Amerant to cut jobs from its mortgage department
The Coral Gables-based bank's decision to trim its workforce comes on the heels of significant portfolio adjustments, including a recent multimillion-dollar mortgage sale. Here's how many employees will be impacted.
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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Construction to begin on St Petersburg's $800 million SkyTown development
A mixed-use development that will bring thousands of apartments and a grocery store to St. Petersburg's SkyWay Marina District is starting to take shape after receiving funding from public and private backers. The project, dubbed SkyTown, is slated for the former Ceridian office campus at 3201 34th St. S. Coral Gables-based developer Altis Cardinal bought the 32-acre property in 2021 for $40 million. 'We're the largest community that has been approved in all of St Pete,' said Frank Guerra, principal of Altis Cardinal. 'We're putting a 24-hour kind of living situation together on this one 32-acre parcel.' It will be built in six phases and is expected to cost between $750 and $800 million. Once complete, it will add 2,084 apartments, 69,000 square feet of retail space including a Sprouts Farmers Market and 120,000 square feet of self-storage. This is the first Sprouts Farmers Market to open in St. Petersburg, and is slated to open in October. It joins four other locations in Pinellas County and 19 around Tampa Bay. On Tuesday, Altis Cardinal, secured a $68 million construction loan from Third Fifth Bank, according to records filed with the Pinellas County Clerk's Office. The developer also got approved for a $4.5 million forgivable loan from the City of St. Petersburg in April and a $5.5 million allocation from Pinellas County through the Penny for Pinellas sales tax. All this funding will go toward the first phase, which will feature 401 apartments and 12,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Of those apartments, 121 will be designated as workforce housing. About half will be reserved for households that earn up to 120% of the area median income, which is currently about $87,600 for a single person or $125,160 for a family of four. The other half will be for those who earn up to 80% of the area median income — $58,450 for a single person or $83,450 for a family of four. People could start moving in by the the third quarter of 2027. Guerra said they're already in talks to fill the retail space below. He envisions something neighborhood-oriented like a wine bar, restaurant, coffee shop, bakery or day spa. Building out the entire project could take eight to ten years. The Skyway Marina District is currently undergoing a transformation, with at least four other residential projects popping up within a stone's throw of SkyTown. But Guerra said what sets his development apart is the 'town-square' feel it will have. 'We are making a walkable community where people can get everything they need on site,' said Guerra. 'We think our retail will draw people from outside the area.'
Miami Herald
13-05-2025
- Miami Herald
Misappropriated funds. Working while disbarred. Miami metro lawyers disciplined
Bad behavior and questions about where client money went added up to five South Florida attorneys on the monthly list of lawyers disciplined by the state Supreme Court. Disciplinary revocation, which the state Supreme Court calls 'tantamount to disbarment' when it grants the petition, lets the attorney throw in the towel on any pending discipline matters. The lawyer is disbarred for five years. The disciplinary cases go away, but it does nothing to any criminal or civil matters from those actions. In alphabetical order: David Bernstein, Coconut Creek Bernstein was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1994, but in 2025, apparently cared only enough to tell the Bar he didn't care about being a lawyer anymore. He petitioned and received immediate disciplinary revocation and can request to be readmitted after five years. Disciplinary revocation was the logical move with 15 Bar complaints pending. One Bar filing against Bernstein comprises five complaints from 2018 and 2019, three in which he's alleged to have 'entered into a fee agreement with a client and did not provide the agreed services and that [Bernstein] and his staff failed to properly communicate with the client;' one that says Bernstein didn't answer Bar inquiries; and one in which he's accused of doing