Steinger, Iscoe & Greene, one of the largest personal injury firms in Florida, is being sued by former employees for allegedly instituting a quota system and pressuring clients to receive surgery.

The firm, meanwhile, has fired off its own suit, this one against a private detective accused of covertly installing surveillance equipment in Steinger, Iscoe & Greene offices.

The parties trade allegations of unethical behavior.

Among the litigants are two former attorneys who filed complaints against the law firm in Palm Beach Circuit Court. Their November 2018 lawsuits accuse the firm of “repeatedly encourag[ing] attorneys and paralegals to encourage the clients to obtain surgical interventions for their injuries whenever possible.” The lawsuit calls the arrangement “no surgery, no case.”

The filings also allege partner Michael Steinger created a system requiring each attorney to bill at least $250,000 each quarter.

Plaintiffs Lee Levenson and Robert Gonzalez allege they were fired from Steinger, Iscoe & Greene on Oct. 16 after expressing reservations about the firm's quota system and the conduct of its presuit division. Described in the suit as “a group of paralegals and non-lawyers who handled a client's claim prior to litigation,” that group allegedly shared fees and paid “runners” a finder's fee for bringing clients to the firm.

According to Gonzalez and Levenson's suits, their termination violated their employment agreements, and their lawsuits seek injunctive and declaratory relief.

But the firm denied the allegations, and has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuits.

“These lawsuits seek to characterize Steinger, Iscoe & Greene in a bad light to provoke the reader into believing false allegations and assertions that are plainly not true,” said attorney Michael Pike, who represents the firm. “No attorney has the ability to encourage a doctor to perform surgery. The decision for a client to elect surgery is made between the patient and the doctor, based on empirical data and physical examination. To state otherwise is simply fantasy.”

Pike further stated, “Steinger Iscoe & Greene does not have 'runners' or improper quotas.”

“Its ability to spend significant dollars on approved advertising places it in a position of appreciable market share, and this makes the firm an easy target,” he said.

Former Florida Bar president Greg Coleman represents attorneys Michael Steinger and Sean Greene.

“The allegations against Steinger and Greene will be dismissed as they are unfounded and defamatory,” he said. “We are preparing to seek sanctions, and will be filing a lawsuit for defamation and malicious prosecution.”

Meanwhile, Steinger, Iscoe & Greene is suing private detective Michael Coronel for allegedly placing recording devices within the walls of its West Palm Beach office, without the firm's permission. Coronel had worked for Levenson, and surveillance cameras caught him entering the firm during off-hours, according to court filings and the Palm Beach Post, which broke the news.

Gonzalez and Levenson's legal counsel, Justus Reid and Bernard Lebedeker, did not reply to a request for comment by deadline.

Read Steinger, Iscoe & Greene's invasion of privacy suit: