On Thursday, December 14, 2023, the Florida Supreme Court approved a conditional guilty plea for Weston attorney Paul K. Silverberg related to trust account violations.
The case is entitled “The Florida Bar v. Paul K. Silverberg,” with case no. SC2023-1658.
The court’s order granted the Florida Bar’s petition seeking a 91-day suspension of Silverberg’s law license. Silverberg had been charged in two separate cases involving mishandling of client funds and improper contact with a former client while under suspension.
Rather than proceed to a disciplinary hearing on the charges, Silverberg filed a Conditional Guilty Plea with the Bar, admitting to violating rules related to trust accounting and contact with clients during a suspension. Under the terms of the plea, he agreed to accept the 91-day suspension to be served consecutively to his current suspension. Silverberg also agreed to pay $2,593.50 in costs to the Bar.
According to the petition, in the first case from 2019, the Bar alleged Silverberg failed to maintain $23,000 in escrowed funds for a client in his trust account for a period of time in 2017. Silverberg claimed it was a mistake due to confusion over which of his firm’s two accounts contained the funds. In the second case from 2022, the Bar charged that Silverberg improperly communicated with a former client while serving an unrelated suspension.
The order issued on December 14, 2023, granted the Bar’s petition, suspended Silverberg as agreed for 91 days to begin immediately and entered a judgment against him to pay the Bar’s costs.
The Disposition states:
“The conditional guilty plea and consent judgment for discipline are approved and Respondent is suspended from the practice of law for ninety-one days.”
According to avvo.com, Mr. Silverberg is a business attorney in Weston, Florida. He attended the University of Miami School of Law. He acquired his law license in Florida in 1998.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