all of the above. Most of the other 10 Bar filings are some form of money for nothing, including one case during which Bernstein allegedly not only didn't do that for which he'd been paid, but didn't tell the client when he got suspended for a year, 'instead advising that he was closing his office due to illness.' Bernstein can become a full attorney again in February 2030. Xenia Hernandez, West Miami-Dade A Florida Bar audit of personal injury lawyer Xenia Hernandez's trust account says Xenia Hernandez Law not only took its time giving clients their settlement money, but seemed to be using that money for other purposes. That's a no-no with trust account money, and Hernandez got hit with an emergency suspension on April 25. READ MORE: A Miami personal injury attorney misappropriated up to $381,000, Bar says Hernandez joined the Bar in 2017 after graduating from Ave Maria School of Law in 2016. The office space occupied by Xenia Hernandez Law, 6923 NW 77th Ave., is now occupied by Florida Injury Solutions and the Xenia Hernandez Law phone number is on the Bar profile of Siobhan Bonilla, Ave Maria Law 2017. Bonilla's LinkedIn profile says 'Sibby B.' became 'Principal Attorney' at Florida Injury Solutions in April, the same month the state Supreme Court decided on Hernandez's emergency suspension. READ MORE: Coral Gables-based Florida Bar president accused of misappropriating $625,000 Suzanne Mandich, West Palm Beach West Palm Beach's Suzanne Mandich (admitted in 2013) said in the case that earned her suspension 'the depth of her empathy took her from sympathetically understanding the client's plight to the more emotionally intertwined 'active sharing in the suffering person's emotional experience,' which clouded her judgment.' Mandich's guilty plea for consent judgment also admits she behaved badly during a deposition during this custody fight. Mandich represented the father, a client she described as a 'poorly-educated,' 'indigent,' and 'technologically handicapped.' The court ordered him to complete an online parenting course. He paid twice and failed to complete the course twice. So Mandich had her assistant complete the course for the client, then filed notice of course completion. The client testified during a deposition that he'd completed the online course, Mandich let stand what she knew to be a lie. She wasn't the only one who knew about the lie — the mother had emails 'coordinating completion of the course by the assistant.' Mandich ended the deposition. 'The record reflects the deposition had become contentious by that point, with [Mandich] telling the mother not to touch her on at least two occasions during the deposition,' Mandich's guilty plea said. She made the father complete the course on his own and decided to no longer accept child custody cases, 'acknowledging her inability to detach her emotions from her representation.' Mandich's 91-day suspension starts May 24. Thomas Neusom, Fort Lauderdale In February, Fort Lauderdale's Thomas Neusom (admitted in 2007) started a two-year suspension for a series of inept filings. During the process that ended in that suspension, Referee Ginger Learner-Wren called Neusom's behavior during a hearing on his motion to dismiss 'obstructive and unethical:' said he blew deadlines on providing a witness and exhibit list; and, finally, didn't show up at the final hearing. 'The cumulative nature of [Neusom's] contemptuous conduct makes it evident that [Neusom] does not value his privilege to practice law,' the Florida Bar argued. The state Supreme Court agreed and disbarred Neusom. Gregory Pillon, Miami Miami's Gregory Pillon pleaded no contest in Marion County to obtaining a mortgage by false representation in 2007. Knowing he'd be disbarred after the discipline process played out, Pillon tendered a disbarment on consent application, which was accepted in 2009. Being disbarred doesn't prevent someone from working under a supervising attorney, although it can't be a lawyer the disbarred attorney once supervised, and they're restricted as to what tasks they're allowed to handle. Pillon didn't obey those, admitting 'he continued to work with another lawyer as an independent contractor, without filing the required annual reports to the Bar as an employed disbarred attorney.' Also, he had 'direct client contact' with a client buyer in 2022 and 2023. That's a no-no. Pillon, 78, petitioned for disciplinary revocation without leave to reapply. He's now doubly disbarred.
