Lawyer allegedly disparages other attorneys to withdraw from insurance cases
The attorney is accused of violating six Florida Bar rules, but he denies any wrongdoing.
The Florida Bar has accused Fort Lauderdale litigator Jose P. Font of violating six ethics rules governing conduct during litigation, allegedly disparaging a group of South Florida attorneys in lengthy motions to withdraw from insurance cases.
The allegations stem from 2017 when Font stopped representing insurance company Southern Fidelity Property and Casualty Inc. and began withdrawing as attorney of record in multiple South Florida cases. Discovery is proceeding in the bar complaint, and a hearing is set for January.
The bar alleges Font’s motions were often 13 pages long and contained more than 100 pages of attachments — many of which weren’t directly related to the case.
It said Font’s motions ”contained similar language, numerous irrelevant attachments and espoused a litany of disparaging allegations” against Miami lawyer Joseph Ligman and his firm Ligman Martin, Pinecrest attorney Andrew Barnard, his firm Barnard Law Offices, and its then-associate Brandy Raulerson. They represented plaintiffs in some, but not all, of the cases.
The bar filed its complaint after the Broward Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee found probable cause.
‘Conspirators’
But Font has denied any wrongdoing and asserted he acted in good faith while awaiting the decision from the Florida Supreme Court, which has yet to rule on the bar’s allegations.
The attorney also stressed that there is no evidence, and the “relief sought by the Florida Bar does not include suspension, disbarment or anything other than a finding of minor misconduct.”
According to the bar’s complaint, Font’s motions to withdraw described the attorneys at the center of his ethics case as “conspirators.” He claimed they tried to “taint the judiciary via false, misleading, deceptive, unethical and simply unprofessional conduct.”
“Even in cases where neither Barnard nor Barnard Law were counsel of record, respondent still included language in the motions to withdraw, which accused Barnard of perjury, operation of a criminal enterprise and being part of a conspiracy with a group of lawyers that represent insureds in frivolous and/or fraudulent claims,” the complaint said.
The bar pointed to 13 Broward cases, one Palm Beach case and one Miami-Dade case, in which Barnard was not the counsel of record, but where Font’s filings allegedly still accused him of improper conduct.
The bar’s complaint said multiple courts struck the exhibits or allegations in the motions. It singled out orders from then-Miami Dade Circuit Judge Rodolfo Ruiz, who granted Font’s motion to withdraw, but struck the exhibits and other allegations as irrelevant.
‘Reprehensible’
The bar also referenced a water-damage case in which another opposing counsel — Ligman —had represented plaintiff Omar Escalona against Font’s client, Southern Fidelity. During that litigation, Broward Circuit Judge Barbara McCarthy agreed to appoint a special magistrate to preside over witness depositions, following claims that Font belittled Ligman, and insinuated that the other lawyer’s client engaged in fraudulent conduct during a deposition.
McCarthy declined to grant sanctions against Font, but called his conduct “reprehensible and unprofessional.” In her order, the judge said Font had issued eight last-minute subpoenas and had “required those individuals to abate their daily lives to attend a hearing at which they were never called to testify.”
In that case, according to the bar complaint. Font’s client, Southern Fidelity, had also accused the other side of fraud. It filed a motion to strike the plaintiff’s pleadings for fraud on the court, but the judge decided otherwise. Instead, McCarthy found Southern Fidelity’s allegations of fraud, concealment, false statements and misrepresentations were “without merit, made in bad faith and not supported by facts or credible evidence,” according to the bar complaint.
Font then accused Ligman of being “lead conspirator” via a nine-page motion to withdraw that included 142 pages of attachments, most of which wasn’t relevant to the Escalona case, the bar’s complaint said. Font also accused Ligman of improper conduct in cases that didn’t involve Ligman, the bar claimed.
Among Font’s attachments was a petition for a stalking injunction that Raulerson filed against Font in 2017. The Third District Court of Appeal threw out that petition, finding the alleged conduct didn’t amount to cyberstalking or harassment, but the opinion said the allegations “could involve unprofessional behavior or even conduct subject to discipline by The Florida Bar,” the ethics complaint noted.
The bar’s complaint said Font served Raulerson with subpoenas in numerous cases, ordering her to bring certain documents to court and warning that she could be held in contempt if she didn’t. But the bar called that “frivolous use of the discovery process,” as Raulerson reported having no connection to — or even any knowledge of — the cases.
The bar also listed five cases in which Font was chastised for misconduct. Among them: a finding from a special magistrate that “Mr. Font was unable or unwilling to conduct himself in a manner which did not obstruct the deposition going forward in a reasonable, professional and productive manner,” and comments from Judge Rodriguez when Font claimed he was not properly noticed for a hearing. “Do not come into this courtroom again and blame others for your own failings,” Rodriguez said, according to transcripts.
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