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Florida Attorney Disbarred for Sex With Incarcerated Clients

[caption id="attachment_19426" align="aligncenter" width="620"]

Florida Supreme Court building. Photo: Phil Sears/Special to the Daily Business Review[/caption] The Florida Supreme Court has stripped a Jacksonville lawyer of his license for engaging in sex with two of his female clients while interviewing them in the Duval County jail. The court, in a per curiam ruling, disbarred attorney Anthony Wayne Blackburn, opting for a more severe punishment than the recommended suspension. Attempts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful. The court rejected a recommendation by a referee retained by the Florida Bar Association that Blackburn, already criminally prosecuted for his conduct, be suspended for 18 months. "[W]e disapprove the proposed discipline and disbar respondent," the court said. The court found that Blackburn, admitted to the Florida bar in 2005, violated a rule specifically prohibiting sex with clients, as well as violating other ethics strictures. The court acknowledged that Blackburn underwent therapy after his arrest and guilty plea. Ultimately, the court said, that didn't matter. "[I]t is ultimately the court's responsibility to determine the appropriate discipline," the court said. The court quoted its 1990 ruling in Florida Bar v. Bryant: "Even the slightest hint of sexual coercion or intimidation directed at a client must be avoided at all costs." "With regard to existing case law, we conclude that disbarment, rather than a suspension, is reasonably supported," the court said. "In this case, [Blackburn] propositioned two clients and engaged in sexual relations while the women were both incarcerated." Blackburn's lawyer, Dale Carson, who heads a firm in Jacksonville, was not immediately available for comment. The ruling said Blackburn, in exchange for having sexual relations, deposited money into one of the client's bank accounts, and promised discounted legal fees to the other client. He was nabbed by law enforcement and eventually pleaded guilty to a charge of misdemeanor battery. He received a sentence of one day in jail, the ruling said.

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