A Miami attorney is suspended (again) after taking money for nothing (or not enough)
As of Sunday, a Miami attorney has 29 days left on his suspension, a status of which he’s become familiar over the last five years. He’s also familiar with the violations that got him suspended, as they’re similar to the reasons for his previous legal timeouts.
The 90-day suspension by the state Supreme Court that Leroy Lee’s currently serving falls well short of the six-month suspension he served in 2021, and, this time, Lee’s client is out only $500 instead of the $8,085 he owed clients in the 2021 suspension. But, the current suspension will be longer than Lee’s 2019 suspension, which lasted 81 days.
Lee’s problems, in legal terms: diligence and communication. In colloquial terms, money for nothing or at least not enough and not giving answers to people and organizations that need them.
This time, according to Lee’s guilty plea in the discipline case, a convicted fraudster in Charlotte Correctional Institution wanted to hire Lee as his attorney to appeal his conviction. His wife sent Lee $500 by Zelle on June 4, 2020. The inmate spoke to Lee on the phone.
“(The client) believes he hired [Lee] to represent him on his criminal appeal,” Lee’s guilty plea says. “By contrast, [Lee] believes he only agreed to review (the client’s) criminal matter and determine a path forward for (the client). Although (the client’s wife) spoke to [Lee] on behalf of her husband a few times, [Lee’s] communication eventually dropped off.”
While Lee admitted violating Bar rules about diligence, communication and fees for legal services, he claimed he had no “dishonest or selfish motive” and this happened around the time of a COVID-19 related death in his family “ which significantly impacted his mental and emotional well-being, limiting his ability to perform his duties effectively.”
Lee also claimed he “deeply regrets his lack of communication with his former client. He acknowledges that he could have taken additional steps to maintain better communication and is committed to improving in this area.”
“This area” covers some of what got Lee in trouble before.
Silence, limited work and the New Testament
Lee’s previous suspension, six months, equaled one month for each client who filed a grievance against him. What follows comes mainly from Lee’s guilty plea in the disciplinary matters.
READ MORE: 7 Miami to Palm Beach attorneys disciplined by the state Supreme Court
▪ Lee got $1,000 from a client to write four legal letters and $600 from the client’s son to start divorce proceedings. After doing pre-trial services, Lee’s guilty plea admits he stopped talking to the mother and son when she started asking about Lee’s “lack of follow through” and also claimed the son threatened him.
▪ A man who owned a vacant lot hired Lee to retain the cost of cleanup after a criminal did some illegal garbage dumping in the lot. Lee didn’t file a complaint, “never filed a complaint, never pursued the claim, and never informed (the client) of the status of the case.”
▪ Lee got a $38,000 default judgment against a contractor in a fraud case and Lee’s client then paid him a retainer to collect the money. Lee said it would take six to eight weeks. But, after eight months, Lee had “failed to take any steps to collect the judgment” for the client and hadn’t refunded her retainer despite agreeing to do so.
He had, however, given a biblical argument why she shouldn’t report him to the Florida Bar: “Paul encourage [sic] the church not to sue one another but to resolve their differences amongst themselves and be understanding.”’
His client’s understanding had reached its limit, as did the Florida Bar’s when Lee didn’t come across with the proper documentation after the grievance was filed. He did send an June 3, 2020 email that claimed bullying client misconduct for his shortcomings, but it “but failed to address the inquiries made by The Florida Bar,” the bar stated. The state Supreme Court agreed and Lee got suspended for 81 days, Dec. 15, 2019, through March 5, 2020, until he satisfied the Bar’s information request.
▪ A widow paid Lee $3,000 in three payments over 20 months from 2017 to April 2019 to probate her late husband’s estate. Lee “drafted a petition in furtherance of probate, but never actually filed it, nor did he initiate the probate proceedings.”
▪ Lee took $1,000 to work on a small claims case for a client, but the referee’s report noted, “The extent of [Lee’s] work on this matter is limited to his notice of appearance and so-called sua sponte withdrawal order.” And, the report noted, the client didn’t know Lee had withdrawn as his attorney.
“Because of [Lee’s] failure to attend to his client’s matter, the court struck the pleadings and dismissed (the client’s) case for failure to produce discovery on June 11, 2018.”
▪ A client paid Lee $1,600 to draft a response to a motion for default, but Lee “did not file more than his Notice of Appearance on June 2, 2020.”
So, on Sept. 9, the court granted the default.
This story was originally published December 1, 2024 at 4:48 PM.
