from staff
The Florida Bar, the state’s guardian for the integrity of the legal profession, announces that the Florida Supreme Court in recent court orders disciplined 28 attorneys, disbarring seven and suspending 18. Some attorneys received more than one form of discipline. Three attorneys were publicly reprimanded. Two were ordered to pay restitution.
In Jacksonville, Paul Stanley Boone, 9425 Conifer Road, was suspended for one year, effective 30 days from a Feb. 25 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1982) Boone admitted to touching a client inappropriately. (Case No. SC10-194)
The 27 other actions included an attorney in Lake City. Merrill Carlton Tunsil, P.O. Box 2113, was disbarred effective immediately, following a Feb. 18 court order. Tunsil was suspended in September 2009. (Admitted to practice: 1978) A Bar audit found that Tunsil had 81 checks and automatic payments returned or paid by the bank due to insufficient funds, resulting in $3,516.50 in service charges. The auditor also found numerous violations regarding Tunsil’s trust account records. (Case No. SC09-2107)
As an official agency of the Florida Supreme Court, The Florida Bar and its Department of Lawyer Regulation are charged with administering a statewide disciplinary system to enforce Supreme Court rules of professional conduct for the 88,000-plus lawyers admitted to practice law in Florida. Since Aug. 1, 2007, case files have been posted to attorneys’ individual Florida Bar profiles and may be reviewed at and/or downloaded from The Florida Bar’s website, www.floridabar.org.
Court orders are not final until time expires to file a rehearing motion and, if filed, determined. The filing of such a motion does not alter the effective date of the discipline. Disbarred lawyers may not re-apply for admission for five years. They are required to go through an extensive process that rejects many who apply. It includes a rigorous background check and retaking the bar exam. Historically, less than 5 percent of disbarred lawyers seek readmission.