St. Augustine attorney John Richard Geiger has been suspended following a June 23 Florida Supreme Court order after he was again found in contempt for failing to comply with the terms of a previously imposed suspension.
In the most recent order, the state high court suspended Geiger "until further order of this court" and held Geiger in contempt after he failed to file a response to a show cause order. The probation that had been imposed upon Geiger was terminated, according to the order.
The state court's two-page order also required Geiger pay $1,250 in costs. The Florida State Bar announced the discipline and the Supreme Court's order Sept. 27. In Florida, court orders are not final until after time to file a rehearing motion expires. Filing such a motion would not alter the effective date of the Geiger's suspension.
Geiger was admitted to the bar in Florida on April. 22, 1994, according to his profile at the state bar website.
Geiger was suspended following a Nov. 16 state high court order after he'd been found in contempt for failing to comply with the terms of a suspension order issued about a year earlier, according to a state bar announcement issued Dec. 29. That order also required Geiger to pay $1,250 in costs.
In the November 2015 discipline, Geiger was suspended for 45 days and placed on two years' probation following a state supreme court order following a complaint filed by a home owner's association for whom Geiger previously collected delinquent assessment, according to a consent judgment filed at the time.
The association alleged that after Geiger's representation had been terminated, he continued to receive payment from one homeowner into a trust account and then failed to forward those payments, which came to $1,179, according to the consent judgment.
Geiger subsequently repaid the amount and a state bar audit turned up no evidence of misappropriation, according to the consent judgment. As a condition of his probation, Geiger was required to retain a certified public accountant to review his trust accounts monthly and submit a quarterly statement regarding compliance and to submit a quarterly monitoring fee, according to the bar's Dec. 29 announcement. The high court also ordered Geiger to pay $4,659 in costs.