Non-Cooperation Draws Suspension

The Florida Supreme Court has rejected a proposed reprimand and probation referee recommendation and imposed a lengthy suspension

We disapprove the referee’s recommended discipline, and instead, we suspend Altman from the practice of law for three years.

At issue was the failure to timely respond

At the hearing before the referee, she testified that prior to sending the response to the committee, she and her attorney reviewed it and she authorized her attorney to send it on her behalf. In her response to the committee, Altman answered the questions posed by Weiss in his prior letter, apologized, and asked that the Request for Issuance of NonCompliance and Finding of Contempt be withdrawn. In the response, she further stated that there was good cause for her failure to respond to the January 22, 2018,
letter: the letter had no due date and Altman’s elderly mother was hospitalized, causing havoc in her professional and personal life. The response to the committee specifically states, “As the only child living in Florida, the care of Ms. Altman’s mother was, as always, all in Ms. Altman’s hands.”

At the final hearing, Altman testified that she has four siblings and that two of her siblings reside in Florida, contradicting the statement that she made in her response to the committee, where she specifically stated that she was “the only child living in Florida.” The referee found that Altman made this misrepresentation in an attempt to minimize her culpability in failing to timely respond. Altman corrected her testimony at the final hearing, stating that she is the only child living in Florida who cares about her mother. Nevertheless, Altman still failed to respond to the subsequent March 7, 2018, letter which was received after her mother was out of the hospital and rehabilitation.

In her response to the committee, regarding the March 7, 2018, letter, Altman claimed to be “overcome with fear,” yet she acknowledged at the final hearing that the fear was not reasonable. At the final hearing, Altman admitted that she did not timely respond to Weiss’s letters. She expressed remorse for her failure to timely respond to the Bar. She stated that she intended to respond but did not do so due to fear.

Here

The Bar urges this Court to disapprove the referee’s recommended discipline based in part upon Altman’s prior disciplinary history.

The court then details that history and concludes

Here, Altman knowingly failed to timely respond to multiple Bar inquiries and misrepresented information to minimize her culpability in failing to timely respond to those inquiries. In light of Altman’s extensive disciplinary history, the applicable standards and our case law, we conclude that the referee’s recommendation of a public reprimand followed by probation is not supported. Altman is hereby suspended for three years. The suspension will be effective thirty days from the filing of this opinion so that Altman may close out her practice and protect the interests of existing clients. If Altman notifies this Court in writing that she is no longer practicing and does not need the thirty days to protect existing clients, this Court will enter an order making the suspension effective immediately. Altman shall fully comply with Rule Regulating the Florida Bar 3-5.1(h). Further, Altman shall accept no new business from the date this opinion is filed until the suspension is completed and she is reinstated.

(Mike Frisch)