THE FLORIDA BAR, COMPLAINANT,
v.
ROBERT V. PALMER, RESPONDENT
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The Florida Bar sought disbarment of attorney Robert V. Palmer for disciplinary violations including theft of client funds and unlawful drug possession. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the disbarment, finding Palmer's consent judgment binding despite his claims of duress from denial of a continuance.
The consent judgment is binding and enforceable. Palmer should be disbarred retroactive to May 4, 1989, and ordered to pay costs of $15,177.77. Palmer's claims of duress are unavailing given the serious nature of his misconduct.
[1] A lawyer's conviction for felonies, including theft of client funds, is a clear case for disbarment.
[2] A lawyer's trust account being substantially and frequently out of balance supports disbarment.
Previewing 2 of 5 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“Palmer contends that the consent judgment is nonbinding because the agreement was made under duress when the referee wrongfully denied a continuance.”
States Palmer's primary argument on appeal that the consent judgment should not be enforced
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligencePalmer was charged with five disciplinary violations including theft of client funds. He stipulated to a consent judgment in a telephone conversation …
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PER CURIAM.
In this disciplinary case The Florida Bar seeks disbarment of Robert V. Palmer, presently a member of The Florida Bar. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 15, Florida Constitution, and agree that Palmer should be disbarred.
The Florida Bar filed a four-count complaint against Palmer and later amended it to include a fifth count which alleged that Palmer had stolen clients’ funds. The bar also filed a request for admissions to which Palmer never replied. When the referee scheduled the matter for final hearing, Palmer requested a continuance because of a family-related emergency. After the referee denied the continuance, Palmer and bar counsel, in a telephone conversation to which the referee and his lawyer were parties, stipulated to a consent judgment with five-year disbarment, retroactive to the date of Palmer’s temporary suspension, and payment of costs. When bar counsel formalized the agreement in writing, however, Palmer refused to sign it. The referee, after a hearing in which Palmer participated, enforced the agreement and recommended that Palmer be found guilty on five counts of disciplinary violations and disbarred.
Palmer contends that the consent judgment is nonbinding because the agreement was made under duress when the referee wrongfully denied a continuance. Palmer does not suggest error in the findings on the five counts, but urges that he has been deprived of an opportunity to present mitigating evidence. He did not disclose the nature of this mitigation to the referee, nor has he advised us of it. Considering that Palmer has been convicted of the felonies of unlawful possession of cocaine and theft of client funds, that his trust account was substantially and frequently out of balance, and that he had received payment for legal acts he never performed, this is a clear case for disbarment. Cf. The Fla. Bar v. Shuminer, 567 So. 2d 430 (Fla.1990); The Fla. Bar v. Eisenberg, 555 So. 2d 353 (Fla.1989); The Fla. Bar v. Golub, 550 So. 2d 455 (Fla. 1989). We find no error in the referee’s terminating the proceedings by enforcing the consent judgment.
We therefore approve the referee’s report and disbar Robert V. Palmer, retroactive to May 4,1989. Judgment for costs of $15,177.77 is entered for The Florida Bar against Robert V. Palmer, for which sum execution may issue.
It is so ordered.
SHAW, C.J., and OVERTON, McDonald, barkett, grimes, KOGAN and HARDING, JJ., concur.
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THE Florida BAR v. Palmer, 149 So. 3d 1118 (Fla. 2013)…ed below, we approve the referee’s findings of fact, recommendations as to guilt,' and the recommended sanctions in their entirety. BACKGROUND Robert Palmer was disbarred from the practice of law in Florida on October 31, 1991. Fla. Bar v. Palmer, 588 So. 2d 234 (Fla.1991). Several years later, The Florida Bar filed a petition for contempt alleging that Palmer engaged in the practice of law in violation of his disbarment. As a result of that action, on November ■ 30, 1995, Palmer was “permanently and perpet…
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THE Florida BAR v. Pellegrini, 714 So. 2d 448 (Fla. 1998)…2 So. 2d 530, 540 (Fla.1996), this presumption can be overcome by mitigating factors. See Farbstein, 570 So. 2d at 936. [*453] The eases the Bar relies on in support of disbarment are distinguishable. The attorney disbarred in Florida Bar v. Palmer, 588 So. 2d 234 (Fla.1991), in addition to receiving payment for services not performed and having a trust account substantially and frequently out of balance, had also been convicted of felonies of unlawful possession of cocaine and theft of client funds. In Flori…
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State v. Palmer, 791 So. 2d 1181 (Fla. 1st DCA 2001)…verse the trial court’s order dismissing counts two, three and four of the information. Factual and Procedural History Palmer was disbarred by the Supreme Court of Florida on October 31, 1991, retroactive to May 4, 1989. The Florida Bar v. Palmer, 588 So. 2d 234 (Fla.1991). On December 14,1999, the state filed an information charging Palmer, in count one, with a scheme to defraud and, in counts two through four, with practicing law while disbarred or suspended contrary to section 454.31. The conduct constit…
Authorities Cited
- THE Florida BAR v. Shuminer, 567 So. 2d 430 (Fla. 1990)
- THE Florida BAR v. Golub, 550 So. 2d 455 (Fla. 1989)
- THE Florida BAR v. Eisenberg, 555 So. 2d 353 (Fla. 1989)