Lax In Jax
The Florida Supreme Court denied reinstatement to a suspended attorney who did not demonstrate “strict compliance” with the order of suspension.
In March 2022, the Court suspended Wilner for 91 days for filing more than three thousand Engle-progeny claims without investigating or informing himself as to the facts of each case and for knowingly misrepresenting the viability of the claims to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Fla. Bar v. Wilner, No. SC2021-0373 (Fla. Mar. 3, 2022) (approving uncontested referee’s report). The disciplinary order directed Wilner to fully comply with rule 3-6.1. Id.
After his suspension, Wilner sold his Jacksonville-based law firm to Howard Acosta, an experienced lawyer in St. Petersburg whom Wilner has known since the early 1980s. Acosta paid $100 for the firm, and Wilner, if reinstated, can buy back the firm under the terms of the purchase agreement for $200. Aside from renaming the firm Jax Litigation Group (JLG), Acosta made no tangible changes to the firm after purchasing it. He characterized his role to the referee as being “kind of a silent owner,” and he explained that the only real purpose behind the firm’s change in ownership was to put his name on the letterhead, though his name does not actually appear there, nor does it appear on the firm’s website or in its telephone directory. Wilner explained to the referee that Acosta’s name did not appear in any of these places because his role “was not to engage in case litigation in Jacksonville.”
Wilner remained employed with the firm after its sale to Acosta. He had no specific job title at the firm, and he came into the office only a few times a week for a couple hours to discuss general strategy—not specific cases—with the firm’s lawyers, all of whom Wilner supervised before his suspension. Acosta was the lawyer responsible for supervising Wilner’s work at JLG, and Acosta was the only lawyer at the firm eligible to supervise Wilner. His supervisory role at the firm, however, was limited to speaking with Wilner and the firm’s office manager on the phone every week or two. Acosta explained to the referee that in his practice it is rare for clients to come to the office, and “I think it’s the same with his firm, or my firm now.” Wilner testified that he did not do much work for the firm, leaving little for Acosta to supervise.
A referee recommended reinstatement which the Bar opposed on appeal
It is clear from our review of the record that, regardless of the amount of work he either did or did not do for JLG, Wilner was not actively supervised in all aspects of his employment with the firm. His supervisor, Acosta, lived across the state in St. Petersburg and was not actively involved in any of JLG’s cases or Wilner’s work at the firm. He did not oversee any of Wilner’s so-called strategy talks with the firm’s other lawyers, and the only oversight he exercised over Wilner was through unstructured telephone conversations every week or two. Acosta simply had no meaningful way to consistently ensure that Wilner fully complied with the restrictions on his employment in rule 3-6.1 other than Wilner’s own personal assurances. This is exactly the type of scenario rule 3-6.1(f) is intended to guard against, as those subject to its restrictions have in many instances already demonstrated an unwillingness to abide by the profession’s rules and ethical standards.
Fatal to reinstatement
The referee’s recommendation is disapproved, and Norwood Sherman Wilner’s petition for reinstatement is denied.
Jacksonville.com reported on sanctions imposed against the attorney
Two Jacksonville attorneys have been ordered to forfeit more than $9 million by a panel of federal judges who say Norwood Wilner and Charlie Farah filed at least 1,250 frivolous cases as part of litigation against tobacco companies.
The scathing, 148-page order issued Wednesday and signed by four district judges said Wilner and Farah filed claims in 2008 on behalf of hundreds of people who had not authorized them to do so and people who had never smoked. More than 500 of the people were dead.
The defects were discovered in 2012 only after the court sent questionnaires directly to plaintiffs over the attorneys’ objections and insistence that there were no issues with the claims, according to the order.
(Mike Frisch)