Miami Herald
06-05-2025
- Miami Herald
A Miami personal injury attorney misappropriated up to $381,000, Bar says
Business A Miami personal injury attorney misappropriated up to $381,000, Bar says When the client of a West Miami-Dade personal injury attorney complained to the Florida Bar that his lawyer wouldn't give him his part of a $41,000 settlement, the Bar auditor said he found two things: He wasn't the only Xenia Hernandez Law client with that problem; and Hernandez had misappropriated $169,000 to $381,000. Hernandez's emergency suspension doesn't begin officially until May 25, but she has already started the shedding of attorney designations required during suspensions. Xenia Hernandez Law's website is down, the firm's Instagram page has disappeared and emails to xhernandez@ get an automatic reply saying the address is no longer active. The Miami Herald hasn't been able to contact Hernandez for comment. Eleventh Circuit Chief Judge Nushin G. Sayfie appointed Eleventh Circuit Judge Alicia Priovolos Garcia to hear the Bar's case against Hernandez. MORE: Coral Gables-based Florida Bar president accused of misappropriating $625,000 Where's the money? The Bar's petition for emergency suspension says it started a compliance audit of Hernandez's trust account for the period Nov. 1, 2023, through Dec. 31, 2024, after a March 2024 complaint from Ryan Willoughby. Staff, office bills, attorneys get paid out of a law firm's operating account. The trust account is where money for clients goes until it's sent to the client, minus attorney's fees. If money comes in for a client and that client is owed $100,000, the trust account should have at least $100,000 in it until that client gets his money. The trust account can't be handled as the operating account or a personal checking account can be handled. Also, if you're an attorney and bounce a check on the operating account, the bank notifies you or your firm. Bounce a check on the trust account, the bank notifies the Florida Bar. Xenia Hernandez The Florida Bar Hernandez represented Willoughby in a personal injury case that an insurance company settled for $41,723. That check was issued to Hernandez on Nov. 13, 2023. That day, the Florida Bar petition says, the Hernandez Law office reached out to Willoughby to tell him about the settlement and get a release signature. Hernandez put the $41,723 check in her trust account on Dec. 16, 2023, but the settlement money's train stopped before Willoughby. Hernandez 'did not disburse the settlement proceeds in a timely manner,' the Bar petition said. 'Mr. Willoughby made numerous efforts to contact respondent to inquire about the settlement proceeds. [Hernandez] did not reply to these attempts.' READ MORE: FIU investigating longtime law professor for 'inappropriate sexual conduct' Willoughby filed his complaint on March 12, 2024. Hernandez filed a response with a closing statement that broke the money up in medical expenses ($4,687), her attorney's fees ($13,906) and the rest to Willoughby ($23,129). She said she had Willoughby's money in her trust account. She gave the Bar a copy of a check to Willoughby dated April 3, but, the petition said, the check didn't reach his hands until April 29, 2024. Hernandez told the Bar that Willoughby moved to California and firm policy required he show up in person to get his money. 'This explanation was disingenuous, as Willoughby did not move to California until March 2024, four months after the insurance company issued his settlement check,' the Bar petition said. Also, the Bar said, Hernandez didn't pay the $4,687 of medical expenses and still hadn't paid them as of April 21. She only 'partially complied' with subpoenas demanding trust account records and closing statements for 57 cases that got settled. That money should have gone into the trust account. 'The staff auditor's review of the available records revealed that [Hernandez's] trust account contained shortages ranging from $169,000.00 to $381,000.00,' from Nov. 1, 2023, through Dec. 31, 2024, the petition said. 'For example, on Feb. 2, 2024, [Hernandez] should have been holding at least $296,818 in her trust account for the benefit of her clients, including the $23,129 due to Mr. Willoughby. However, the balance in her trust account on that date was only $207, representing a shortage of at least $296,611. '[Hernandez] used other clients' unrelated settlement proceeds to pay her obligation to Mr. Willoughby.' Hernandez also, the petition said, made online transfers into her firm's operating account that didn't correlate with attorney's fees on the firm's accounting ledger while her trust account was short. 'In addition to her 'fees,' [Hernandez] was also paying individuals believed to be firm employees and firm operating expenses directly from the trust account,' the petition said. 'The bank records further revealed various payments from the trust account to unrelated companies for unidentifiable purposes.' A bounced trust account check for $5,000 in October triggered another investigation and disciplinary file. 'The staff auditor identified periodic deposits from (Hernandez's) operating account back into the trust account,' the petition said. 'In the staff auditor's experience, this demonstrates an attempt by respondent to correct some of the shortages.'
