Case Title: The Florida Bar v. Perri

Citation: 435 So. 2d 827

Docket Number: 62163

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 1983-07-21T00:00:00Z

Document:
435 So. 2d 827 (1983)
THE FLORIDA BAR, Petitioner,
v.
Daniel C. PERRI, Respondent.
No. 62163.

Supreme Court of Florida.
July 21, 1983.
John F. Harkness, Jr., Executive Director, Stanley A. Spring, Staff Counsel and Mary Ellen Bateman, Bar Counsel, Tallahassee, for petitioner.
Alan H. Rosenbloum, Gulf Breeze, for respondent.
PER CURIAM.
This is a lawyer disciplinary proceeding in which The Florida Bar requests that this Court disbar the respondent, Daniel C. Perri, for his improper use and conversion of trust account funds. The referee identified significant factors in mitigation, including respondent's early admission of his ethical violation, his agreeing to an immediate suspension, and his prompt restitution of the funds converted, and recommended that respondent be suspended from the practice of law for a period of three years.
The facts are undisputed and reflect that the respondent, in his practice of law as a tax attorney, became involved in establishing and operating investment ventures for several of his clients. Funds from clients for the investment ventures were placed in the trust account of the firm with which respondent was associated, even though these funds technically were not trust funds. When some of the ventures experienced financial difficulty, respondent borrowed from other trust accounts to cover the deficits. The primary sources for these borrowed funds were the other investment ventures. These actions resulted in the conversion of $127,446.46.
In a detailed and comprehensive finding of fact, the referee, a distinguished jurist with over forty years' experience as a judicial officer in this state, stated:
The referee also found that there had been no prior disciplinary measures against respondent and recommended that respondent be suspended from the practice of law for three years, beginning from the entry of judgment by this Court, and that he be reinstated only upon proof of rehabilitation.
It is clear from the referee's findings that there are factors present in this case which warranted his conclusion that the proper discipline is a three-year suspension from the practice of law rather than disbarment. These factors include the respondent's early admission of guilt and acceptance of an immediate suspension in January, 1982, his borrowing of the moneys necessary to make restitution of all lost funds, the fact that the majority of the misappropriated funds technically were not trust funds, the fact that the funds transferred were used to cover deficits in investment accounts rather than for his personal use, the fact that no client sustained any loss and that those clients who testified still considered respondent to be a friend, and, finally, that respondent suffered from emotional disorders that require professional treatment.
Given all these factors, we find that the referee was justified in recommending a three-year suspension. We adopt the referee's findings and approve his recommendation. Effective upon the filing of this order, the respondent shall be suspended from the practice of law in Florida for three years and until he shall prove his rehabilitation as provided in rule 11.10(4) of the Integration Rule. Respondent shall pay the costs of these proceedings in the amount of $1,529.69.
It is so ordered.
ADKINS, BOYD, OVERTON, McDONALD and SHAW, JJ., concur.
EHRLICH, J., concurs specially with an opinion.
ALDERMAN, C.J., concurs in part and dissents in part with an opinion.
EHRLICH, Justice, specially concurring.
I share Chief Justice Alderman's very strong feelings about the respondent's misconduct. A clinical psychologist who testified on respondent's behalf had a fancy name for respondent's problem  "compulsive personality disorder." I view respondent's acts as nothing more than plain, old fashioned greed  inexcusable without regard to its appellation. Nonetheless, I feel that the facts in this case support the punishment recommended by the referee, rather than the disbarment sought by the Bar.
The record reflects that the results of respondent's misconduct has been truly devastating to him personally, financially, professionally, and as a family man. He has been suspended from the practice of law since January 1982. If he be suspended for three years, it will probably be an additional six to nine months, as a minimum, before he can possibly be reinstated, which will mean he will have been suspended and out of the practice for a minimum of five years. He will also have the burden of proof of rehabilitation.
If disbarred, he could apply for readmission after a period of three years, but would have to prove character and fitness including passing all parts of the bar examination. The significant difference between *830 disbarment and a three year suspension is the stigma that attaches to disbarment, as well as the fact of having to pass The Florida Bar examinations. On balance in this case, I do not believe that the stigma and additional burden of passing the bar examination are justified.
ALDERMAN, Chief Justice, concurring in part, dissenting in part.
I concur with the majority's approval of the referee's findings of fact relative to Perri's misconduct, but I disagree with the approval of the referee's recommendation of the appropriate discipline to be imposed. Perri's misconduct warrants disbarment, no lesser penalty. This Court has consistently held that disbarment is the appropriate discipline for this type of misconduct. In my view, the fact that Perri has made restitution does not mitigate the discipline warranted by his misconduct. Rather, restitution is a factor to consider if he should ever seek readmission to The Florida Bar.
Accordingly, I would accept The Florida Bar's recommendation and would disbar Daniel Perri from the practice of law in this state.