Money, a felony and a judge’s improper use of hands get South Florida lawyers punished
Three suspensions and a disciplinary revocation account for the Miami metropolitan area’s contribution to the Florida Bar’s monthly list of attorneys disciplined by the state Supreme Court.
In alphabetical order...
Timmy Cox, Plantation
Timmy Cox (admitted to the Bar in 2014) is still on a one-year suspension for, among other violations of proper behavior, fooling a biological mother into signing over her parental rights to Cox’s client.
READ MORE: What got Timmy Cox put on suspension, starting Christmas Day 2021
But, since July, Cox has been on double-not-secret-suspension, the second one for failing to answer the Bar regarding a complaint by Jennifer Medley. Cox still hasn’t answered the Bar, so he’s been found in contempt of court. He’ll remain suspended until he answers the Bar or they take further disciplinary steps.
Vegina Hawkins, West Park
Rarely do judges wind up on the Bar discipline report. But rarely does a hallway camera catch a judge putting hands on an court employee, no matter how briefly or whether in anger or just playing around, as Vegina Hawkins (admitted in 2004) claimed.
Well, first Hawkins told the Judicial Qualifications Commission that she never touched the employee. She backed off that when the JQC went to the video of a courtroom hallway from June 11, 2019.
The referee’s report said Hawkins, “interrupted a court employee’s work in another courtroom and summoned him into a secure hallway. As the employee walked into the hallway, [Hawkins] placed her hands on or near his neck and made a back and forth shaking motion for a period of less than two seconds. The employee immediately stepped back and the two individuals engaged in a discussion.”
The report said Hawkins felt the employee hadn’t given her what she needed to prepare for the afternoon docket.
READ MORE: Broward judge suspended without pay after grabbing employee around the neck
Hawkins was suspended as a judge, lost a primary election and resigned Nov. 20, 2020. The JQC hearings never took place.
Referee Lisa Shira Small recommended a 90-day suspension with automatic reinstatement. The state Supreme Court agreed. But the docket says Hawkins told the court that she’d given up practicing law.
A Florida public defender’s client said he gave her a choice: prison or sex with him
Brian Mangines, Boca Raton
Brian Mangines was admitted to the Bar in 1997 and was admitted to the supervision of the Florida Department of Corrections on May 16. That’s when Mangines began serving a two-year probation for one count of patient brokering.
“[Mangines] has not profited from any of these activities and, in fact, has lost money on his investment,” Mangines Bar complaint guilty plea said. “He chose to plead guilty (to the criminal charge) rather than risk a more stringent sentence and subject himself and his family to the economic and emotional burdens that a trial inevitably would impose.”
Magines’ guilty plea for consent judgment says the case comes from being a minority investor in KKMBD, LLC, and Whole Life Recovery, LLC, which provided “services related to outpatient substance-abuse treatment.
“[Mangines] was not involved in the day-to-day operations of either company. His involvement was unrelated to his law practice.”
A walk through through state filings shows Mangines as the registered agent for KKMBD. One of the companies listed as “manager” for KKMBD is JKBM, LLC. Mangines is listed as a manager and the registered agent for JKBM. As for the other company listed as KKMBD’s “manager,” Another Chance, Mangines Law is listed as the registered agent. The president of Mangines Law, according to state records: Brian Mangines.
“The issue in his criminal case was his execution of a marketing agreement drafted by reputable lawyers representing Coastal Labs, Inc., which later made a single payment of $5,401.10 to KKMBD, which the State asserted was for patient referrals,” Mangines’ guilty plea for consent judgment said. “That was the sole transaction with Coastal Labs.”
Mangines has been handed a two-year suspension that’ll end Aug. 23, 2024.
James Wilkie, Pompano Beach
James Wilkie (admitted in 2013) has been out of the law game since Aug. 18, when the state Supreme Court granted the Bar’s request for an emergency suspension.
READ MORE: Pompano Beach attorney is accused of misappropriating $65,000
When Florida Bar auditor and certified public accountant Carl Totaro checked Wilkie’s trust account, he found a $100,000 check from Geico Insurance on Aug. 30, 2021. This was the settlement for a client, M.B., and $74,134 of it was supposed to go for M.B.’s medical costs. By Nov. 30, that was out of Wilkie’s trust account, but none of it went to medical providers.
The Bar’s petition twice described the way Wilkie moved money in and out of the trust account as “similar to a Ponzi scheme.”
“The evidence is clear and convincing that [Wilkie] misappropriated at least $65,000 of the $74,134 client funds payable to medical providers,” the petition said. “[Wilkie] removed those trust funds and, thereafter utilized those funds for his own personal benefit and for matters unrelated to [M.B.].”
Wilkie was accused of using the money for rent as his law firm was being evicted.
The petition also said a $20,000 check for B.C., who the petition said Wilkie called “his best friend,” hit the trust account on April 8. Over nine transfers, that $20,000 wound up in Wilkie’s operating account. Wilkie told Tortaro there wasn’t a closing statement stating where that money went.
Before either discipline case reached its conclusion, Wilkie ended them by reaching for disciplinary revocation. The discipline cases disappear. In return, Wilkie is, essentially, disbarred for five years.
