Half a dozen attorneys disbarred from practicing law in Florida

The Florida Supreme Court has disciplined several Florida attorneys for misconduct.

The Florida Bar announced the measures against lawyers that were administered through July. A half-dozen attorneys were disbarred in Florida as part of the actions taken by the state’s high court and the Florida Bar itself.

According to a Florida Bar news release, Attorney Daniel Newton Broderson of Orlando was permanently disbarred. The Bar disbarred Broderson due to his activity between 2017 and 2020 when he acted as a trustee for a private company, and  “he engaged in various activities that constituted the unlicensed practice of law. These activities violated his disciplinary revocation order entered on April 13, 2017, by the Supreme Court of Florida,” the Florida Bar release said.

Fort Lauderdale attorney John Spencer Jenkins was also permanently disbarred after he was involved in the uncontested distribution of an estate.

“Jenkins received several deposits into his trust account totaling $637,813.75. However, these funds were depleted with no evidence that the funds were withdrawn for the benefit of the estate. Jenkins did not participate in Bar disciplinary proceedings, and a default judgment was entered,” Florida Bar officials said.

Attorney Miguel Fernando Mirabal of Coral Gables was disbarred for 30 days after he engaged in financial irregularities involving a judgeship.

“Mirabal was disbarred for repeatedly certifying as correct campaign finance reports he knew were false, making material misrepresentations and omissions in his application to fill a judicial vacancy with the Judicial Nominating Commission and for his misconduct during the disciplinary proceedings,” the Florida Bar news release said.

In Palm Beach, The Bar disbarred attorney Frank T. Noska for quitting his law practice and not letting anyone know.

“As counsel for the plaintiff in a civil action, Noska failed to keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the litigation, failed to respond to the official inquiries of the Bar, and he abandoned his law practice,” the Florida Bar notice said.

Alejandro Rivera, an attorney from New York, New York, was disbarred in Florida for 30 days when he left the Sunshine State and didn’t bother to inform his clients.

“He left his clients without any means of contacting him, effectively abandoning them because he failed to update his address as required. Two of his clients faced the catastrophic consequence of nearly having their bankruptcy cases dismissed until they hired new counsel who managed to prevent the dismissals,” the Florida Bar found.

And James Dalton Saunders of Shaker Heights, Ohio, was disbarred after tampering with an election. According to the Florida Bar, Saunders engaged in voter fraud in the 2020 and 2022 elections.

“Saunders was convicted of two felony counts of voter fraud. In the 2020 Presidential Election and 2022 General Election, Saunders voted in Ohio and Florida. He received an 18-month prison sentence for each count, to run consecutively,” Florida Bar officials said.