Opinion ID: 2104496
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: florida disciplinary proceedings

Text: When the Jones couple filed a complaint with the Florida State Bar, Respondent made various challenges before the grievance committee and later before the referee. During the disciplinary hearing before the referee, Judge Thomas E. Penick, Jr., 6th Judicial Circuit Court, expert testimony indicated that a reasonable fee for the entire probate matter would have been $2,500, a generous fee for the preparation of both wills would have been $400.00 and for the general services, Mr. and Mrs. Jones should have been charged no more than $200.00 or $300.00. The referee determined that Respondent had violated the Florida Code of Professional Responsibility, Disciplinary Rule 2-106 (a lawyer shall not charge a client a clearly excessive fee). Bar Counsel argued for a ninety-one day suspension. However, the referee recommended the following discipline: (1) public reprimand, (2) six months supervised probation, (3) twelve hours of continuing education courses on attorney billing and fee practices, (4) proof of rehabilitation at the termination of the probationary period in the area of billing and fee practice, to possibly include taking the professional ethics portion of the bar exam, (5) payment of the amount of restitution determined by Judge Dennis Alvarez, and (6) Payment of the cost of the disciplinary proceedings. Before the Supreme Court of Florida, Respondent lodged twelve objections: (1) whether the use of illegally obtained evidence by the grievance committee panel and the referee violated Respondent's due process rights; (2) whether the expert witness who testified was disqualified based upon conflict of interests; (3) whether the expert's testimony was reliable; (4) whether there was sufficient evidence under the clear and convincing standard; (5) whether the referee abused his discretion in failing to make specific findings in relation to the excessive fee; (6) whether the exclusion of Afro-American people from the grievance committee violated due process [2] ; (7) whether Bar Counsel participated in the deliberation of the grievance committee after the hearing without Respondent or his counsel present; (8) the standard to determine an excessive fee is vague; (9) whether the standard as applied is an impermissible restraint of trade in violation of the federal antitrust laws; (10) whether a public reprimand was a reasonable sanction; (11) whether Respondent received sufficient notice and an opportunity to be heard on the issue of costs imposed; and (12) whether the imposition of costs were permissible or reasonable under the circumstances. [3] The Supreme Court of Florida sustained the finding that Respondent had violated DR 2-106. They recognized that there are many factors which will impact upon an attorney's fee. However, they felt that all the time an attorney spends on a case is not necessarily the amount of time which can be billed to the client. There must be some determination of what is reasonable to accomplish the task. They further found that there was absolutely no justification for billing the Jones couple for twenty minutes for every phone call, regardless of the duration, or forty-five minutes for each page of the documents Respondent developed. Additionally, the Court determined it was improper to charge the Jones couple for pro bono work done for others. The Supreme Court of Florida found that the misconduct of Respondent was not minor. It suspended him for ninety-one days with reinstatement after proof of rehabilitation and a two-year probationary period. In conformity with the decision of Judge Alvarez, it found that Respondent must pay the final judgment of $15,470, plus interest, prior to reinstatement. Additionally, Respondent had to pay $5,144.81 in costs for the disciplinary procedures. The Florida Bar v. T. Carlton Richardson, [574 So.2d 60] Supreme Court of Florida, Revised Opinion, February 14, 1991, nunc pro tunc April 19, 1990.