Collapse of an Evil Empire: Florida's Most Prolific Insurance Litigator - Based on a True Story

By Scott Johnson

"We've been facing a critical tipping point in Florida's property insurance market. Scott's detailed examination and informative reporting led to comprehensive reform that will benefit consumers in a big way. I believe Florida is on its' way to recovery and applaud Scott for his tireless work in illuminatin

• Language: English
• Publisher: URLink Print & Media, LLC
• Release date: Sep 23, 2023
• ISBN: 9781684865185

Scott Johnson

"Scott Johnson turns his multiyear pursuit of truth and justice on the trail of one "mendacious" lawyer into a relentless documentation of the worst excesses that have cost consumers billions. The next time someone wonders why they can't find affordable home insurance, hand them this book." William Stander, Executive Director Florida Property & Casualty Association.

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Collapse of an Evil Empire

Copyright © 2023 by Scott Johnson. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author except as provided by USA copyright law.

The opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of URLink Print and Media.

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Published in the United States of America

ISBN 978-1-68486-514-7 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-68486-517-8 (Hardback)

ISBN 978-1-68486-518-5 (Digital)

28.08.23

Disclaimer

This book is a Compendium of Articles dealing with Florida Bar disbarment proceedings against Miami attorney Scot Strems and his firm, The Strems Law Firm

Every article or portion thereof, unless otherwise attributed, reflects the opinions of the author. Sources or other references within each article are either links to the original source, which may have been altered or may no longer exist or, they have been downloaded to the online library at Johnson Strategies, LLC. Neither the author nor Johnson Strategies LLC can vouch for any information provided in any reference used in this compendium or in the individual blogs.

Readers are reminded that the opinions and facts in each article were relevant based on documents and events known and available to the author at the time the article was written. Events since that time, including investigations, hearings, trials, decisions, etc. may have impacted the article as it was originally written and may even be exculpatory in nature to the people in the article.

The author has made reasonable attempts to guarantee the accuracy of every article. However, readers are urged to follow links and read original documents for a more complete picture. And always consult experts in such matters before forming any conclusions regarding the guilt or innocence of anyone described herein.

Further, all electronic records, articles, arrest affidavits, court documents and miscellaneous sources are subject to change and, while every reasonable effort was made to ensure the information is correct, the original sources may contain errors. No guarantee can be made about the accuracy, timeliness, completeness or application of any information provided herein.

Opinions, accusations, complaints, charges, affidavits or examinations under oath and other similar documents in connection with this book are in no way an indication of guilt or evidence that a crime was committed or that allegations are true. Every person or entity is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Some, but not all, have been so adjudicated. Complaints and/or charges are only formal allegations. For complete case records, contact the relevant law enforcement, State or judicial agency.

Unless otherwise assigned all conclusions drawn from these sources are opinions and should not be presumed factual.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to the 11th Judicial Circuit Court, The Department of Financial Services, The Office of Insurance Regulation, The Dade County State’s Attorney’s Office, The Bureau of Insurance Fraud and Citizens Property Insurance Company for assistance with my enumerable public records requests and for being patient with me as I attempted to negotiate the labyrinth of government sources.

I’d also like to thank the Florida Bar Association for bringing these proceedings against one of its’ own and for responding as best it could to my requests.

I also hope that those many individuals who have occasionally assisted with this and other endeavors of similar worth, including insurer and industry trade executives, lobbyists and friends, all understand how much I appreciate their responsiveness to my many requests over the last seven years.

My sincere thanks to all of you.

Dedication

John Derek Womack

Who more appropriate to dedicate this body of work to than John Derek Womack, the Florida Bars’ venerable prosecutor who early on read one of my articles and instinctively knew something was amiss, and something had to be done.

The people of Florida are immensely indebted to this man for having the patience and the necessary courage to take on the task of disbarring one of Florida’s most prolific litigators.

Despite overwhelming odds and with little personal upside, he battled a substantial team of experienced, unrelenting, and well-financed defenders.

