AG Bill McCollum-Statewide Grand Jury-Failure of Justice

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BILL MCCOLLUMATTORNEY GENERALSTATE OF FLORIDA

o ~ OF THE ATTORNEY GENERALOffice ofCitizen ServicesThe CapitolTallahassee Florida 32399-1050Telephone (850) 414-3990 , SunCom 994-3990Fax (850) 410-1630, SunCom 210-1630

December 7, 2007Mr. Neil 1 Gillespie8092 Southwest 115th LoopOcala, Florida 34481Dear Mr. Gillespie:Thank you for contacting Attorney General Bill McCollum regarding Barker, Rodems Cook, P.A.and the allegation of perjury by Mr. Ryan Christopher Rodems.The Attorney General 's Office does not have jurisdiction in this matter. By contacting The Florida Baryou have contacted the appropriate agency to review your concerns. The Florida Supreme Court hasdesignated The Florida Bar as the agency responsible for reviewing grievances against lawyerslicensed to practice in this state. The Florida Bar's decisions are not subject to the Attorney General'sauthority.As the Governor's Office suggested, and as you wish to file a criminal complaint regarding allegedperjury, please contact the local law enforcement agency and state attorney's office where the criminalviolation occurred. In Florida, the local police or sheriffs department and the elected state attorney ineach judicial circuit are responsible for investigating and prosecuting crime at the local level. Thoseauthorities operate independently and are not a part of the Attorney General's Office. If you have notalready done so, you may contact the Hillsborough County Sheriff s Office and Thirteenth JudicialCircuit State Attorney's Office at the following:Hillsborough County Sheriffs OfficePost Office Box 3371Tampa, Florida 33601Phone: (813) 247-8000Thirteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney's OfficeCounty Courthouse Annex, Fifth Floor800 East Kennedy BoulevardTampa, Florida 33602Phone: (813) 272-5400Otherwise, please continue with your private attorney if you need any legal guidance. An attorney cangive you the legal advice which our office is not at liberty to provide to private individuals. We hopethis proves helpful to you. Thank you for contacting Attorney General McCollum's Office.Sincerely,OFFICE OF CITIZEN SERVICESFlorida Attorney General's OfficeOCSlba

AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER


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oNeil J Gillespie8092 SW 115 th LoopOcala, Florida 34481

VIA US PRIORITY MAILDELIVERY CONFIRMATION0306 2400 0000 7670 1444December 5, 2007Attorney General Bill McCollumOffice of the Attorney GeneralThe CapitolTallahassee, Florida 32399Dear Attorney General McCollum:

Governor Crist encouraged me to express my concerns to you concerning a fraudscheme perpetrated by my former lawyers at the Tampa law firm Barker, Rodems &Cook, P.A. A copy ofGovernor Crist's letter is enclosed, along with my original letterand enclosllres to the Governor. The following is a brief description of the fraud schemeand subsequent attempts by my former lawyers to obstruct justice when I sued them. Formore details about this matter, please see my letter to Governor Crist and enclosures.My former lawyers pressured me to intervene in their previously filed class-actionlawsuit when their initial plaintiff proved unqualified to represent the class. The lawsuitwas captioned Eugene R. Clement v AMSCOT Corporation, case no. 8:99-2795-CIV-T26C, United States District Court, Middle District ofFlorida, Tampa Division. Theaction was commenced December 9, 1999, by the Tampa law firm Alpert, Barker,Rodems, Ferrentino & Cook, P.A. Mr. Alpert's firm dissolved soon after hisunsuccessful run for state attorney in 2000, and following his infamous coffee-throwingincident against attorney Arnold Levine. Three lawyers fronl Mr. Alpert's firm thenformed a new law firm, Barker, Rodems Cook, P.A, who assumed the case.Barker, Rodems & Cook, P.A. failed to prevail and the lawsuit was dismissed.

An appeal was filed, and negotiations pursued, because the defendant wanted to settle sothat a business deal could move forward. The settlement negotiations were marked by a$5,000.00 "unlawful payoff attempt" by defense attorney John Anthony, followed by myown lawyers' fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of contract, a scheme designedto take most of the settlement proceeds as attorneys' fees. Specifically, Barker, RodemsCook, P.A. prepared, but did not sign, a contingent fee agreement. Then William Cooktold me that the court awarded his firm $50,000.00 in attorney's fees in an attempt toavoid the terms of the contingent fee agreement. I received a nominal settlement of


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ottorney General Bill o l lum Page - 2Office of the Attorney General December 5,2007$2,000.00, as did the other two co-plaintiffs. However, had Barker, Rodems Cook,P.A. honored the terms of the contingent fee agreement, the three plaintiffs would havereceived $8,224.78 each, and the law firm would have received $31,325.46. But becausemy former lawyers failed their fiduciary duty to their clients, the law firm unlawfully tookan additional $18,675.54 by fraud and breach of contract.

