News Releases

SUPREME COURT DISCIPLINES 10 ATTORNEYS

Summaries of orders issued from February 11, 2025, to March 26, 2025

The Florida Bar, the state’s guardian for the integrity of the legal profession, announces that the Florida Supreme Court in recent court orders disciplined 10 attorneys, disbarring four, revoking the license of two, suspending three, and reprimanding one.

The Florida Supreme Court, The Florida Bar, and its Division of Lawyer Regulation are charged with administering a statewide disciplinary system to enforce Supreme Court rules of professional conduct for the more than 113,000 members of The Florida Bar. Key discipline case files that are public record are posted to attorneys’ individual online Florida Bar profiles. To view discipline documents, follow these steps. Information on the discipline system and how to file a complaint are available at www.floridabar.org/attorneydiscipline.

Court orders are not final until time expires to file a rehearing motion and, if filed, determined. The filing of such a motion does not alter the effective date of the discipline. Disbarred lawyers may not re-apply for admission for five years. They are required to go through an extensive process that includes a rigorous background check and retaking the Bar exam. Attorneys suspended for periods of 91 days and longer must undergo a rigorous process to regain their law licenses including proving rehabilitation. Disciplinary revocation is tantamount to disbarment.

Thomas Arthur Chandler, 5681 Bentgrass Dr., Unit 102, Sarasota, disbarred effective immediately following a March 6 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1995) On September 5, 2024, Chandler pled no contest to Driving Under the Influence Third or Subsequent Conviction, a third-degree felony, in Manatee County. Chandler was adjudicated guilty and sentenced to 30 days in Manatee County Jail with credit for all time served, to be followed by five years of probation. (Case No. SC24-1675)

Shayne Jeremiah Epstein, 2295 NW Corporate Blvd., Suite 215, Boca Raton, public reprimand to be published in the Southern Reporter effective immediately following a March 20 court order. (Admitted to practice: 2001) Epstein ran a recruiting company that focused on foreign nationals getting jobs in the U.S. and had a law office that did immigration work. One individual was a client of the recruiting company, which placed the foreign national in a job, and of the law firm, which was retained to secure the individual’s green card. The client was not informed of the potential conflict of interest at the outset of his legal representation, nor was he informed of his right to seek outside counsel. (Case No. SC24-1739)

Maurice DeShawn Hinton, 333 Las Olas Way, Suite 429-430, Fort Lauderdale, suspended for two years and must receive Florida Lawyer’s Assistance, Inc. evaluation prior to petitioning for reinstatement, effective immediately following a February 13 court order. (Admitted to practice: 2006) Hinton neglected client matters and failed to properly communicate with multiple clients. In one instance, Hinton engaged in a sexual relationship with a client, and after the relationship ended, he neglected the client’s matter and failed to communicate with the client. Hinton also engaged in the practice of law while under a delinquency for membership fees and continuing legal education requirements. Additionally, Hinton failed to respond to The Florida Bar during the disciplinary proceedings. (Case No. SC2024-0453)

Malik Leigh, 113 S. Monroe St., #2685, Fl 1, Tallahassee, disbarred, effective 30 days following a March 13 court order. (Admitted to practice: 2011) While engaged in litigation involving three related cases in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida against several named defendants including the Palm Beach County School District, Leigh made several threatening social media posts directed at the opposing parties in the cases. Leigh also made false accusations about opposing counsel, accusing her in court filings of committing forgery and other offenses without any factual basis for doing so. In another matter, Leigh was charged with committing multiple rule violations stemming from his attempt to initiate a toxic tort class action. Leigh repeatedly failed to file a viable complaint in the case over a two-year period. He also failed to comply with numerous court orders, and he used a paralegal to question an employee of a party that he knew was represented by counsel. When the case was eventually appealed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Leigh falsely accused the presiding circuit court judge in the case of racial bias. (Case No. SC2023-0518)

