In In re Fla. Bar. V. Adorno, 48 So. 3d 837, 2010 Fla. (Fla., 2010), the Supreme Court of Florida suspended Mr. Adorno from practicing law for three years for breaching a fiduciary duty to his clients.
The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the referee’s conclusion that Mr. Adorno was guilty of violating R. Regulating Fla. Bar. 4-1.7, 4-1.5, and 4-8.4.
The case involves a disciplinary case were Mr. Adorno represented clients in a class action case. It was later found by the referee that Mr. Adorno took excessive fees when he settled with individual plaintiffs to the detriment of the putative class. It was concluded that Mr. Adorno breached a fiduciary duty owed to the putative class and prejudiced that class when he settled on behalf of individual plaintiffs to the detriment of the putative class. The Supreme Court found that the actions by Mr. Adorno violated the Rules of Regulating the Florida Bar.
4-1.7: prohibits representation where the actions of an attorney constituted conflict of interest.
4-1.5: an attorney shall not enter into an agreement for, charge, or collect an illegal prohibited or clearly excessive fee or cost, or a fee generated by employment that was obtained through advertising or solicitation not in compliance with the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar.
4-8.4: provides that a lawyer shall not violate or attempt to violate the Florida Rules of Professional Conduct.
No comments:
Post a Comment