Florida lawyer accused of misconduct in insurance litigation
The complaint alleges a second attorney at a law firm 'betrayed his ethical obligations' to 'enrich himself at the clients’ expense.'
A second attorney at the Strems Law Firm in Coral Gables, Fla., has landed in ethical hot water as the Florida Bar filed a complaint June 11 alleging Gregory Saldamando “betrayed his ethical obligations to his clients in order to enrich himself at the clients’ expense.”
Saldamando’s discipline case comes after the firm’s founder Scot Strems was suspended until further notice. Strems was also hit with a second complaint on June 11 that the bar says is “remarkably similar” to Saldamando’s.
The full extent of Saldamando’s alleged misconduct was “too expansive” to put in one complaint, according to the bar, which claims he pocketed extra cash for the firm by pretending he’d secured less settlement money than he actually had.
The complaint accuses Saldamando of violating six bar rules and points to a lawsuit he filed against American Integrity Insurance Co. of Florida Inc. in July 2014 over sinkhole damage.
In that litigation, the clients agreed to accept a $100,000 settlement — $35,000 of which they agreed would go to the Strems Law Firm, according to court filings. Saldamando allegedly urged them to accept that $100,000 offer but kept quiet about the $157,500 settlement he went on to secure, meaning the firm raked in a total of $92,500, according to the bar complaint.
Saldamando and his attorney Mark Kamilar in Miami did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the complaint says Saldamando claimed, “the matter settled for the sum authorized by the clients with a later negotiation with the insurance company for attorney’s fees and costs.”
The bar contends that’s not true, having found no evidence of a separate negotiation or settlement. The money was part of a global settlement, according to the complaint, meaning it was a single lump-sum covering both damages and attorney fees.
Saldamando’s clients independently found out their case had settled in May 2019 and asked to see their attorney and review documents to no avail. Days later, Saldamando reportedly told them over the phone about the $157,500 settlement but said they could only recover $65,000 and refused to provide a breakdown of the fees.
The complaint also references the firm’s retainer agreement, which outlined a 20% contingency fee for pre-litigation settlements but said nothing about cases resolved in litigation, how fees would be calculated, how many attorneys would be involved or what hourly rates were.
According to an invoice Saldamando later provided to the bar, he charged $550 per hour, while his co-counsel charged up to $750 per hour.
One of Saldamando’s cases recently came before the Fourth DCA, which affirmed sanctions over his conduct in an insurance case but reversed a $22,877 monetary penalty because of due process issues.
Saldamando was admitted to practice in 2007 and holds a law degree from Florida International University, according to his Florida Bar profile.
Not an ‘isolated indiscretion’
The bar claims the allegations are a symptom of a bigger problem.
“The misconduct alleged in this complaint was not the product of an isolated indiscretion,” the complaint said. “Rather, respondent’s course of conduct was part and parcel of SLF’s day-to-day practices.”
The latest ethics case against Strems alleges his 85-year-old client in 2017 agreed to accept a $30,000 settlement with $3,700 going to the firm but actually secured a $45,000 settlement and pocketed the difference. Strems did not immediately respond to a request for comment but has previously denied any wrongdoing through his attorneys Kamilar and Scott Tozian of Smith Tozian Daniel & Davis in Tampa.
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