Florida Supreme Court. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The Florida Supreme Court took disciplinary action against 12 South Florida attorneys between early July and late August.

From July 5 to Aug. 23 the state supreme court suspended and otherwise punished the lawyers for a litany of charges ranging from committing wire fraud to misappropriating client funds.

James Casimir Casey, partner at Law Offices of Slesnick & Casey with former Coral Gables Mayor Donald Slesnick, has been suspended for 20 days, effective 30 days from the Aug. 23 filing ordering his suspension. Casey had failed to respond to a motion to dismiss a plaintiff's complaint by the deadline outlined. This resulted in the case being dismissed. Additionally, Casey failed to communicate with his client and retained several documents belonging to the client, despite requests to have them returned.

South Miami attorney Rene Julian Garcia Jr. was disbarred, effective immediately, in the wake of an Aug. 2 court order. Garcia faced disciplinary measures for misappropriating client trust funds and subsequently failing to participate in disciplinary proceedings before the referee in the case against him. He will also pay a restitution of more than $148,000 to a former client's estate.

Juliana Gonzalez, attorney at Coconut Grove firm McGuinness & Gonzalez, got probation for two years and a public reprimand, following an Aug. 23 court order. Gonzalez was charged with being  negligent in managing the firm's trust fund account.

Salina Jivani, an attorney in Key Biscayne, received a public reprimand after she communicated with individuals who had retained counsel, but spoke to them without their lawyers present.

Madsen Marcellus Jr. of North Miami Beach was suspended for 18 months by the Florida Supreme Court in July. Marcellus' suspension has its origins in repeated disputes that arose during divorce proceedings with his ex-wife. Marcellus was suspended by the high court for knowingly disobeying and defying court orders, in addition to failing to pay his mortgage. Marcellus also submitted a mortgage modification application baring a forged signature he claimed belonged to his ex-wife.

Coconut Grove attorney Larry Joseph McGuinness was suspended for 30 days and ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution to a client. McGuinness was accused of improperly selling his client's judgement to a third party without securing her permission to do so.

Donovan Lloyd Parker of Pembroke Pines was ordered to be publicly reprimanded after failing to properly serve a client on an eviction matter. Although Parker was hired to handle the case, he did not take any meaningful steps to do so. The case was ultimately dismissed after Parker failed to appear at a mediation and made no effort to reschedule it for a later date.

Coral Gables lawyer Oscar Santiago Rodriguez charged his client a nonrefundable fee of a vague nature. Rodriguez failed to explain the fee to his client and did not draft a written agreement. Tthe Florida Supreme Court ordered a public reprimand.

Lee Robert Rohe, an attorney in Big Pine Key in Monroe County who has been practicing for nearly 40 years, was suspended for 30 days. Rohe's suspension was ordered after he neglected existing statutes when serving subpoenas for depositions to two out-of-state witnesses. Rohe misrepresented the nature of the subpoenas and left the deposed parties under the false impression that failure to appear could result in contempt of court charges against them.

Norman S. Segall, of Segall Gordich. Photo by J. Albert Diaz

Norman S. Segall of Coral Gables was ordered to be publicly reprimanded for using his firm's trust fund account to create a sub-account in his name. Segall subsequently used the account for personal expenses.

Hollywood attorney Marquista Alexandria Shipman was disbarred effective immediately in an Aug. 2 court order. Although Shipman accepted a fee to represent clients and foreclose on properties on behalf of those she represented, she did not do the work that had been agreed upon. Shipman's disbarment follows her failure to respond to the complaints against her, as well as neglecting to participate in the Florida Bar's case against her.

Miami attorney Rafael Ubieta was sentenced to 240 months in prison and three years of supervised release on wire fraud charges in April 2013. Now, in addition to being convicted in a federal court, Ubieta was disbarred, effective immediately, by the Florida Supreme Court July 5 order.

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