Case Title: The Florida Bar v. Laing

Citation: 695 So. 2d 299

Docket Number: 83457, 87048

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 1997-04-24T00:00:00Z

Document:
695 So. 2d 299 (1997)
THE FLORIDA BAR, Complainant,
v.
Robert Scott LAING, Respondent.
Nos. 83457, 87048.

Supreme Court of Florida.
April 24, 1997.
John F. Harkness, Jr., Executive Director and John T. Berry, Staff Counsel, Tallahassee, and Ronna Friedman Young, Bar Counsel, Fort Lauderdale, for Complainant.
John Beranek of Ausley & McMullen, Tallahassee, for Respondent.
PER CURIAM.
We have for review the complaint of The Florida Bar (the Bar) and the referee's report regarding alleged ethical breaches by Robert Scott Laing. We have jurisdiction. Art. V, § 15, Fla. Const.
The referee made the following findings of fact based on evidence presented at the disciplinary hearing:
Based on these findings of fact, the referee reached the following conclusions concerning guilt:
The Bar seeks review of the referee's conclusions concerning guilt, claiming that Laing's conduct under Count 1 embraces additional violations of the disciplinary rules. We disagree. Our review of the record shows that competent substantial evidence supports the referee's findings of fact and conclusions concerning guilt on Counts 1 through 6, and accordingly "this Court is precluded from reweighing the evidence and substituting its judgment for that of the referee." Florida Bar v. MacMillan, 600 So. 2d 457, 459 (Fla.1992). Furthermore, a party contesting the findings and conclusions "carries the burden of demonstrating that there is no evidence in the record to support those findings or that the record evidence clearly contradicts the conclusions." Florida Bar v. Spann, 682 So. 2d 1070, 1073 (Fla.1996). The present record does not "clearly contradict" the referee's conclusions concerning guilt on Count 1. We adopt the referee's findings of fact and conclusions concerning guilt on Counts 1 through 6.
Based on the above violations of the disciplinary rules, the referee recommended that the following disciplinary action be taken against Laing:
*304 The Bar seeks review of the referee's recommended discipline, arguing that disbarment is the appropriate discipline in light of the number of Laing's present violations and his prior record which consists of a sixty-day suspension in 1985[1] and a private reprimand in 1991.[2] We disagree.
This Court generally will not second-guess a referee's recommended discipline as long as that discipline has a reasonable basis in existing caselaw. Florida Bar v. Lecznar, 690 So. 2d 1284 (Fla.1997). In the present case, however, we find the recommended discipline to be in conflict with numerous cases wherein we imposed greater discipline due to the cumulative effect of multiple violations.[3] Based on these prior cases, on the one hand, and the referee's recommended discipline, on the other, we find a ninety-one day suspension appropriate for Laing's conduct. As noted above, this is Laing's third disciplinary proceedinghis third strike at the ball, so to speakand proof of rehabilitation is due.
Robert Scott Laing is hereby suspended for ninety-one days from the practice of law in Florida. The suspension will be effective thirty days from the filing of this opinion so that he can close out his practice and protect the interests of existing clients. If Laing notifies this Court in writing that he 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. Laing shall accept no new business from the date this opinion is filed until the suspension is completed.
Pursuant to the provisions of Rule Regulating The Florida Bar 3-5.1(g), upon receipt of this order of suspension, Laing shall forthwith furnish a copy of the order to all his clients with matters pending in his practice. Furthermore, within thirty days after receipt of this order, Laing shall furnish staff counsel of the Bar with a sworn affidavit listing the names and addresses of all clients who have been furnished copies of the order.
Laing shall submit proof of rehabilitation prior to reinstatement. Upon reinstatement, he shall be on probation for one year, during which time his practice of law shall be monitored by a member of the Bar and he shall be required to take and pass the ethics portion of the Florida bar examination. Judgment for costs in the amount of $8,021.83 is entered in favor of The Florida Bar against Robert Scott Laing, for which sum let execution issue.
It is so ordered.
KOGAN, C.J., and OVERTON, SHAW, GRIMES, HARDING, WELLS and ANSTEAD, JJ., concur.
[1]  Laing was suspended in September 1985 for numerous violations of the disciplinary rules, including neglect, conduct adversely reflecting on fitness, charging an excessive fee, improper calculation of fee in a domestic case, inadequate preparation, dishonesty, and commission of a misdemeanor.
[2]  Laing was privately reprimanded in February 1991 for several violations of the disciplinary rules, including failure to obtain a client's consent to settle and failure to notify a client of the receipt of settlement funds.
[3]  The present case involves seventeen rule violations. (Laing's prior proceedings involved eleven violations, resulting in a sixty-day suspension, and two violations, resulting in a private reprimand.) Cf. Florida Bar v. Inglis, 660 So. 2d 697 (Fla.1995) (disbarment appropriate for multiple violations of varied nature); Florida Bar v. Williams, 604 So. 2d 447 (Fla.1992) (same); Florida Bar v. Mavrides, 442 So. 2d 220 (Fla.1983) (same).