Title: The Florida Bar v. Flowers

State: florida

Issuer: Florida Supreme Court

Document:

320 So. 2d 809 (1975)
THE FLORIDA BAR, Petitioner,
v.
David H. FLOWERS, Respondent.
No. 47,322.

Supreme Court of Florida.
October 15, 1975.
Leonard Rivkind, Miami Beach, Richard C. McFarlain and William B. Wiley, Tallahassee, for The Florida Bar.
David H. Flowers, in pro. per.
PER CURIAM.
This cause is before us on the petition of The Florida Bar filed pursuant to Article XVI of the Integration Rule charging Respondent with the unauthorized practice of law. Article II, Section 2, of the Integration Rule provides:
Our jurisdiction to prohibit the unauthorized practice of law stems from Article V, Section 15, Florida Constitution, which provides that this Court "shall have exclusive jurisdiction to regulate the admission of persons to the practice of law... ." This constitutional authority necessarily includes the power to prevent the unauthorized practice of law.[1]
In its petition The Florida Bar alleges that at all times material herein Respondent was not and is not a member of this Bar or the Bar of any State or of any federal court; that he was not and is not licensed to engage in the practice of immigration law in this or any other State of the Union. Further, Petitioner alleges that Respondent has engaged in the unauthorized *810 practice of law in Dade County by one or more of the following acts:
In Respondent's answer to this Court's Rule to Show Cause he admits that he is not a member of The Florida Bar or any other Bar, State or federal, submitting that he has been self-employed for many years in the profession of Marketing Research for well-known national corporations, although for approximately three to four years he was employed by the United States Department of the Interior, Division of Territories and Island Possessions and, subsequently, Insular Government of Puerto Rico, as the administrative assistant to the Governor.
Replying specifically to Paragraphs A-H, supra, of the petition, Respondent states "... that approximately February 1, 1974 he was hired by Theodore Fisher, Attorney, as a salaried employee and in a clerical capacity. Mr. Fisher is a lawyer, a member of the Florida Bar and is authorized to practice before the U.S. Court, Southern District." Additionally, Respondent answers:
Thereafter Petitioner moved for a judgment on the pleadings; this motion is granted. We do, therefore, issue a permanent injunction restraining Respondent from the following activities:
(a) Respondent shall not prepare and/or cause to be prepared and/or affix his signature to U.S. Department of Justice, Board of Immigration Appeals and Immigration and Naturalization Service Forms G-28, "Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Representative" on behalf of any person or persons;
(b) Respondent shall not advise, counsel, and/or represent, for a fee or otherwise, any person or persons in reference to the immigration and naturalization laws of this Country unless and until he is licensed to engage in such practice by appropriate authority; and
(c) Respondent shall not otherwise hold himself out as an attorney and/or engage in the practice of law in the State of Florida.
*813 We assess the costs of these proceedings against Respondent.
It is so ordered.
ADKINS, C.J., and BOYD, OVERTON, ENGLAND and HATCHETT, JJ., concur.
[1]  State ex rel. Florida Bar v. Sperry, 140 So. 2d 587 (Fla. 1962), judgment vacated on other grounds 373 U.S. 379, 83 S. Ct. 1322, 10 L. Ed. 2d 428 (1963).