TALLAHASSEE — Attorney Sandra Lynn Sanders has been disbarred by the Florida Supreme Court after the Florida Bar received several complaints that the attorney had accepted fees but failed to render services.
The formal complaint filed with the courts details the various charges stemming from three client matters against the attorney from Arcadia who practiced real estate, probate and family law.
In August 2014, Sanders was given a $500 check to provide services for a woman setting up a guardianship-turned-trust for her adopted child, according to court records. The check was intended to pay for the attorney to draft and file paperwork so the client could begin receiving Medicaid. The check was allegedly cashed but no paperwork was filed.
The following March, the attorney was entrusted with the client’s guardianship bookkeeping to file with the court, but Sanders allegedly failed to do this as well.
The attorney was charged with failing to communicate with her client and failing to respond to the Florida Bar’s inquiries.
Sanders was retained in December 2014 to handle an estate for her client’s father. She received $2,500 as a retainer and a separate check for $800 to file probate paperwork. The papers were never filed, and she again failed to respond to her client and the Florida Bar.
The final matter began in September 2014 when Sanders was hired to represent a woman in a family law matter. The client paid $1,500 and later an additional $50. The attorney allegedly did not inform her client of hearings and court dates for her case and again did not respond to the client or the Florida Bar.
Due to the pattern of misconduct and the harm caused to her clients, disbarment was recommended and issued.
Sanders is a graduate of the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law and was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1997, according to her Florida Bar profile. She had no prior record of discipline.