Complaints that he took clients’ money and ran got a Miami lawyer suspended
All agree that Michael Hurckes and Ironclad Law, based out of Miami and New York, collected fees from clients. What happened after that is a point of disagreement between Hurckes and the Florida Bar.
The Bar says Hurckes took the money, then “failed to provide services, failed to return calls, failed to file time-sensitive documents, failed to appear in court, and failed to respond to opposing counsel. [Hurckes] also failed to honor scheduled telephone or virtual conferences with his clients.”
Then, the Bar said, Hurckes wouldn’t pony up refunds.
For his part, Hurckes responded that the Bar’s petition for emergency suspension “relies on client matters that were short-lived (typically less than 30 days), refunded, and fully resolved well over a year ago. No client was abandoned. No client suffered harm.”
For now, the state Supreme Court sided with the Bar and granted an emergency suspension of Hurckes.
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This is the first disciplinary action against Hurckes, who became licensed in New York in January 2022 and Florida in November 2022. His LinkedIn page, which can be found under “Michael Alexander,” says he has transitioned from Ironclad Law’s managing partner to its “Chief Growth Officer” in September. The state Supreme Court’s decision came down Oct. 6, and Hurckes’ emergency suspension officially began Nov. 5.
State corporation records say Hurckes’ Ironclad Law works in Miami out of 1200 Brickell Ave., Suite 1950, a virtual office, but the LinkedIn page places Ironclad in Tampa. The New York address is at One World Trade Center.
Hurckes didn’t answer emailed or text-messaged questions from the Miami Herald.
Unfinished business?
“When the clients complained to The Florida Bar and posted negative reviews on the Better Business Bureau website, there were instances in which [Hurckes] billed the clients for his time to answer the complaints,” the Bar’s petition said. “[Hurckes] also hired a ‘reputation doctor’ to contact the complainants and offer a refund of the ‘retainer fee’ if the client would first remove their BBB reviews, withdraw their bar complaints, and sign a nondisclosure agreement.”
The Better Business Bureau gives an F rating to Ironclad Law, which has two reviews (both negative) and 15 complaints posted since June. As for people complaining to the Bar, the emergency suspension petition gives accounts from 19 former or would-be Hurckes clients.
“In reality, these grievances were orchestrated by a single former employee,” Hurckes’ petition response claimed, “who, after less than 2 weeks as a receptionist was terminated for cause and stole confidential client data misleading clients and spreading falsehoods claiming Mr. Hurckes was doing no work and stealing their retainers.”
What follows are three of the complaints about Hurckes, according to the Bar’s petition for emergency suspension.
A 79-year-old woman paid $2,000 of a $3,000 retainer in January 2024, but didn’t like the terms in the engagement agreement. She didn’t sign. When she reached out, she “found the firm’s telephone number was temporarily out of service, disconnected or when reached, a non-lawyer employee would falsely indicate [Hurckes] would return (her) call.”
Her refund requests were met with Hurckes jettisoning her as a client and telling her the $2,000 wasn’t refundable “despite not being confirmed in writing.”
When a woman gave Hurckes $3,000 as a retainer for a paternity action on Nov. 21, 2023, she “understood these funds would cover the entire cost of [Hurckes’] representation in the legal matter.”
Hurckes and Ironclad Law “had no substantive contact” with the woman for four months, “however, during this time, (she) continued to receive requests for additional funds” from Hurckes and Ironclad Law.
A Feb. 1, 2024, email from Ironclad Law told the woman “the trust balance had fallen below the minimum required threshold, and $1,000 was required within seven days or the firm would withdraw from representation.”
She “attempted to meet with her case manager, Rutvi Brahbhatt, but later learned that the case manager resided in India.”
Ironclad refused her request for a refund.
During a March 2024 consultation with a non-lawyer Ironclad law employee, a woman was quoted a cost of $7,500 to handle “her urgent legal matter.” She paid the $7,500, but hadn’t signed an engagement agreement. When she didn’t hear from Ironclad Law in two days, she requested a refund.
The client was told by another non-lawyer Ironclad Law employee that “the funds provided were earned on receipt and no refund would be provided, despite the agreement not being confirmed in writing at that time.” Also, when she paid the “earned on receipt” $7,500, she hadn’t met with a lawyer.
The client eventually signed an engagement letter. What ensued: “[Hurckes] repeatedly modified the firm’s contact information without notifying complainant, missed multiple client conferences, and failed to provide proof of any work completed.”
This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 1:23 PM with the headline "Complaints that he took clients’ money and ran got a Miami lawyer suspended."
