THE FLORIDA BAR, COMPLAINANT,
v.
R. BRUCE JONES, JR., RESPONDENT
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The court approved the referee's findings and recommendations, suspending the attorney for six months and requiring proof of rehabilitation.
[1] An attorney violates professional conduct rules by engaging in misrepresentation concerning a client's settlement funds.
[2] An attorney violates professional conduct rules by neglecting a legal matter entrusted to him.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAn attorney misrepresented the amount of a settlement to a hospital that had a lien on the funds. The attorney failed to pay the agreed-upon settlemen…
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PER CURIAM.
This bar disciplinary proceeding is before us on a referee’s report recommending that R. Bruce Jones, Jr. be found guilty of misconduct and recommending that Jones be suspended from the practice of law for six months. Neither The Florida Bar nor Jones has contested the referee’s report. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 15 of the Florida Constitution.
The referee found that Edward Bussey retained Jones to represent him in a personal injury action. Bussey had received $9,291.35 in medical services from a hospital, which filed a lien for that amount. Jones advised the attorney representing the hospital that he had received only $10,-000.00 for Bussey’s personal injuries. The hospital’s counsel agreed to settle the hospital’s claim against Bussey for $8,000.00. Jones had in fact received a $25,000.00 settlement on behalf of Bussey. Jones failed to pay the $8,000.00 settlement to the hospital until after the hospital filed suit and obtained a default final judgment against Bussey for $9,291.35 plus costs.
Based upon the conduct summarized above, the referee recommended that Jones be found guilty of violating The Florida Bar Code of Professional Responsibility, Disciplinary Rule 1-102(A)(4), by engaging in conduct involving misrepresentation, and violating Disciplinary Rule 6-101(A)(3) by neglecting a legal matter entrusted to him. Because this conduct was cumulative to previous misconduct, the referee recommended that Jones be suspended from the practice of law for six months, with proof of rehabilitation required before reinstatement. The referee further recommended that such suspension be retroactive to the date of the initial referee hearing on February 17, 1984.
We approve the referee’s findings and recommendations. R. Bruce Jones, Jr. is suspended from the practice of law for a period of six months from February 17, 1984 and thereafter until he proves rehabilitation. Costs of these proceedings in the amount of $961.20 are taxed against Jones.
It is so ordered.
BOYD, C.J., and ADKINS, OVERTON, McDonald, EHRLICH and SHAW, JJ., concur.
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Florida BAR v. Arango, 720 So. 2d 248 (Fla. 1998)…mmendation that the attorney be publicly reprimanded and suspended for six months because the attorney “had neglected responsibilities in two matters he took for representation,” and in light of the attorney’s “past conduct”);4 Florida Bar v. Jones, 457 So. 2d 1384, 1384-85 (Fla.1984) (approving uncontested referee’s report recommending that previously disciplined attorney receive a six-month suspension for lying to opposing counsel and failing to settle agreed upon claim until after the opposing party filed s…