Chance McClain, 1250 Old Dixie Hwy., Suite 8, Lake Park, disbarred effective 30 days following a March 20 court order. (Admitted to practice: 2011) McClain represented his mother, Dominique Barteet, in a civil matter. The opposing party received a final judgment against Barteet. The opposing party learned that Barteet had transferred her Mercedes Benz to McClain for $0, which ultimately led to McClain’s disqualification from the case. The Mercedes transfer was voided in 2017, and the court further found that McClain’s testimony that the transfer was payment for attorney’s fees was “not credible and was contradicted by sworn statements previously made by McClain and Defendant.” The findings were upheld on appeal. In a second case, McClain was again disqualified from representing Barteet. Despite this disqualification, McClain continued to act as Barteet’s attorney by answering legal questions and authoring pleadings that Barteet then filed pro se. The court found that McClain’s disobedience of the disqualification order was “willful, deliberate and contumacious” and that McClain’s actions prejudiced the plaintiffs and negatively impacted the judicial administration of the case. This was also upheld on appeal. In the order on the second case, the court discussed a third instance of McClain representing Barteet. In this third case, the court granted Summary Final Judgment against Barteet finding that a Crossclaim filed by McClain contained the same allegations that had already been adjudicated in the second case. (Case No. SC2024-0917)

Charles Wade Price, P.O. Box 196279, Winter Springs, disciplinary revocation with leave to apply for readmission after five years effective immediately following a March 13 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1990) Price misappropriated funds that had been provided by a client for the purpose of transferring the funds to the Bankruptcy Trustee to pay creditors, abandoned his law practice without notice to his clients, and was suspended from practicing before The United States Bankruptcy Court For The Middle District of Florida. (Case No. SC25-0126)

Hammad Rashid Sheikh, 6515 Clinton Hwy., Suite 216, Knoxville, TN, suspended for one year effective immediately following a March 7 court order. (Admitted to practice: 2016) Sheikh accepted fees in eight separate immigration matters, then failed to diligently handle the cases and failed to adequately communicate with the clients. (Case No. SC25-0263)

Jeffrey Marc Siskind, 3465 Santa Barbara Dr., Wellington, disbarred effective 30 days following a February 11 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1998) Siskind misappropriated large sums of money from two separate clients. (Case No. SC23-0566)

Danielle Renee Watson, 113 S. Monroe St., #2685, Fl 1, Tallahassee, suspended for 91 days effective 30 days following a March 13 court order. (Admitted to practice: 2011) Watson was co-counsel in a federal employment discrimination case. Watson’s co-counsel was working on a pretrial stipulation with the opposing party’s attorney. After the incorrect stipulation was mistakenly filed by opposing counsel’s office containing Watson’s e-signature, Watson and co-counsel filed an addendum with the court accusing opposing counsel of forgery. Watson and co-counsel thereafter ignored phone calls and emails from opposing counsel, who was trying to correct the issue. Each side filed a motion for sanctions. The court directed Watson to file a personal response. Watson’s response repeated the allegation that opposing counsel had forged Watson’s e-signature. The court found that the filing of the incorrect stipulation could have been easily resolved, opposing counsel acted with no improper purpose and acted honestly. The court further found that Watson and co-counsel acted in bad faith. (Case No. SC2023-0416)

Lisa Renee Wilcox, 23501 Alexander Rd., Pilot Point, TX, disciplinary revocation with leave to seek readmission after five years effective 30 days following a March 13 court order. (Admitted to practice: 2004) Wilcox’s former client alleged that Wilcox represented a company co-owned by the former client and Wilcox’s husband. Upon the rise of a conflict between the client and the Wilcox’s husband, Wilcox engaged in a conflict of interest by taking action that was adverse to the client’s interest. At the time of the conflict, Wilcox also represented the former client in an unrelated civil matter. Further, Wilcox failed to properly supervise her husband’s access to her law firm emails. (Case No. SC25-0093)

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