And he won!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Guide to Sources

Foreword

Chapter 1—June 15, 2020

Collapse of an Evil Empire!

Part I

Strems history; Florida Bar’s initial complaint; Strems response; Supreme Courts suspension; Saldamando Complaint; Ortiz vs SLF class action.

Chapter 2—July 19, 2020

Collapse of an Evil Empire!

Part II

Strems request to dissolve; Referee Dawn Denaro appointed; the trial; Judges testimony; John Drake Strems litigation mgr.; Denaro’s full decision; Global Settlements Scheme; Feeding the Feeders; Citizens Complaint; Contender Claim Consultants.

Chapter 3—August 4, 2020

Collapse of an Evil Empire!

Part III

Strems Order to show cause, response; The Property Advocates; Oral Arguments; Zalma’s opinion; JS opinion regarding attorney regulation; Insurance Fraud by IRMI; Gottliebs’ Golden Goose; Strems PPP loan.

Chapter 4—August 10, 2020

Collapse of an Evil Empire!

Part IV–A Case Study

McEkron vs Security First; Christopher Aguirre SLF Litigation Mgr.; JS opinion on marketplace; Aguirre EUO transcript.

Chapter 5—September 3, 2020

Collapse of an Evil Empire!

Part IV ½–Update

SCOF dismissal of Strems request for dissolution; Bar’s allegation of Contempt by Strems; links to YouTube and Large Document site.

Chapter 6—October 1, 2020

Collapse of an Evil Empire!

Part V--Guilty as Charged!

Denaro’s decision for Emergency Suspension; Gandul vs Olympus; SLF Concealment of Fraud; Eric Valdes Loss Consultant; JS opinion regarding impact; links to articles regarding Strems.

Chapter 7—October 11, 2020

Collapse of an Evil Empire!

Part VI—The Sentence

Hager’s expert testimony; trial summary; CPC opinion on suspension; summary of all pending litigation; solutions; Denaro’s final report.

Chapter 8—October 27, 2020

Collapse of an Evil Empire!

Part VII—Market Impact

Rate increases; industry losses; litigation stats; top 25 litigators chart; Fee Multiplier; CPC members; Economic Benefits of Tort Reform; articles on reinsurance impact; CaseGlide data.

Chapter 9—December 5, 2020

Collapse of an Evil Empire!

Part VIII—Patterns of Deceit

Additional charges by the Bar; PA fee statute; Geyer, Fuxa, Tyler vs Zevuloni; Fla. Bar rule on sharing fees; Sun Sentinel article shady lawyer; DFS petition regards CCC; Bar Opinion regards PA fees; Citizens legal analysis.

Chapter 10—January 11, 2021

Collapse of an Evil Empire!

Part IX—Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down?

Summary to date; Strems brief appealing 2-year suspension; articles about Strems case.

Chapter 11—February 7, 2021

Collapse of an Evil Empire!

Part X

Bars answer brief regards Strems punishment; AIRS, All Insurance Restoration Services; Bar speaks to 1-way attorney fee statute; Kozel orders; SLF’s fines.

Chapter 12—July 7, 2021

Collapse of an Evil Empire!

Part XI…Making Sense of Things

Nowak Complaint; Denaro recommends Public Reprimand; Bar’s review of Report of Referee; Solicitation Complaint against Strems; implications; summary review of pending cases against Strems.

Chapter 13—October 1, 2021

Strems Not Guilty of Contempt

Denaro’s decision explained; JS opinion on what’s next; SB-76.

Chapter 14—August 4, 2022

Scot Strems Update by Barry Zalma!

Barry Zalma Opinion; Saldamando update.

Chapter 15—May 12, 2022

Collapse of an Evil Empire!

Part XII…A Settlement

CFO Patronis settlement; Citizens Settlement; Barry Gilway.

Chapter 16—December 22, 2022

Collapse of an Evil Empire…Disbarred!

