The Florida Bar's list of monthly disciplinary actions by the state Supreme Court just came out, and eight lawyers received disbarments, suspensions or had their license revoked.
More than half of them work — or worked — in South Florida.
They included now-former Palm Beach Gardens lawyer Michael Dolce, 54, who in April was indicted on a charge of possessing child pornography. As part of his guilty plea, Dolce admitted to downloading the material — nearly 2,000 images and videos — on his personal laptop.
Before the FBI executed a search warrant on his apartment, Dolce had been known for his legal work representing adult and child survivors of sexual abuse.
The sentencing phase of his case is pending. It's scheduled for Dec. 18 before U.S. Judge Donald Middlebrooks. Dolce faces up to 20 years in prison, lifetime supervised release and payment of restitution to his victims.
The court disbarred Kevan Boyles of West Palm Beach for illegally handling and disbursing funds from several trust fund accounts while suspended from practicing law. His suspension came in 2016 after he was found to have filed dozens of wrongful death lawsuits for relatives of people who died in car crashes. In his guilty plea then, he admitted to having "no communications" with relatives of the deceased and, thus, having no authorization to file suits on their behalf.
The Supreme Court denied Boyles reinstatement the following year after the Bar opposed it on grounds that he had violated rules barring suspended lawyers from handling trust funds or property, which he had done in the interim.
Boyles nonetheless continued to handle trust fund accounts, writing more than 50 checks from six separate trusts that did not belong to him.
Joseph Sorce, a lawyer previously working in Coral Gables, received a two-year suspension after pleading no contest to charges of felony reckless driving with serious bodily injury, possession of cocaine and two counts of misdemeanor DUI.
Sorce, whose blood alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit at the time of the crash, caused a head-on collision in Parkland that left the other driver with a broken arm. A court subsequently handed down a sentence that includes a five-year probation ending June 30, 2028, a five-year driver's license suspension, DUI school and 50 hours of community service.
He must also pay $136,000 to the driver he injured.
St. Augustine lawyer Michael Stover received a 60-day suspension after the Florida Bar filed a complaint against him alleging he had repeatedly accepted Adderall pills in lieu of monetary compensation for legal work — a third-degree felony, if he were convicted.
In 2021, Stover entered into a pretrial intervention contract with the state, a move that deferred prosecution for two years. He has since completed the program, and the State Attorney's Office dismissed the charges.
Other Supreme Court disciplinary actions included:
— A one-year suspension of Leon Boyajan II of Inverness for engaging in a "pattern of neglect and lack of communication in multiple manners" by failing to respond to the inquiries of clients in a timely manner.
— A 30-day suspension of Fort Lauderdale lawyer John Jenkins, whose prior client, Delray Beach-based Stealth Supply, had to hire another lawyer after Jenkins failed to respond to repeated calls from the company ahead of a trial.
— An indeterminate suspension of Belle Island lawyer Rebecca Morgan for failing to respond to Florida Bar inquiries despite numerous communications by postage, email and certified mail. The Supreme Court held her in contempt.
— A public reprimand of Plantation lawyer Thomas Wenzel, who must attend a Florida Bar professionalism workshop and comply with other disciplinary measures after failing to comply with court orders to mediate within 105 days in four separate cases.
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