J’Accuse

The Florida Supreme Court has ordered a 91-day suspension, rejecting the referee’s conclusion that the misconduct was minor

Watson’s misconduct arose from interactions pertaining to a pretrial stipulation the parties were required to submit. Leigh and Lisa Kohring, opposing counsel for the School Board of Palm Beach County—one of the defendants in Parish-Carter—were working on the joint stipulation. On the day the stipulation was due, Leigh and Kohring had exchanged numerous e-mails with several drafts of the document. Watson was not involved in the drafting of the stipulation but was copied on the e-mail exchanges. Ultimately, Leigh replied to Kohring’s last e-mail, copying Watson, Ana Jordan (paralegal to Kohring), and Shawntoyia Bernard (general counsel for the School Board), attaching a copy of a pretrial stipulation with his signature affixed and stating in the body of the e-mail: “Pretrial Stipulation to sign and file.” Leigh did not explain in the e-mail that he had made additional changes to the draft stipulation last sent by Kohring or that he had signed the document. Shortly after receipt and without reviewing Leigh’s attachment, Jordan filed a pretrial stipulation that was not the version e-mailed by Leigh, and which contained an electronic signature purportedly by Watson.

After Leigh realized the stipulation that was filed was different from the version he had e-mailed, he contacted Watson and learned that she had not authorized the filed stipulation. Because it was after normal business hours and Leigh knew Kohring had left the office for the day, Leigh filed his own version of the stipulation in an addendum with Watson’s name in the signature block, expressly accusing Kohring of forging Watson’s electronic signature.

The court

Here, the record reflects that Watson knowingly accused Kohring, in a public pleading, of committing a felony by forging her signature in the pretrial stipulation that was filed. Watson did not seek to discuss the matter with Kohring to determine the circumstances behind Watson’s electronic signature being included in the filing, and she ignored Kohring’s attempts to communicate after the addendum was filed. Further, Kohring testified to the emotional harm caused by the accusation, as well as having to waste time and judicial resources to seek sanctions against Watson and Leigh. Thus, suspension is the presumptive sanction in this case.

Sanction

Considering Watson’s conduct where she was aware of and co-signed the addendum accusing Kohring of committing forgery, her contact with law enforcement and participation in filing a Bar complaint against Kohring pertaining to the use of Watson’s electronic signature, and her responsive pleading before the federal district court repeating the accusation of forgery, we determine that a 91-day suspension is warranted. 

Accordingly, we approve the referee’s findings of fact and recommendations as to guilt and disapprove in part the referee’s findings of aggravating and mitigating factors. We disapprove the referee’s finding that the conduct involved was minor misconduct and the recommended sanction and instead suspend Watson for 91 days.

Another bar discipline matter drew disbarment

The Bar filed a six-count complaint against Leigh after receiving multiple judicial referrals from the presiding judges in the cases Leigh initiated. Counts I and II pertain to Leigh’s conduct while engaged in litigation involving three related cases in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida against several named defendants including the Palm Beach County School District (collectively the “School Board litigation”). During the litigation, Leigh made a number of threatening social media posts directed at the opposing parties in the cases, which raised significant security concerns about those involved in the litigation and necessitated the entry of a protective order by the federal court. Leigh also made false accusations about opposing counsel, accusing her in court filings of committing forgery and other offenses without any factual basis for doing so.

In Counts III through VI, Leigh was charged with committing multiple rule violations stemming from his attempt to initiate a toxic tort class action case on behalf of the residents of Stonybrook Apartments in the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. Leigh repeatedly failed to file a viable complaint in the case, despite filing numerous amended pleadings over a two-year period. He also failed to comply with numerous court orders, and he used a paralegal to question an employee of a party that he knew was represented by counsel. And when the case was eventually appealed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Leigh falsely accused the presiding circuit court judge in the case of racial bias.

The court found the referee report “deficient” but found 24 rule violations

During the School Board litigation, Leigh published humiliating, disparaging, and threatening social media posts directed at those involved in the case, which the federal district court found to have delayed and interfered with the discovery process. Leigh also posted other violent, morbid messages around the same time, although not related to the litigation. These posts included a photo of himself with the text: “After this round if [sic] depos in the next 2 weeks, would love to start a shooting campaign.” He also posted a picture of a tommy gun being fired by a movie character from The Mask with the message: “Me the next time im [sic] in front of the #Liverpool back line!! YOU GUYS SUCK!!! 4years now! Get it together!” Another post stated: “I can’t hate the US and it’s [sic] people more right now. Just need a mass extinction event right now!”

When defense counsel learned of the social media posts, he abruptly suspended an ongoing deposition and filed a motion to reschedule the remaining depositions and for a protective order from the court. The court granted protective relief and ordered the presence of an armed police officer for the remaining depositions. Leigh was sanctioned and ordered to pay the defendants’ attorneys’ fees for filing and litigating the motion to suspend and reschedule the depositions and for the protective order. Leigh was also suspended from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida for two years.

A count involved his participation in the above-referenced stipulation matter 

Kohring and Leigh each filed a motion for sanctions. Ultimately, the judge denied Leigh’s motion but granted Kohring’s, finding that Leigh and Watson acted in bad faith and holding them jointly responsible for the defendants’ attorneys’ fees.

Another matter

Ultimately, Leigh was grossly incompetent in trying to initiate the class action lawsuit on behalf of the Stonybrook residents. He repeatedly attempted to bring an action by filing a motion for injunctive relief, even after the court denied the motion as improper. He was also held in contempt for violating numerous court orders and despite the court providing Leigh an opportunity to purge his contempt, he failed to do so. He made several social media posts related to the Stonybrook case, even after the court imposed a gag order to avoid tainting the jury pool. Leigh’s conduct covered two years of litigation, during which he was unable to file a complaint that stated a viable claim, resulting in the dismissal of his clients’ complaint. His conduct caused costly litigation, and Leigh was sanctioned for payment of the defendants’ attorneys’ fees.

Further in that matter

During the Stonybrook litigation, Leigh contacted Carol Baer, a court reporter, to take the sworn statement of Mayra Lugaro, assistant manager of Millennia, a party represented by counsel. Leigh sent Baer a list of questions to ask Lugaro. Leigh explained to Baer that as an opposing party, he could not be present for the sworn statement and could not talk to Lugaro. Baer took the sworn statement at Lugaro’s home and asked Lugaro Leigh’s questions. Leigh traveled to Lugaro’s residence and waited outside while the sworn statement was being taken. During the sworn statement, Leigh texted Baer about obtaining internal confidential company documents from Lugaro.

Leigh used the information obtained from the sworn statements and documents to support allegations in his third amended complaint. He also attempted to disqualify defense counsel and have the court impose sanctions on Stonybrook, Millennia, and GMF based on allegations that they were retaliating against his clients. Based on this conduct, the court disqualified Leigh from representing any clients in the litigation or in any other matter against the defendants relating to the Stonybrook Apartments complex.

In the ensuing appeal

Leigh made numerous assertions that the trial judge engaged in repeated acts of racial bias, but he failed to establish that he had an objectively reasonable factual basis for making the statements. Although Leigh claimed that adverse rulings entered against him were based on his race rather than for any substantive purpose, the record reflects that Leigh was sanctioned for violating numerous court orders and filing a frivolous complaint against the City, and the complaint against the remaining defendants was ultimately dismissed because despite numerous opportunities to amend the complaint, Leigh was not able to plead a viable cause of action.

Sanction

We conclude, based on a review of relevant case law, the Standards, and the aggravating and mitigating factors found by the referee, that disbarment is the appropriate sanction in this case.

(Mike Frisch)