Respondent shall withdraw from all representation within 30 days from the date of this Court’s order. Within the 30 days from the date of this Court’s order, respondent shall wind down all pending matters and shall not initiate any litigation on behalf of clients. Order respondent to accept no new clients from the date of this Court’s order and to cease representing any clients after 30 days from the date of this Court’s order. Suspend respondent from the practice of law until further order of this court.ī. Therefore, pursuant to Rule 3-5.2, The Florida Bar respectfully requests this court to:Ī. WHEREFORE, based on the facts, the bar asserts respondent has caused, or is likely to cause, immediate and serious harm to clients and/or the public and that immediate action must be taken for the protection of respondent’s clients and the public. By reason of the foregoing, respondent has violated the following Rules Regulating The Florida Bar: 4-1.15 (Safekeeping Property) 4-8.4(c) (conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation) Ĥ-8.4(g) (failure to respond to Florida Bar inquiries) and 5-1.1 (Trust Accounts). Payment of the firm’s operating expenses from the firm’s trust account suggests an additional incidence of misappropriation of client and/or third party funds.ġ6. In addition to the above, the staff auditor discovered that respondent issued the firm’s payroll checks for September 2020, from the Popular Bank account for Weinkle Legal Group IOLTA account xxxxxx0983. ![]() However, respondent has no record of being on past, current, or future active duty in any branch of the armed forces. For instance, on November 22, 2020, respondent emailed the loan broker Expomarca, LLC., for the property transaction with the excuse that he had been “juggling” his law practice with his military career for about eight to ten months. Moreover, respondent made misrepresentations to participants in the mortgage transaction to account for his misconduct. After reviewing bank records between September 1, 2020, and January 31, 2021, the bar’s staff auditor also determined that the trust accounts do not contain sufficient funds to pay the property taxes in question.ġ3. Indeed, the real estate taxes in Miami-Dade County had not been paid, as evidenced by a copy of the 2020 Delinquent Tax Certificate, attached as Exhibit D to the auditor’s affidavit.ġ2. A review of the records from each of the firm’s six additional trust and operating bank accounts showed no indication that the real estate taxes at issue had been paid.ġ1. However, the staff auditor was not able to locate any evidence that the $60,000.00 escrow holdback for the 2020 property taxes had been paid from this account. The staff auditor’s review identified nearly all of the credits and charges for the subject mortgage transaction in the records the bar received from the bank.ġ0. The staff auditor conducted a thorough review of the firm’s trust account records, dated Jthrough January 31, 2021, for respondent’s law firm Weinkle Legal Group PLLC IOTA Trust Account number xxxx9147 held at Professional Bank. Pursuant to the terms of the settlement agreement, respondent was required to hold $60,000.00 in trust for the express purpose of paying the property taxes on the property in question.ĩ. The settlement date for the mortgage transaction was September 9, 2020.Ĩ. ![]() Respondent’s law firm was retained to be the settlement agent for a mortgage transaction to which Mr. On January 19, 2021, Salvador Pulverenti filed a bar complaint against respondent. ![]() Duarte is used by the bar to support this Petition for Emergency Suspension. Moreover, respondent has not responded to bar inquiries regarding this matter. The Florida Bar’s investigation of this matter indicates that respondent misappropriated funds he had an obligation to hold in his trust account.ĥ. Respondent is currently the subject of a bar disciplinary matter which has been assigned The Florida Bar file number 2021-70,280 (11P) MES.Ĥ. Respondent, Jordan Garrett Weinkle, is and at all times hereinafter mentioned, was a member of The Florida Bar and subject to the jurisdiction and disciplinary rules of the Supreme Court of Florida.ģ. The filing of this Petition for Emergency Suspension has been authorized by the Executive Director of The Florida Bar.Ģ.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |