I had not seen that. The pattern sounds all too familiar to me. The Schiavo case is similar to patterns in other county probate courts where the estate is fleeced, there are no accountings and the ward dies. But, this occurs in Florida where the opportunity for a "humane death industry" held great profit potential.
It almost sounds as if Campbell got the referral to act as the Schindler's attorney so that the Court would have someone representing the Schindlers who would go along--not raise too much of a fuss. She was probably flattered by, if not dependent upon, Shames for referrals and therefore would not confront him about conflicts, ex parte communications, etc. Shames obviously had his own agenda. After all, state court judges don't make that much money. And, the Schindlers attorney wasn't getting paid. So, she really did not want to anger the judge and stop the flow of referrals on which she would be paid by the county.
It also sounds like Clearwater was selected as the test ground for a strong right to die movement. Hospices are like the early abortion clinics. Florida was a perfect state to start this business as it has a large elderly and gay population. When the Schiavo case was being developed, the gay population was a death culture as the AIDS drugs were not as sophisticated. Also, health care reformers at the time advocated the reduction of life-prolonging measures for the elderly. Hospice was viewed as a benign alternative to hospital death. Politicians were lobbied and contributions flowed so that the legislative scheme of Florida was supportive. Hospice now had the potential to be a very profitable service. Michael Schiavo and the right to die movement intersected to their mutual profit.
The Schindlers seem like very decent people. It is very sad that this happened to their family. The practice of law is supposed to be about serving the client. What a pity.
To go along with your post, here's another article - Guarding the Guardians, which details the trouble auditors in Pinellas County have when they try to obtain information about guardianship cases.
I'm no conspiracy theorist (or at least I wasn't a few weeks ago) but I think this whole case was doomed from the beginning for a whole host of reasons that involved several different agendas.