and what wasn’t and Phillips didn’t file a witness list, exhibit list or even show up for the hearing.
So, the court found Phillips lied to the court, violated court orders and engaged in “obstructionist and dilatory discovery behavior.” The court then awarded the plaintiffs a default judgment that included attorney costs.
That’s all in Phillips guilty plea. He’ll begin a 90-day suspension on May 18.
Gregory Schwartz, Hollywood
With a pending Bar discipline case over misappropriated funds, Hollywood’s Gregory Schwartz (admitted in 1996) chose disciplinary revocation in 2018. That means, when Schwartz’s petition was granted, the discipline case went away and Schwartz’s law career went away for five years, from Jan. 20, 2019, through Jan. 20, 2024.
Schwartz would be back in attorney action, but admitted in 2019, he helped a former employee set up a law firm and “appeared as a signatory on the trust account of the new firm. [Schwartz] issued some checks to clients during that period.”
That’s a no-no. Schwartz’s essential disbarment has been extended to Jan. 20, 2025.
