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The filing of a Florida Bar complaint or formal grievance can put a tremendous amount of stress on a lawyer and their law firm — it could even put their career and professional reputation at risk. Every bar complaint Florida attorneys face must be taken seriously. It is imperative that attorneys are able to effectively defend themselves with the help of a skilled Florida Bar complaint defense attorney.
Complaints against lawyers, often referred to as lawyer complaints Florida, can range from breaching ethics to being incompetent. Some examples of Florida Bar complaints that could result in disciplinary action include:
When a lawyer receives notification from the Florida Bar that a bar complaint Florida has been filed, they will have 15 days to submit a response. The complaint and the response will be reviewed by the Attorney Consumer Assistance Program (ACAP). Florida’s ACAP can dismiss the complaint or determine that additional investigation is warranted.
If further investigation is deemed to be necessary, ACAP will refer the bar complaint Florida to disciplinary counsel — most likely a local grievance committee. At this point, there will be further investigation, an evidentiary hearing, and, potentially, summary arguments. The grievance committee must determine whether or not there is probable cause to move forward.
If there is a finding of probable cause, a Florida Bar complaint will typically result in a formal complaint being filed with the Florida Supreme Court. After a formal complaint is filed, an attorney will only have 20 days to submit an answer. The Florida Supreme Court will then assign a case to a county court judge or circuit court judge to preside as a referee.
Lately, there has been a strong push from lawyers, judges, Florida Bar leaders, and the Florida Supreme Court to take a more aggressive stance against professionalism-related lawyer complaints Florida.
After the referee’s report is filed with the Supreme Court, it is reviewed by the designated reviewer, the Disciplinary Review Committee, and the Board of Governors. The BOG and the accused lawyer each have 60 days to appeal the referee’s decision.
You should never discount the seriousness of the Florida Bar complaint process, nor assume that a complaint will be dismissed merely because you are convinced it lacks substantial merit.
Statements made in the initial written exchanges can ultimately affect the outcome. That is why the best time to hire a Florida Bar complaint defense attorney to defend the grievance is at the start. An experienced bar defense counsel can see the traps to avoid in submitting the response.
Case files become public when a case is closed at the staff or grievance committee level, or when probable cause is found. Closed cases remain public for one year after the case is concluded and then are disposed of in accordance with The Florida Bar’s record retention policy. Read Rule 3-7.1 (a) for details about when a case is no longer confidential.
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