4 lawyers, including Nevin Shapiro’s bankruptcy attorney, disciplined by Florida Bar

Four South Florida lawyers — three from Broward, one from Miami-Dade — were among the 16 disciplined from Aug. 18 to Oct. 6, the Florida Bar announced Tuesday.

In alphabetical order, the four are:

Pompano Beach’s William R. Cohen has been suspended since Sept. 22 for failure to respond to grievances filed with the Bar against him by Soon Young Olsen and Ellen Phillips Bricker. Cohen’s suspension lasts until he fully responds in writing to the Bar inquiry. Earlier this year, the Michigan Bar suspended Cohen for non-payment of dues.

Coral Springs’ John Getzinger has been disbarred since Sept. 8 after not showing up for a final hearing and failing to respond to a Bar inquiry. The Florida Bar then recommended disbarment when considering Getzinger’s three previous Bar suspensions, including one for taking payment from a client and doing nothing of significance on the case.

Fort Lauderdale’s Darin Lentner has been disbarred retroactive to June 22 after overfilling his basket with the fruits of his labor. Lentner’s firm and two other firms won bad faith claim cases for healthcare providers against Progressive after the company systematically failed to pay valid insurance claims. Of the $3 million settlement Lentner’s firm received from Progressive, Lentner and business partner Laura Watson paid clients $361,000 and kept more than $2 million as attorney’s fees.

Delray Beach’s Charles Kane and son Harley Kane of the Greenspan Law Firm did the same thing, leading to their disbarment. They kept over $4 million of the $5.25 million settlement they got from Progressive.

Coral Gables’ Maria Perez, who represented convicted Ponzi-schemer and University of Miami football booster Nevin Shapiro, starts a 91-day suspension Monday after sharing information from bankruptcy witnesses with the NCAA as it investigated Shapiro’s involvement with Hurricanes football players. Also, Perez’s representation, in an unrelated criminal case, of Saul Acuna-Acosta, aka, Samuel Medina Flores, fell below minimum Bar standards of competency and professionalism.

This story was originally published November 1, 2016 at 11:29 AM with the headline "4 lawyers, including Nevin Shapiro’s bankruptcy attorney, disciplined by Florida Bar."