Saturday should’ve started the emergency suspension in full of a Miami personal injury attorney accused of “misappropriating” over $26,577 of a client’s $40,000 settlement.
The Florida Bar’s petition for emergency suspension says $26,577.30 should’ve gone to two medical providers ($8,997.64) and the client ($17,975.66) of James Leano, a West Miami-Dade resident working out of Coconut Grove. And, when Leano sent his client a check for the client’s $17,975.66, it was a year after receiving the settlement and the check bounced.
With documentation of the above, including Bank of America account records and a client agreement, the Bar’s petition was granted by the state Supreme Court on Nov. 30. From that point, Leano couldn’t accept any new clients or file any new lawsuits.
By Saturday, 30 days after the court’s decision, Leano had to “cease all practice of law” and “cease holding himself out as a Florida Bar member or lawyer and eliminate all indicia of [Leano’s] status as a Florida Bar member or lawyer.”
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article283710873.html#storylink=cpy
