A Second Lawyer From This South Florida Firm Is Accused of Misconduct in Insurance Litigation
The Florida Bar's complaint alleges the Coral Gables attorney "betrayed his ethical obligations to his clients in order to enrich himself at the clients' expense."
June 12, 2020 at 01:57 PM
4 minute read
A second attorney at the Strems Law Firm in Coral Gables has landed in ethical hot water as the Florida Bar filed a complaint Thursday 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 this week until further notice. Strems was also hit with a second complaint Thursday 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.
Read the bar's complaint:
Read more:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllDivided State Court Reinstates Dispute Over Replacement Vehicles Fees
5 minute readBack-To-Back Hurricanes' Impact on Florida Legal Work Will Go Beyond Usual Suspects
5 minute readHolland & Knight Snags 2 Insurance Partners in New York and Philadelphia From Goodwin
3 minute readTurning the Tables: Defense Litigators Embrace Lawsuits, Alleging Fraud at Plaintiffs Shops
6 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Gibson Dunn Sued By Crypto Client After Lateral Hire Causes Conflict of Interest
- 2Trump's Solicitor General Expected to 'Flip' Prelogar's Positions at Supreme Court
- 3Pharmacy Lawyers See Promise in NY Regulator's Curbs on PBM Industry
- 4Outgoing USPTO Director Kathi Vidal: ‘We All Want the Country to Be in a Better Place’
- 5Supreme Court Will Review Constitutionality Of FCC's Universal Service Fund
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250