SCOF disbarment announcement and decision; JS opinion regarding Tort Reform.

Chapter 17—January 23, 2023

Strems—The Final Chapter?

Petition for rehearing; lawyer discipline stats; JS opinion regarding Strems and Tort Reform.

Chapter 18

SCOF response to request for rehearing.

Chapter 19—April 3, 2023

My Final & Absolute Last Word!

Strems suit vs Property Advocates; TPA response; summary of financial information regarding SLF and TPA; original note not available.

Epilogue

Appendix

Bad Apple Attorneys!

Attention Florida Lawmakers–Part I

Attention Florida Lawmakers—Part II

The Tipping Point!

Always Enough Time To do What’s Right

In the Crosshairs…Public Adjusters

A Great First Step…

A War That Will Never End!

Sources and Links 

About the Author

Other Works by this Author

GUIDE TO SOURCES

The first thing you’ll notice is that each chapter heading in the Table of Contents is followed by a brief Key Word summary of the subjects examined in each chapter. This should reduce the necessity to search for information in online articles. While every detail isn’t in the Key Word summary, the subject matter of each is identified enough to eliminate the need to delve into a chapter that may be totally irrelevant to your search.

Next, you’ll notice that any text with a link is underlined and slightly shaded. Everything appears herein as it appears in the original online article at www.johnsonstrategiesllc.com where you can find the article, then locate the link within it, and follow it to the document you’re looking for.

Remember, this is a compendium of blogs written, posted and maintained online at www.johnsonstrategiesllc.com. Every article will continue to be maintained online and can be accessed by entering the name of the chapter (blog) in the search bar on the home page or by using the date (month/year) listed down the right-hand side of the home page. This hard copy text puts it all in one place, in chronological order, thus eliminating the need to ferret through hundreds of pages online to find a specific document, link or source.

Of course, I have no control over subsequent changes made to an original internet source. But, I have, in many cases, downloaded the original to my online library so that even if the source URL no longer functions (a 404 error, for example) or the document, study, picture, article, whatever, has been altered, the original might still be available within my online Library tab. Further, every document regarding the series Collapse of an Evil Empire! is listed in the Appendix under Sources and Links.

The same list can be found online in alpha order behind the Library tab and by choosing Assignment of Benefits prior to the July 1, 2019, reforms from the drop-down menu. This serves the purpose of providing an overview of all the available documents, even those that may not appear or be referenced within a chapter or the end notes.

It’s likely that events will occur, new litigation schemes, court challenges or rate or form filings, etc. that are worthy of more blogs on the Strems proceedings. Since they cannot be listed in an already published book, they will be separately identified online. Those blogs and sources created after this book (but relevant to it) will be in the library tab under Collapse of an Evil Empire, Post Compendium. This way what appears in this book will always be consistent with what is available online at www.johnsonstrategiesllc.

FOREWORD

Scot Strems was from Miami-Dade County, an undergraduate studying Political Science and Business Administration at the University of Florida. He graduated with honors and moved on to the University of Miami for his law degree.

Circa 2008 he began work as a Public Defender consuming what may have been too much time in county court trudging through traffic and misdemeanor cases. Eventually, he left the public sector to open his own firm focusing on criminal defense and civil litigation.¹

Suing others might not have been a big part of his original strategy. But, after opening his new office and representing several homeowners willing to take their insurance company to court, he began honing a new, and very profitable, niche.

Eventually Strems was suing more often than any other lawyer in Florida. His firm grew to 30 lawyers at its’ peak accompanied with 120 support staff at offices in Coral Gables, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Jacksonville, even Georgia and California.

But… this text isn’t just a series of articles on one subject or lawyer. In a broader context it’s a comprehensive anatomy of a successful disbarment and the circumstances and marketplace surrounding and giving rise to it--undertaken by the Florida Bar against a prolific trial lawyer with up to 10,000 cases moving through an inconceivable assembly line.

It’s instructive from many angles. By reputation the Florida Bar can