Editor’s Note: On Dec. 22, 2022, the Florida Supreme Court disbarred attorney Scot Strems, effective immediately, but left the door open for him to regain the ability to practice in the future. Strem’s attorneys have filed a motion asking the court to reconsider the discipline and instead impose a 3-year rehabilitative suspension with conditions to protect the public upon Strems’ readmission, serve as a strong measure of punishment for his unethical conduct, and deter other attorneys from misconduct. Strems asked the sanction be back-dated to his emergency suspension in June 2020, which would return him to practice by June 2023.

• Read the court's disbarment order
• Read Strem's motion for rehearing.

South Florida attorney Scot Strems built his law firm suing insurance companies — and built the insurers’ case for reining in lawyers. Now, Strems is awaiting a decision from the Florida Supreme Court on whether he’ll be allowed to practice law in Florida again.

The case against Strems is being followed not only in Florida, but across the insurance industry. Because Florida’s home insurance market is so large and a crisis state, the industry is watching to see what impact lawmakers’ attempts at reform will produce and how officials might act against attorneys they partially blame for causing unnecessary litigation.

You can read more about the case against Strems and where it stands at the links below.

• Read the lawsuit filed by Florida’s Citizens Insurance against Strems, which was settled for $1 million. Strems and the fellow defendants continue to deny wrongdoing in the settlement agreement, while Citizens stands behind the allegations in its complaint.
• Read Judge Dawn Denaro’s ruling in the disciplinary case against Strems.
• Read the Florida Bar complaint against Strems.