Sex with a client gets former Miami Beach attorney disciplined in two states

Business admin July 5, 2026 0 Comments

Sex with a client gets former Miami Beach attorney disciplined in two states

With pending accusations of sex with one client and unethical behavior involving a client he’d been dating, a former Miami Beach and Boca Raton attorney ended his law career in Florida and Oregon.

Michael Hoffman aka Michael Herman Hoffman did this by resigning from the Oregon State Bar in December 2024 and requesting to be essentially disbarred in Florida, which the state Supreme Court obliged on June 25.

A short glossary of legal terms in Hoffman’s case:

Reciprocal discipline — This is a state agency taking action against a license for violations already punished in a different state. Sort of similar to a child getting punished at his friend’s house by his friend’s parents, then getting punished by his own parents when he gets home for misbehaving at the friend’s house. Florida does this with legal and licensed medical professionals.
Disciplinary revocation — An attorney facing the discipline process can petition for this, which is a trade — the discipline case goes away and the attorney accepts what the Florida Supreme Court says is “tantamount to disbarment.” This can be with permission to reapply to join the Bar in five years or no permission to reapply. No criminal or civil matters arising from the actions in the discipline case are affected.
Resigned-Disciplinary — This is Oregon’s version of disciplinary revocation. Resigning from the Oregon Bar in this way during a disciplinary investigation or proceeding means the attorney has “forfeited his or her right to ever practice law in Oregon. This is the functional equivalent to being disbarred.”

Hoffman was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1997. He registered the Law Offices of Michael H. Hoffman, P.A. with the state in 2003, moved it from Boca Raton to Miami Beach in 2006. He used addresses in Miami and Surfside before finally using a Miami Beach UPS Store before relocating to Eugene, Oregon. He joined the Oregon Bar in 2018.

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Clients with benefits

According to Hoffman’s petition for disciplinary revocation, his client in a domestic partnership dissolution case in 2021 became his sexual partner before the case ended. In fact, he represented her through the end of the case, which violated the Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct.

Hoffman’s petition stated, “[Hoffman] and this former client remain in a relationship and currently reside together as domestic partners.”

In the second discipline case, Hoffman’s petition said, he was accused of “dating a client and told her he would cease charging fees for the representation. After the client indicated she no longer wanted to continue dating but would still pay his fees, [Hoffman] withdrew from the representation.”

Hoffman’s motion to withdraw included a “disclosure regarding his client’s alleged inability to pay” without the client’s consent “nor was it otherwise permitted under the Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct.”

Hoffman was also accused of not letting his client know about all the terms in a settlement offer from the other side’s lawyer, an accusation Hoffman denied.

But, as Hoffman “did not desire to contest or defend against the above described grievances, allegations or instances of alleged misconduct in the Oregon proceedings against him,” he resigned and received the sanction “resigned-disciplinary.”

Before the Florida Bar could begin reciprocal discipline against Hoffman, he applied for disciplinary revocation without leave to apply for readmission. That was granted on June 25 and will take effect on July 27.