Supreme Court of Florida ____________ No. SC18-724 ____________ THE FLORIDA BAR, Complainant, vs. RITA HORWITZ ALTMAN, Respondent. May 7, 2020 PER CURIAM. We have for review a referee’s report recommending that Respondent, Rita Horwitz Altman, be found guilty of professional misconduct and publicly reprimanded and placed on probation for five years with special conditions. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 15, Fla. Const. As discussed below, after having considered the referee’s report, the record in this case, and the parties’ briefs, we approve the referee’s findings of fact, recommendations as to guilt, and findings of aggravation and mitigation. We disapprove the referee’s recommended discipline, and instead, we suspend Altman from the practice of law for three years. BACKGROUND On May 11, 2018, The Florida Bar (Bar) filed with the Court a Petition for Contempt and Order to Show Cause alleging that Altman failed to respond to two official Bar inquiries that requested a response to a grievance filed against her. We issued an order directing Respondent to show cause why she should not be found in contempt for failing to respond to the Bar’s inquiries. Altman filed a response to the petition and the Bar filed its reply thereafter. The petition for contempt was then referred to a referee for a hearing and recommendation. Following the hearing, the referee filed her report making the following findings of fact. On or about March 8, 2016, a Bar complaint was filed against Altman alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. The Bar notified Altman of the complaint and requested a response to the complaint; Altman provided a response. The matter was placed on monitor status pending the outcome of the underlying proceedings. Thereafter, the Bar forwarded the matter to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee “C” and assigned attorney Scott Weiss as the investigating member for further investigation. On November 16, 2017, Altman was advised in writing of the grievance committee referral and assignment to the investigating member. -2- Five days later, Weiss sent Altman a letter on official Florida Bar Grievance Committee letterhead, via certified mail to her record Bar address requesting additional information. Altman signed the certified mail receipt; however, she did not respond to the letter. At the hearing before the referee, Altman testified that during this time she had been in Colorado with her son who had an unexpected heart procedure. Nevertheless, she was back in town before the Thanksgiving holiday to receive Weiss’s letter. She also testified that after reading the letter, she put it on her “list of things to get done.” On January 3, 2018, Weiss sent Altman a second letter on official letterhead, informing her that she failed to respond to his first letter and gave her until January 14, 2018, a Sunday, to respond. On January 15, 2018, Altman emailed her response to Weiss. Thereafter, Weiss sent Altman a letter requesting additional information via email and certified mail to her record Bar address. In addition to receiving the letter by email on January 22, ...
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