TALLAHASSEE — Michael Eugene Wynn, an attorney in Fort Myers, has been suspended from the practice of law following complaints of misappropriating funds.
The Florida Supreme Court issued the order after the Florida Bar received several complaints about the attorney misappropriating funds and failing to pay clients their settlements. He was also charged with incorrectly completing a certificate of disclosure which misinformed his superiors of the complaints made against him.
Wynn was hired to represent a woman in a landlord-tenant matter, according to the formal complaint released by the courts. In October of that year, the client paid Wynn $500 to purchase deposition transcripts, which he allegedly did not do. Between October 2013 and January 2014, the client requested several updates on the matter before Wynn informed her that he had used the funds for his firm’s expenses such as electricity. The attorney claimed that he would repay the client when he was able to, and the client purchased the transcripts herself.
The client made several more inquiries about the repayment of her funds between January and September 2014 when the attorney stated he would be keeping the $500 as her legal expenses had been more than he had initially quoted her. In October 2014, the client filed a complaint with the Florida Bar, and the next month Wynn finally repaid her. However, he allegedly only agreed to repay the funds on the condition that the client withdraw her complaint. She did not, according to court records.
In order to close the matter, the attorney submitted a Certificate of Disclosure but reported to the Bar in the certificate that he was working in a solo practice unaffiliated with other attorneys. That was later determined to be untrue, as he was a member of the Office of Regional Conflict Counsel, Second District. The attorney also allegedly did not inform his superiors of the grievance against him.
The attorney will serve a one-year suspension followed by a two-year probationary period. Wynn is a graduate of the St. Thomas University School of Law and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 2000. He had no prior record of discipline.