THE FLORIDA BAR, COMPLAINANT,
v.
JUDITH DALE SHAPIRO, RESPONDENT

Fla. | 1984-09-06
No. 64439
BOYD, C.J., and ADKINS, OVERTON, ALDERMAN, McDONALD and SHAW, JJ., concur., EHRLICH, J., dissents.
456 So. 2d 452 Florida Supreme Court (1984) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

The Florida Supreme Court reviewed a referee's disciplinary recommendation suspending attorney Judith Dale Shapiro for 90 days followed by two years of probation for filing a false sworn motion containing forged client signatures in a drug smuggling case. The Court approved the suspension and probation but rejected the guardian ad litem condition and instead imposed a requirement that Shapiro retake and pass the ethics portion of the bar exam.


Holding

The Court rejected the guardian ad litem service requirement as an inappropriate condition of probation. Instead, the Court imposed a requirement that Shapiro successfully retake and pass the ethics portion of the Florida Bar examination during her probation period, while approving the 90-day suspension and two-year probation period.


Headnotes

[1] An attorney's sworn motion to dismiss criminal charges containing false statements and a forged client signature violates rules of professional conduct regarding honesty,…

[2] A condition of probation requiring an attorney to serve as a guardian ad litem for abused or neglected children is inappropriate when the attorney has demonstrated ignora…

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Key Quotes

“We detect, however, what appears to be a dangerous ignorance of both the contents and application of the Code of Professional Responsibility by Shapiro.”

Establishes the Court's basis for imposing the ethics examination requirement as a remedial condition

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Facts & Procedural History

Shapiro represented a client on drug smuggling charges and filed a sworn motion to dismiss that contained false statements and a forged client signatu…

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Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

We have for review a referee’s report recommending that Judith Dale Shapiro be suspended from the practice of law for ninety days to be followed by a two-year period of probation. Shapiro’s petition for review asks us to reject a condition of probation imposed by the referee. We have jurisdiction. Art. Y, § 15, Fla. Const. The Florida Bar and Shapiro submitted a joint stipulation of facts so that the referee could dispose of this cause without formal proceedings. The stipulated facts established that Shapiro had represented a client on drug smuggling charges. During the course of her representation, she filed a sworn motion to dismiss the charges, which motion contained false statements and a forged client signature. The false statements led to a perjury charge which was dropped after the client obtained new counsel. Shapiro denied that she knew the sworn motion contained false statements or that she knew about the forged client signature. She agreed, however, that a sufficient factual basis existed for the referee to conclude she had violated Florida Bar Integration Rule, article XI, Rule 11.-02(3)(a) (conduct contrary to honesty, justice, or good morals) and Florida Bar Code of Professional Responsibility Disciplinary Rules 1-102(A)(4) (conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation) and 1-102(A)(5) (conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice).

The referee found Shapiro guilty of violating the provisions set out above and recommended a ninety-day suspension and a two-year probation under the following conditions:

1. Respondent will confine her professional undertakings to civil, as opposed to criminal, matters.

2. Respondent [will] participate in the Guardian-ad-Litem program, of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit and expend 250 hours, in the two year period of probation, as an attorney Guardian-ad-Litem for an abused, neglected or otherwise dependent child. See Fla.R.Juv.P. 8.300(b), et seq.

Shapiro challenges only the propriety of the second condition of probation.

We agree with Shapiro that in this case that serving as a guardian ad litem is an inappropriate condition of probation. We therefore disapprove the referee’s recommendation that she be required to participate in the guardian ad litem program.

We detect, however, what appears to be a dangerous ignorance of both the contents and application of the Code of Professional Responsibility by Shapiro. If she intended to mislead the trial court by preparing a false sworn motion to dismiss criminal charges containing a forged client signature, as alleged in the Florida Bar complaint and the stipulated facts, she has violated both the spirit and letter of her oath of admission to the bar. We therefore require as an additional condition of probation that Shapiro again take, and successfully pass, the ethics portion of the Florida Bar examination within her probation period. We approve the remaining portions of the referee’s report.

Judith Dale Shapiro, therefore, is suspended for ninety days, beginning thirty days after the filing of this opinion in order that she may protect her clients. Thereafter, she will be on probation for two years, during which she must successfully sit for the ethics portion of the bar examination. Shapiro is further directed to pay costs of these proceedings in the amount of $925.23.

It is so ordered.

BOYD, C.J., and ADKINS, OVERTON, ALDERMAN, McDONALD and SHAW, JJ., concur. EHRLICH, J., dissents.


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Citator

Cited By

  • THE Florida BAR v. COX, 794 So. 2d 1278 (Fla. 2001)
    …slead the Bar where the individual involved also had prior disciplinary offenses and possessed a dishonest motive. See also Florida Bar v. Story, 529 So. 2d 1114 (Fla.1988); Florida Bar v. Morrison, 496 So. 2d 820 (Fla.1986); Florida Bar v. Shapiro, 456 So. 2d 452 (Fla.1984). While I do not condone that which occurred in this case and find it both troubling and aggravating due to the nature of the circumstances, I would not second-guess the referee, merely substitute my view for his, and reject his recommend…
  • THE Florida BAR v. Corbin, 701 So. 2d 334 (Fla. 1997)
    …cipline. See, e.g., Florida Bar v. Wright, 520 So. 2d 269 (Fla.1988) (imposing public reprimand for lying during discovery); Florida Bar v. Batman, 511 So. 2d 558 (Fla.1987) (imposing public reprimand for testifying falsely); Florida Bar v. Shapiro, 456 So. 2d 452 (Fla.1984) (imposing ninety-day suspension for filing false motion to dismiss with forged signature); Florida Bar v. Oxner, 431 So. 2d 983 (Fla.1983) (imposing sixty-day suspension for twice lying to judge to obtain a continuance). The existence of…

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