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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Kristine W. Valentine-Miller Category: Lawyers
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Address
204 NW 3rd Ave.
Ocala
Florida, County: Marion
 Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Disbarred following a Jan. 10 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1997) In June 2006, Valentine-Miller was suspended on an emergency basis, and in October, 2006, The Florida Bar filed an amended complaint against her, alleging more than 20 violations. Valentine-Miller is accused of using client funds and failing to manage her accounts properly. During 2004 and 2005, she neglected numerous clients by failing to diligently pursue their cases. Her poor record-keeping and maintenance of files, many of which are missing, made it impossible to determine the exact total of client funds converted. An audit by The Florida Bar for February 2004 to February 2006 determined that the total owed clients was no less than $31,416.41 and no more than $51.291.41. (Case No. SC06-1629) |
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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Steven M. Siegel Category: Lawyers
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Address
2814 N. 46th Ave., Apt. H677
Hollywood
Florida, County: Broward
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Suspended effective 30 days from the date of a March 24 order. (Admitted to practice: 1995) In February, in the circuit court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach County), Siegel was found guilty of one count of attempt to seduce, solicit, lure or entice a child using an Internet service to commit a sexual offense, a felony. (Case No. SC08-548) |
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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Scott Alan Salomon Category: Lawyers
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Address
11555 Heron Bay Blvd., Suite 200
Coral Springs
Florida, County: Broward
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Salomon is to receive a public reprimand from The Florida Bar\'s Board of Governors, following an April 17 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1992) Salomon pled guilty to failing to diligently represent his client. On numerous occasions, Salomon failed to appear at court proceedings for the client, even those he scheduled. (Case No. SC07-50) |
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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: David Jon Russ Category: Lawyers
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Address
7200 SW 8th Ave., Apt. 86
Gainesville
Florida, County: Alachua
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Suspended effective immediately, following an April 10 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1983) Russ was found guilty of a third- degree felony, driving under the influence — the third in 10 years, as well as three related misdemeanors. Russ is currently serving a three-year suspension as a result of another case. (Case No. SC08-691) |
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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Robert Alvarez Rudolph Category: Lawyers
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Address
8027 Biscayne Blvd.
Miami
Florida, County: Miami/Dade
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Disbarred, effective immediately, following a March 6 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1993) Rudolph will also pay restitution of $2,500 to one client. In June 2005, Rudolph was paid $2,500 by a couple as a retainer to file a post-conviction motion. In November of the same year, Rudolph spoke with the clients and told them that a post conviction motion was being finalized and would be filed shortly. It was never filed. The clients made numerous requests for Rudolph to provide billing invoices, but Rudolph neglected to do so. He has a past discipline history of three admonishments and two suspensions. (Case No. SC07-364) |
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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Joseph Raymond Rowe Jr. Category: Lawyers
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Address
P.O. Box 272066
Tampa
Florida, County: Hillsborough
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Suspended for 91 days, effective 30 days from an April 24 order. (Admitted to practice: 1991) In March 2006 the Florida Supreme Court suspended Rowe for 30 days and placed him on probation for two years. Rowe was to attend ethics school within six months of the date of the order and to undergo an office procedures and record-keeping analysis under the direction of the Law Office Management Assistance Service of The Florida Bar. Rowe neglected to attend ethics school and failed to contact LOMAS to schedule a review. (Case No. SC07-956) |
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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Jerry Arthur Riggs Sr. Category: Lawyers
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Address
1926 Hollywood Blvd. Suite 314
Hollywood
Florida, County: Broward
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Disbarred, retroactive to May 7, 2005, following an April 17 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1998) Riggs must also pay restitution of $2,000 to one client. In March 2006, Riggs was hired by a client for a real estate case, and was paid $2,000. In April 2005, Riggs was suspended from practicing law on an emergency basis in a separate matter. Riggs continued to practice law and neglected to immediately furnish his clients, opposing counsel and the courts with a copy of his suspension order. As of the effective date of his suspension, Riggs had also failed to perform the services for which he was paid. (Case No. SC07-1125) |
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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Juan Carlos Perez Category: Lawyers
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Address
1568 Normandy Drive
Miami
Florida, County: Miami/Dade
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Suspended for six months, effective immediately, following an April 17 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1988) In September 2006, Perez was suspended for one year and ordered to accept no new business until the suspension expired. Despite the order from the Florida Supreme Court, Perez accepted new business in October 2006 and did not notify the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court in Osceola County of his impending suspension until more than one month later. (Case No. SC07-415) |
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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Jeffrey George Paster Category: Lawyers
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Address
80 Main St.
West Orange
New Jersey/ Florida, County: unavailable
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Disbarred effective immediately, following an April 24 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1975) In March 2007, the Supreme Court of New Jersey disbarred Paster. One complainant accused Paster of failing to timely release trust funds. Another said Paster coerced her into loaning him $15,000 from her equitable distribution being held in his trust account. An investigative audit revealed that from March 2003 until August 2006, Paster misappropriated client funds for his own personal use. (Case No. SC07-2151) |
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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Paul Richard Parker Category: Lawyers
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Address
3203 Pleasant Hill Road
Lynn Haven
Florida, County: Bay
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Permanently disbarred effective immediately, following a March 27 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1993) In September 2007, Parker pled guilty to three felony counts of using a child in a sexual performance and 75 related counts of child pornography. He was sentenced to 14 years incarceration, to be followed by 14 years probation. (Case No. SC07-2397) |
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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Gary Mark Mills Category: Lawyers
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Address
5732 Via De La Plata Circle
Delray Beach
Florida, County: Palm Beach
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Suspended, effective 30 days from a May 2 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1995) Mills pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, a felony. In April, Mills was sentenced to 46 months in prison. (Case No. SC08-833) |
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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Robert Joseph Locker Category: Lawyers
