On Thursday, February 27, 2025, The Florida Bar filed a disciplinary complaint against attorney Halford George Schuhmacher, citing multiple violations of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar.
The case is entitled “The Florida Bar v. Halford George Schuhmacher,” with case nos. 2023-70,354(11G) and 2023-70,416(11G).
The charges cited Rules Regulating Florida Bar 4-1.1, 4-1.3, 4-1.7, 4-3.4(c), 4-4.4, and 4-8.4.
The complaint stems from allegations of misconduct that include failure to appear for scheduled court hearings and conflicts of interest. The Eleventh Judicial Grievance Committee “G” found probable cause to proceed with the complaint, which outlines specific instances of Schuhmacher’s alleged professional negligence.
One significant incident occurred on June 13, 2022, when Schuhmacher failed to attend jury selection for a felony case involving his client, Jason Reid Bervaldi. At a pre-trial hearing on June 10, 2022, Judge Wilson emphasized the urgency of the case, stating that it had priority and would not be postponed. Despite this, Schuhmacher communicated his inability to attend due to scheduling conflicts with five other trials. He maintained that these trials were priority matters that warranted his presence.
On the day of the jury selection, Schuhmacher filed several motions, including a request to disqualify Judge Wilson and to withdraw from the Bervaldi case, but did not show up at the Key West courthouse. Instead, he attended a hearing in Plantation Key without arranging for another attorney to represent him at the jury selection. Consequently, the court staff and potential jurors were left waiting for his appearance for over half an hour before the judge decided to continue the matter due to his absence.
The complaint also details additional instances of Schuhmacher’s failure to appear at scheduled court hearings on multiple occasions. On January 23, 2023, he was scheduled to represent five clients at a trial calendar in Plantation Key but instead attended a hearing in Marathon. This absence led to a capias being issued for one of his clients, Randolf Giller, who failed to appear in court as instructed by Schuhmacher. The court was informed that Schuhmacher had directed Giller to attend a later hearing time, which contributed to the confusion.
Further, on February 1 and February 15, 2023, Schuhmacher did not attend hearings for motions he had personally filed in the case of State of Florida v. Thomas Adams. The absence of representation in these hearings resulted in the court proceeding without his input, ultimately leading to unfavorable decisions for his clients.
In another instance on February 7, 2023, Schuhmacher was scheduled for hearings in two different courthouses at the same time, approximately an hour apart. He failed to appear at a Violation of Probation hearing for client Fernando Guevara-Olivera, leaving the client to discuss his case directly with the court without legal representation. This situation arose again when Schuhmacher failed to appear for a VOP arraignment for another client, Dusty Clark, on September 22, 2023.
The complaint outlines that Schuhmacher’s actions violated several rules, specifically those on competence, diligence, and respect for the rights of third parties. The Florida Bar emphasizes that lawyers are required to uphold their obligations to the court and their clients, and Schuhmacher’s repeated failures to appear and manage his schedule appropriately have raised serious concerns regarding his professional conduct.
The complaint states:
“WHEREFORE The Florida Bar respectfully requests that this court appropriately discipline respondent under the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar.”
According to martindale.com, Mr. Schuhmacher attended the University of Detroit Mercy, graduating in 1992. He acquired his law license in Florida in 1994.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
