Brandon attorney Richard Luther Bradford has been suspended until further order following a May 31 Florida Supreme Court ruling after he was found in contempt for noncompliance when he allegedly failed to respond to an official Florida State Bar inquiry, according to a recent state bar report.
The labor and employment law attorney's suspension was set to begin 30 days after the high court's order. Bradford "shall remain suspended until he responds in writing to the official bar inquiry, and until further order of this court," the order said.
The court also ordered Bradford to pay the state bar's costs of $1,250.
The Florida State Bar announced the discipline and the supreme court's order July 31. In Florida, court orders are not final until after time to file a rehearing motion expires.
Bradford was admitted to the bar in Florida on Nov. 22, 1995, according to his profile at the state bar website. He has had no other discipline before the state bar for at least 10 years, according to his profile.
The state supreme court issued its order following a filing by the state bar of its petition for contempt and order to show cause. The court had previously issued its own order to show cause but Bradford failed to respond to that order, according the state court's order suspending him.
Although neither the state supreme court order nor the state bar's petition and its report offered details about the official inquiry, two of three comments on Bradford's profile at Avvo.com were negative and rated the attorney a single star out of five.
One commenter, posting Sept. 17, 2016, said Bradford was late turning paperwork and that he kept a judge waiting 45 minutes. An earlier commenter, posting Jan. 12, 2014, said Bradford did not return calls in a timely manner and said he planned to file a complaint with the state bar.
A response to the second comment, posted under Bradford's Avvo account, said, "Must have me confused with someone else. I don't recognize the name and if he has a specific grievance, he certainly knows where to find me. Not even a disgruntled client. More like a troll."