Firma legal de Fort Lauderdale en problemas con corte local

Fort Lauderdale law firm in trouble with local court
10/15/2010 © Bradenton Herald

MANATEE — A Fort Lauderdale law firm fined $49,000 for not following Manatee
County Circuit Court rules has gotten itself into even more hot water with court officials.
The judge who fined Smith, Hiatt & Diaz P.A. dismissed one of its subsequent filings
because it contained several illegible signatures, court records show. And the firm didn’t pay
the required filing fee when it asked an appeals court to review Judge Janette Dunnigan’s
sanctions.
Roy A. Diaz, the partner representing the firm in the issue, did not return voice mails
left Wednesday and Thursday. In a Sept. 2 order, Dunnigan found the firm in “deliberate, willful and flagrant” civil contempt of court in a 2007 foreclosure case. She was upset with the firm, which represented the bank in the case, for setting several court hearings and not showing up or not properly canceling them in a timely manner. Dunnigan also scolded the firm for several incidences of not filing required documents.

Besides the fine, Dunnigan gave the firm a Sept. 30 deadline to provide a signed
statement from its lawyers and support staff that they have read the local judicial circuit’s
rules of procedure or risk additional fines.
The firm beat the deadline by a day, filing a statement with a list of more than 40
signatures — most of them illegible and without any printed names next to the signatures.
Dunnigan dismissed it Oct. 4, saying the statement “is deficient because its attorney
and staff signers are not identified.” She also gave the firm a week to file an amended one.
It did — this time with the signers’ names printed underneath their signatures. The
statement also said the firm already had made internal changes to ensure its lawyers appear
at hearings or cancel them in a timely fashion.
While complying with that edict, the firm asked Dunnigan to either rescind her contempt ruling
and fine, hold another hearing or remove herself from the case. She refused, so the firm is
appealing to the Second District Court of Appeals in Lakeland.
It contends Dunnigan improperly referred to unrelated cases in holding the firm in
contempt, and that the fine — which it has paid to a court registry — is excessive.
But the firm did not pay the $300 filing fee when it filed the appeal Oct. 1. That
prompted the court clerk to send a warning letter that the appeal “may be subject to dismissal
without further notice” unless the fee was paid by Oct. 21.
The firm paid the fee Oct. 11, according to the court docket.

Duane Marsteller, transportation/growth and development reporter, can be reached at
745-7080, ext. 2630.