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Address
825 W. Linebaugh Ave.
Tampa
Florida, County: Hillsborough
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Suspended for 36 months, effective retroactive to Sept. 20, 2007, following an April 24 order. (Admitted to practice: 1994) As a condition of reinstatement, Locker shall complete The Florida Bar\'s Trust Accounting Workshop. Upon reinstatement, Locker will be placed on probation for three years. Twelve cases were consolidated in the complaint before the court. Locker essentially abandoned his practice, failing to appear for court dates. He successfully completed residential treatment for substance abuse and is now in aftercare. Locker entered into a three-year contract in February with the Florida Lawyers Assistance program. (Case No. SC07-1962) |
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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Michael T. Kovach Sr. Category: Lawyers
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Address
105 N. Seminole Ave.
Inverness
Florida, County: Citrus
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Disbarred for 10 years, effective immediately, following an April 24 order. (Admitted to practice: 1973) Kovach intentionally converted client funds for his personal use. Several transactions had no client identification associated with them and his wife, a non-lawyer, had signatory authority on the trust account. The overdrawn balance of Kovach\'s ledger card totaled $77,968.12. (Case No. SC07-2214) |
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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Theodore William Herzog Category: Lawyers
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Address
1101 Simonton St
Key West
Florida, County: Monroe
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Disbarred, effective immediately, following an April 24 court order and ordered to pay restitution to all persons whose funds have been embezzled prior to seeking readmission. (Admitted to practice: 1972) In September 2005, Herzog received $44,442.79 from a client to settle a labor dispute with 25 employees. He deposited the funds in his escrow account. Between October and December of that year, Herzog issued 19 checks from his client\'s funds, made payable to himself, totaling $44,150.00 and leaving a balance of $114.55. Only two of his client\'s employees were paid. An audit of Herzog\'s records found similar occurrences involving numerous other clients. (Case No. SC08-199) |
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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Martin James Hannah Category: Lawyers
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Address
1515 N. University Drive Suite 231
Coral Springs
Florida, County: Broward
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Disbarred, effective 30 days from an April 24 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1981) Hannah has repeatedly failed to comply with Florida Bar rules, made false statements and engaged in deceptive practices. Since 2001, he misappropriated trust account funds and used the property of others for his own benefit. Hannah also engaged in a pattern of neglecting clients and failing to respond to communications from The Florida Bar. (Case No. SC07-2155) |
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Date Posted: April 30, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Joseph Sailor Garwood Category: Lawyers
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Address
3232 Albert Drive
Tallahassee
Florida, County: Leon
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Suspended effective 30 days from a May 6 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1991) In December 2007, Garwood was found guilty by a jury of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a third-degree felony, battery and resisting an officer without violence. He was sentenced to 24 months probation. (Case No. SC08-838) |
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Date Posted: April 29, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Edward Thomas Dinna Category: Lawyers
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Address
719 Intracoastal Drive
Fort Lauderdale
Florida, County: Broward
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Dinna is to receive a public reprimand from The Florida Bar\'s Board of Governors and directed to attend a trust accounting workshop, following an April 10 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1988) Dinna was selected to take over a malpractice case after the original attorney was suspended from practicing law. Dinna hired the suspended attorney to work for him as a paralegal on the case, but failed to properly supervise him. In another case, Dinna took the videotaped deposition of a confidential informant (without effectively notifying the state) and allowed the criminal defendant (his client) to be present in violation of The Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure. He also attempted to intimidate the witnesses. Finally, Dinna failed to maintain required minimum trust accounting records. (Case Nos. SC07-1152, SC07-1156 and SC07-1161) |
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Date Posted: April 29, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Marc Francis Desiderio Category: Lawyers
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Address
3100 N. Ocean Blvd., Apt. 1710
Fort Lauderdale
Florida, County: Broward
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Disbarred, retroactive to Oct. 22, 2007, following an April 3 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1993) In January 2006, Desiderio was indicted by a federal grand jury. In July 2007 he pled guilty to money laundering conspiracy. Desiderio was sentenced to 41 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release. (Case No. SC07-1930) |
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Date Posted: April 29, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Ruben L. De Leon Category: Lawyers
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Address
561 NE 79th St., Suite 204
Miami
Florida, County: Miami/Dade
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Suspended until further order of the court, following a March 18 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1980) The Florida Bar petition for emergency suspension states that De Leon submitted 20 fraudulent final judgments for dissolution of marriage to a court. Twelve of the final judgments falsely purported to be signed by a particular judge. Three additional final judgments bore the forged signatures of three other judges and case numbers belonging to other matters. Several of the clients said they\'d remitted fees to De Leon\'s office, were subsequently advised by De Leon or an associate that their divorces were final and received proof of the final judgment of dissolution. All believed they were legally divorced. (Case No. SC08-491) |
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Date Posted: April 29, 2009 Action Line Complaint: Marty Earl Davis Category: Lawyers
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Address
609 NE 127th St.
North Miami
Florida, County: Miami/Dade
Phone Number Unavailble
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Overview
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| Suspended for 90 days, effective 30 days from an April 10 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1983) Davis obtained a mortgage to refinance a personal residence. In several documents related to the purchase and the mortgage, Davis signed the name of a witness who was not present and did not authorize him to use his name. Davis also used the same individual\'s notary stamp on one of the documents to verify his own signature, without consent. (Case No. SC09-634) |
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