One Palm Beach County attorney among 8 disciplined by Florida Supreme Court
The Florida Supreme Court recently issued orders disciplining eight attorneys; disbarring three, suspending two, revoking the licenses of two and reprimanding one. The orders were issued from March 30 to April 28.
The attorneys represent law practices from Tarpon Springs to Miami. Court orders are not final until time expires to file a rehearing motion and, if filed, determined. The filing of such a motion does not alter the effective date of the discipline, according to The Florida Bar.
Disbarred lawyers may not re-apply for admission for five years, after completing a background check and retaking the Bar exam. Attorneys suspended for periods of 91 days and longer must undergo a process to regain their law licenses, including proving rehabilitation. Disciplinary revocation is tantamount to disbarment.
Palm Beach Gardens
Derek James Acree, Palm Beach Gardens, disciplinary revocation with leave to apply for readmission, effective immediately following an April 27 court order. Acree, admitted to practice in 2002, was sentenced to 41 months in prison on Jan. 4 for conspiring to commit wire fraud.
Miami
Stephen Matthew Bander, Miami, disbarred, effective 30 days following a May 11 court order. Admitted to practice in 1999, Bander was put on notice and reminded that commissions or kickbacks to a law firm are prohibited when representing clients in EB-5 immigration applications. After being put on notice, Bander accepted monies from a local regional center to which he referred three EB-5 clients for investment.
Bander testified before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that those monies belonged to the clients as a reimbursement for legal fees. However, Bander failed to notify his clients of receipt of the funds, placed them in his operating account rather than his trust account and used the funds to pay firm expenses, rather than reimburse his clients in a timely manner. During the disciplinary proceedings, Bander changed his position and claimed the funds were direct payments to him for legal fees.
Mark Alan Kamilar, Miami, public reprimand, effective immediately following a May 25 court order. Admitted to practice in 1980, Kamilar consented to a public reprimand for a conflict of interest between two clients: the law firm and its employee, the latter also subject of two separate bar grievances.
Kamilar served as bar defense counsel for various attorneys from the law firm; authored the confidential termination agreement by which the employee left the law firm; and sent a letter to that same employee threatening legal action on behalf of the law firm. Kamilar has withdrawn representation in the two bar matters.
Fort Pierce
Meredith Diane Jones, Fort Pierce, disbarred effective immediately following a May 25 court order. Admitted to practice in 2012, Jones engaged in a course of conduct in which she repeatedly failed to appear in court, failed to communicate with clients and opposing counsel and ultimately abandoned her clients’ legal matters. In addition, Jones was already suspended for failing to respond fully, in writing, to three separate inquiries by the Bar.
Seminole
Mark Robert Moon, Seminole, disbarred effective immediately following a May 25 court order. Admitted to practice in 2007, Moon failed to represent his clients diligently, failed to communicate adequately and failed to refund any unused portion of the funds he was holding for the representation. He also failed to participate in the disciplinary proceedings.
Hollywood
Dick Rongtzuu Lee, Hollywood, disciplinary revocation with leave to seek readmission after five years, effective 30 days following a May 25 court order. Admitted to practice in 1988, Lee stipulated to probable cause for several trust-account violations and a violation involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation. Lee is alleged to have misappropriated one client’s trust funds and committed other trust-account and record-keeping violations. There is evidence of complete restitution to the client.
Tampa
Brian P. Rush, Tampa, suspended for three years, effective 30 days following a May 4 court order. Admitted to practice in 1982, Rush failed to follow his client’s directives and placed his personal pecuniary interests ahead of the client’s stated goals in connection with his representation of the client in an eminent-domain case. Rush also attempted to charge and collect a clearly excessive fee and engaged in conduct that was prejudicial to the administration of justice.
Tarpon Springs
Kathleen Lynn Smades, Tarpon Springs, suspended for three years nunc pro tunc on Dec. 4, 2021 (the date of respondent’s suspension from the practice of law after the filing of a felony determination), two years of probation upon application for reinstatement and, prior to application for reinstatement, must complete the Multistate Professional Responsibilities Examination, obtain a determination from FLA Florida Lawyers Assistance Inc. that she is fit to practice and comply with medical and substance-abuse treatment.
Admitted to practice in 1998, Smades was arrested in 2013 on three separate occasions for driving under the influence in Pinellas County. In each of these criminal cases, Smades was adjudicated guilty for first-degree misdemeanor offenses. In 2019, Smades was arrested on two separate occasions for DUI and refusal to submit to testing in Pinellas.
She was adjudicated guilty for a third-degree felony offense in each of the 2019 criminal cases. Smades failed to inform The Florida Bar of any of the arrests or convictions. She argued that at the time of arrest she was suffering from auto-brewery syndrome. The referee found that respondent did not suffer from auto-brewery syndrome but rather alcohol-use disorder.
The Florida Supreme Court, The Florida Bar and its Department of Lawyer Regulation are charged with administering a statewide disciplinary system to enforce Supreme Court rules of professional conduct for the more than 110,000 members of The Florida Bar. Key discipline case files that are public record are posted to attorneys’ individual online Florida Bar profiles. To view discipline documents, follow these steps. Information on the discipline system and how to file a complaint are available at www.floridabar.org/attorneydiscipline.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida Bar report: Supreme Court disciplines 8 attorneys
