Opinion ID: 1954666
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Sabatier Case

Text: In this case, Elster was retained to represent Antonio Sabatier and his daughter, Joani, before the United States Immigration Court. The Sabatiers paid Elster $400 toward a total fee of $800 for handling the entire matter, and they informed Elster that they had a court hearing scheduled for August 6, 1996. The referee found that Elster failed to file a notice of appearance on their behalf, failed to appear at the scheduled hearing, failed to accomplish any meaningful work on their behalf, effectively abandoned them and their cause of action, and failed to make any attempt to inform them that he did not intend to continue to represent them. The referee also found that both before and after the date of the hearing, the Sabatiers and their successor counsel made numerous attempts to contact Elster by phone and electronic pager, but he failed to return any of the phone calls or pages. Finally, the referee found that due to Elster's complete lack of work on the Sabatiers' behalf, he collected an excessive fee of $400. Based on these findings, the referee recommended that Elster be found guilty of violating rules 3-4.2 (violation of Rules of Professional Conduct grounds for discipline), 4-8.4(a) (lawyer shall not violate Rules of Professional Conduct), 4-1.1 (competent representation), 4-1.3 (reasonable diligence), 4-1.16(d) (protection of client's interest upon termination of representation), 4-1.4(a) (keeping client reasonably informed), and 4-1.5(a) (excessive fee) of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar. Elster essentially disagrees with the referee's findings of fact in the Sabatier case on the basis that they are contrary to his own testimony. However, in order to successfully challenge the referee's findings, Elster must demonstrate that there is no evidence in the record to support [the referee's] findings or that the record evidence clearly contradicts the conclusions. Florida Bar v. Spann, 682 So.2d 1070, 1073 (Fla.1996). Elster has not met this burden. It is clear that the referee weighed the credibility of Elster's testimony in this case and, where the evidence was in conflict, chose to credit the documentary evidence and the testimony of other witnesses over the testimony of Elster. Because the referee is in the best position to judge the credibility of the witnesses, we defer to the referee's assessment and his resolution of the conflicting testimony. See Florida Bar v. Fredericks, 731 So.2d 1249, 1251 (Fla.1999) (stating that the referee is in a unique position to assess the credibility of witnesses, and his judgment regarding credibility should not be overturned absent clear and convincing evidence that his judgment is incorrect); Florida Bar v. Thomas, 582 So.2d 1177, 1178 (Fla.1991) (same); Florida Bar v. Hayden, 583 So.2d 1016, 1017 (Fla.1991) (stating that where testimony conflicts, referee is charged with responsibility of assessing credibility based on demeanor and other factors). Accordingly, we find that there is competent substantial evidence in the record to support the referee's findings in this case.