My initial complaint to The Florida Bar was made June 7, 2004, TFB No. 200411,734(13C), and was investigated by William L Thompson, Assistant Staff Counsel.Six months into the investigation Mr. Thompson was removed from the inquiry and leftthe bar. At that point Susan V Bloemendaal, Chief Branch Disciplinary Counsel, tookover and shut down the investigation on what appear to be inappropriate grounds. Mysubsequent complaint about Mr. Cook's failure to report the $5,000.00 improper payoffattempt from opposing counsel was dismissed (TFB No. 2006-11,194 (13D)). Likewise,my complaint about Mr. Cook's failure to sign a contingent f agreement and his failureto account for the settlement proceeds in a Closing Statement was dismissed contrary tosubstantial evidence, bar rules, and supporting case law. (TFB No. 2007-10,004 (13D)).When The Florida Bar failed to hold my former lawyers accountable for theirmisconduct, I commenced a civil lawsuit, Gillespie v Barker, Rodems & Cook, P.A. andWilliam J. Cook, case no.: 05-CA-7205, Hillsborough County Circuit Civi l Court. (ExhibitA). At that time I was unable to find counsel willing to take the case, and I proceeded pro

see Since then I found a lawyer in Gainesville to represent me and the case is active. As apro se litigant I established a cause of action for fraud and breach of contract. (Exhibit B).In retaliation my former lawyers countersued me for libel. (Exhibit C).Barker, Rodems & Cook, P.A. is represented by attorney Ryan Christopher

Rodems of the firm. During tIle time I represented myself, Mr. Rodems made a falseaffidavit to the Court abollt an argument we had, where Mr. Rodems swore under oaththat I intended to attack him in Judge Nielson's charrlbers. Mr. Rodems' false affidavitprejudiced the Court against me. When a recording of the argument proved Mr. Rodemslied to the Court, Judge Nielsen recused himself. The case then went to Judge Isom whowas also prejudiced by Mr. Rodems' perjury, and she recused herself. Judge Isom said inopen court that I could bring Mr. Rodems' perjury to the attention of law enforcement.You may consider this letter as my first attempt to comply with Judge Isom's directive.Currently Judge Barton has the case and I am represented by at torney Robert W.Bauer of Gainesville. Mr. Rodems' aforementioned perjury was calculated to obstruct

justice, intimidate me as a witness, and deny me due process of law. This matter hasconsumed a considerable amount of legal resources, including (so far) three circuit courtjudges and two interlocutory appeals to the Second District Court of Appeals.HALT, the legal reform organization, has reviewed my civil lawsuit and providedbackground information and case law for a fraud and breach of contract lawsuit against anattorney in HALT's amicus curiae brief in the Illinois case of Cripe v. Leiter. HALTargued that over-billing a client is not part of the practice of law, and that lawyers are


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AttorneyGeneralBill. o n um o Page- 3Officeof theAttorneyGeneral December5,2007subjecttostatutoryconsumerprotectionlawindealingwiththeirclients. HALT alsoprovideditsamicus brieffiledinthematterof MarkM. Hager,adisciplinarymatterintIleDistrictof Columbia. HALTarguedthatMr.Hagershouldbedisbarredfor stealinghisclientssettlementmoney. Enclosedyouwillfindcopiesof HALT s amicus briefs.

Inadditiontotheabovedescribedunlawfulbehavior,Barker,Rodems& Cook,P.A.hascountersuedmeforlibeloveraletteraboutmyinitialbarcomplaint. Thelibelcounterclaimiscontrarytotheholdingof FloridaSupremeCourtcase,Tobkinv.Jarboe,710So.2d975(1998),whichrecognizesabsoluteimmunityforacomplainantwhofollowsTheFloridaBar 'sgrievanceprocedures. Barker,Rodems& Cook,P.A.hasalsoaccusedmeof criminalextortionforutilizingTheFloridaBar'sAttorney ClientAssistance Program (ACAP),whichrequiresacomplainantmakeagood-faithefforttoresolvethematterpriortomakingaformalcomplaint. Bothmattersaredescribedinn10re detailintheaccompanyingexhibitsandletters.

ThusfarTheFloridaBarhasexcusedmyformerlawyers'misconduct,andhasdonesoinaparticularmanner. SusanBloemendaal,theChiefBranchDisciplinaryCounselof theTampaoffice,haspersonallyintervenedonbehalf of myformerlawyers.OnseveraloccasionsMs.Bloemendaalhasreplacedtheindividualbarcounselwhowereinvestigatingmycomplaints,andthenrenderedherowndecisionthatmerelyadoptedmyformerlawyers' defenses. OnotheroccasionsMs.Bloemendaalapparentlybypassedassignmenttoindividualbarcounselaltogether,reviewedthecomplaintsherself,andsimplyreiteratedmyformerlawyers'positioninexcusingtheirmisconduct. IneachinstanceMs.Bloemendaalplayedfastandloosewiththefacts,andreacheduntenableconclusionsof law. Inotherwords,Ms.Bloemendaalwhitewashedmycomplaint.

