Gainesville attorney Kevin Matthew Conner, who practiced for less than three years, has been suspended for 60 days following a Jan. 18 Florida Supreme Court order after he entered no contest pleas to two 2016 DUI charges, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
Connor notified the state high court Jan. 31 that he is no longer practicing law and the court ordered his suspension to be effective that day, according to the court's order issued that day. In its previous order, the Supreme Court suspended Connor for 60 days, effective 30 days from the date of that order to allow him time to close out his practice and protect his clients' interests.
Connor also was ordered to pay a little more than $1,494 in costs, according to the Jan. 18 order. The state bar announced the discipline and the Supreme Court's orders on Feb. 27
In Florida court orders are not final until time to file a rehearing motion expires. Filing such a motion would not alter the effective date of the Conner's suspension.
Conner was admitted to the bar in Florida on Sept. 24, 2015, according to his profile at the state bar website. Conner has had no other discipline before the state bar, according to his profile.
Allegations against Conner that lead to his suspension stemmed from an episode in March 2016 when he consumed alcohol at multiple establishments before he drove to a grocery store on Tower Road in Gainsville, according to the consent judgment filed with the court. The judgment also includes Conner's conditional guilty plea.
Connor urinated on a grocery store sign and later became ill before law enforcement arrived and found him "too intoxicated to complete field sobriety exercises and was arrested," the consent judgment said.
Connor's second DUI arrest occurred in October 2016, when he crashed a vehicle into a pole, left the scene and later fell asleep in a smoking lounge, according to the consent judgment. Law enforcement found him unable to stand, form coherent sentences or locate his Florida driver's license, the judgment said.
Last April Connor was sentenced to 60 days in Alachua County Jail and ordered to pay costs and fines, according to the consent judgment.