Bankruptcy Law Firm Banned From Practicing Bankruptcy Law In Central Florida Bankruptcy Court, That Can't Be Good

An Orlando Sentinel story reports on the Order of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Briskman banning the multi-state law firm of Kaufman, Englett and Lynd (at the link their laswfirm website) from practicing bankruptcy law in Central Florida.  He appears to be motivated by professional wrongdoing by one of it's attorneys.  This is an excerpt from reporter Bianca Prieto's story: 

"A series of  'missteps' and 'lack of diligence' by a lawyer practicing with Kaufman, Englett and Lynd has prompted a United States Bankruptcy judge to bar the firm and the lawyer from practicing in Bankruptcy Court in the Middle District of Florida until further notice.



William Sanchez

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Briskman signed the three-page order today after Attorney William J. Sanchez, who is representing an Orlando couple in a bankruptcy case, failed to appear in court today despite a court order he attend the hearing.  Instead, Andrea G. Dwyer, another lawyer with KEL, attended the hearing. Dwyer said Sanchez did not attend the hearing 'because he was attending to other matters,' the order stated. It's not immediately clear what those matters were.

The order barring the firm from practicing in the court means KEL will not be allowed to file paperwork in any case until the issue with Sanchez is resolved. It's unclear how many cases will be affected.

The firm is allowed to interact with the bankruptcy court to sort out the current issue, which was not specified in the order.  A statement issued by KEL said in part that the firm is working to 'make amends with the Court.' [ed. how about making amends to the clients?]  The law firm recently bought the advertising space at the top of a downtown Orlando high rise on Washington Street at Magnolia Avenue. The firm has offices in several states across the U.S[.]
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The Bad Lawyer, myself, represented thousands of injured workers and in the last decade of his active career many employers in OurState workers' compensation courts.  There were many lawyer-malefactors who routinely ignored hearing notices, filing requirements, rules and regulations with impunity.  Currently within this world one law firm stands out as particularly egregious, but it's going to take an Order like the one issued vis-a-vis KEL to put an end to their abusive practices.   I'm sure lawyers in every venue and in every practice-area have similar stories.

Florida DUI Attorney An Unnatural Disaster

Destin, Florida (the Panhandle) DUI "Barrister" R. Scott Whitehead who is completing a 21 month sentence for multiple DUIs involving collisions, is probably not going anywhere fast.  This is and excerpt from reporter Tom McLaughlin's piece for the Panama City News Herald:

"Destin attorney R. Scott Whitehead, who is serving a 21-month sentence for several alcohol-related violations, was charged Monday with racketeering.  [ed. He is scheduled to be released May 26.]
[ . . . ]A news release sent out by the State Attorney’s Office said Whitehead was charged with 'aggravated white collar crime and racketeering' — both first-degree felonies.  It said that from 2005 through 2010, Whitehead 'illegally obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars from dozens of his former clients.'

It said Whitehead lied to clients, billed them for services he didn’t render and made unauthorized charges on their credit cards.  An addendum of probable cause for the arrest indicates investigators found at least 27 people who claimed to be victims of Whitehead’s crimes.

One woman claimed she lost custody of her child due to Whitehead’s lack of attention to her case. Kye Lin, owner of The Shanghai restaurant in Niceville, claims to have lost more than $50,000.

Summer Suggs told authorities she hired Whitehead to assist her in a child custody case. The probable cause affidavit states she paid the attorney $8,000 and he 'promised that custody would be reversed.'  Suggs told investigators that Whitehead failed to return phone calls and 'appeared high, sweating and belligerent' at court appearances and meetings.
[In the restaurant case, Whitehead got ahold of the client's credit card information and ] as her case progressed, Ms. Lin noticed numerous credit card charges were transacted on from her credit card accounts by Mr. Whitehead … the total unauthorized charges exceed $50,000,' the report said.  Lin said the charges on her card were unauthorized and, when she asked Whitehead for reimbursement, he told her 'the insurance company would reimburse her.' [ . . . ]  The state attorney trying the case in question vouched [ed. you've got to be kidding!] for Whitehead’s character, the affidavit stated.  [ . . . ]

Whitehead has been in jail since October 2010, when County Judge T. Patterson Maney added an additional nine months to a 12-month sentence because probation officers reported he’d failed to submit to an alcohol test. [. . . ]

It started when he was arrested twice in an eight-day period in 2009 for leaving the scene of an accident, speeding, driving with a suspended license and DUI.

He violated his probation on those charges when he was arrested for criminal mischief in August 2009.  He was arrested again in May 2010 for violating his probation. He entered the home of man who didn't know him and asked about a woman named “Becky” or “Barbara.”

A sheriff's deputy reported at the time of the last arrest that Whitehead appeared intoxicated and urinated on himself [ed. nice detail.]  If convicted of the racketeering and aggravated white collar crime charges, Whitehead faces up to 60 years in prison, the State Attorney’s Office news release states."
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The Alcoholic Anonymous "Big Book" says that alcoholism, the disease, operates like a tornado in our lives and the lives of those we touch, our friends and family.  I don't know if Whitehead is an alcoholic, but he sure was a tornado in the lives of his clients.