Thelocalstateattorney,MarkOber,hasnottorespondtomycorrespondence. MyletterstoMr.OberareenclosedinExhibitE tabnumber47. Thankyoufortheopportunitytobringthismattertoyourattention. Ihavedonesoattheencouragementof GovernorCharlieCrist. Shouldyouwanttopursuethismatter,Icanprovideadditionalinformation. Forexample,Ihavetranscriptsof thecourt

proceedings,andtranscriptsof myphonecallswithMr.Rodems. Ihavealso submittedtotheCourtPlaintiffs MotionWithAffidavitForAnOrderToShowCauseWhyRyanChristopherRodemsShouldNotBeHeldInCriminalContemptOf CourtAndIncorporatedMemorandllffi Of Law. Themotionhasnotyetbeenheard. ThemotionsetsforthMr.Rodems'perjurythatwascalculatedtoobstructjustice,intimidatemeasawitness,anddenymedueprocessof law. JudgeIsomsaidIcouldbringthismattertotheattentionof lawenforcement. PleaseinvestigatethisperjuryasJudgeIsomsuggested.Sincerely,

< : :/ ~ eilJ. l l ~ i .


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Attorney General Bill Ollum o Page - 4Office of the Attorney General December 5, 2007cc: Governor Charlie Crist (letter only)Enclosures:Exhibit A: Complaint For Fraud And Breach OfContractExhibit B: Order On Defendants' Motion To Dismiss And StrikeExhibit C: Answer, Affirmative Defenses And CounterclaimExhibit D: Plaintiffs Motion For Punitive Damages Pursuant To Section 768.72 Florida StatutesExhibit E: List OfExhibits 1 through 50) to the above motionHALT s micus curi e brief in the Illinois case ofCripe v. LeiterHALT s micus curi e brief in the matter ofMark M. HagerLetter from Governor Charlie Crist dated November 21, 2007Letter to Governor Charlie Crist, October 22, 2007 (letter only)Letter to Mr. Francisco R. Angones, President, The Florida Bar, October 22, 2007 (letter only)Letter to Mr. Donald M. Spangler, Director, ACAP, October 16, 2007 (letter only)Letter to Mr. Kenneth Lawrence Marvin, Director ofLawyer Regulation, October 12, 2007Letter to Mr. Kenneth Lawrence Marvin, Director ofLawyer Regulation, June 20, 2007


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Track & ConfirmSearch ResultsLabel/Receipt Number: 0306 2400 0000 7670 1444Detailed Results: Track & Confirm Delivered, December 06, 2007, 4:35 am, TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399 Enter Label/Receipt Number. Processed, December 06, 2007, 3:35 am, TALLAHASSEE, FL32301 Processed, December 05, 2007, 7:27 pm, GAINESVILLE, FL 32608 Acceptance, December 05, 2007, 4:44 pm, BELLEVIEW, FL 34420

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aOFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERALOffice of Citizen ServicesThe CapitolTallahassee, Florida 32399-1050Telephone (850) 414-3990 SUNCOM 994-3990FAX (850) 410-1630 SUNCOM 210-1630

December 14 2007Mr. Neil J. Gillespie8092 Southwest 115th LoopOcala, Florida 34481Dear Mr. Gillespie:Per your request, we are enclosing copies of the documents you previously forwarded tothis office.We will retain your information in our consumer files to help this office organize itspriorities. Thank you for contacting the Attorney General s Office.Sincerely,OFFICE OF CITIZEN SERVICESFlorida Attorney General s OfficeOCS/fbEnclosures

AN AFFI RMAnVE AC nON/EQU AL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER


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Neil J. Gillespie8092 SW IIS th LoopOcala, Florida 34481

Telephone: (352) 854-7807

VIA FIRST CLASS MAILDecember 11, 2007Attorney General Bill McCollumOffice of the Attorney GeneralThe CapitolTallahassee, Florida 32399

Dear Attorney General McCollum:Thank you for your letter dated December 7, 2007. (copy enclosed). In order for

me to comply with your referrals, I will need the return of the documents I provided you.A list of the enclosures is provided below. I am willing to pay the cost of returning mydocuments. You may call me at the above phone number for payment by credit card, oryou may send a bill with the documents and I will send payment. Please advise.Sincerely,

Exhibit A: Complaint For Fraud And Breach Of ContractExhibit B: Order On Defendants' Motion To Dismiss And StrikeExhibit C: Answer, Affirmative Defenses And CounterclaimExhibit D: Plaintiff's Motion For Punitive Damages Pursuant To Section 768.72 Florida StatutesExhibit E: List Of Exhibits 1 through 50) to the above motionHALT's micus curi e brief in the Illinois case of Cripe v. LeiterHALT's micus curi e brief in the matter of Mark M. HagerLetter from Governor Charlie Crist dated November 21, 2007Letter to Governor Charlie Crist, October 22, 2007 (letter only)Letter to Mr. Francisco R. Angones, President, The Florida Bar, October 22, 2007 (letter only)Letter to Mr. Donald M. Spangler, Director, ACAP, October 16, 2007 (letter only)Letter to Mr. Kenneth Lawrence Marvin, Director of Lawyer Regulation, October 12, 2007Letter to Mr. Kenneth Lawrence Marvin, Director of Lawyer Regulation, June 20,2007

AG Bill McCollum-Statewide Grand Jury-Failure of Justice

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