Fla. lawyer disbarred for sex with client
Apr 30 2009 07:14PM CST
A lawyer who let a female client work off her fee through sex has been disbarred by the Florida Supreme Court. The justices Thursday cited the man's guilty plea to solicitation to prostitution as one of several instances of professional misconduct.
The justices wrote that the man admitted having sex with his 18-year-old client and another woman in exchange for credits toward her $2,300 fee for handling an assault case.
He agreed to take off $200 every time he had sex with her and $400 when she arranged sex with another woman.
The justices also found in other cases he altered evidence, caused a witness to give false testimony, charged excessive fees and stole clients' money.
In a joint interview following the decision, both lawyer and client defended their actions. The lawyer maintained it was not a sexual thing, just a means for collecting his fee. The female client said, "How else am I going to be able to pay those fees? Now I don't even have a lawyer who can represent me. I think it's unfair."
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