TALLAHASSEE (Florida Record) — Orlando attorney Christopher Phillip Hancock has been placed under emergency suspension until further notice following a Feb. 6 Florida Supreme Court order over allegations that included misappropriation, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
"Hancock appeared to be causing great public harm by misappropriating client funds for his own benefit, abandoning his law practice and failing to appear at various court hearings," the state bar said in its March 27 announcement of the discipline and the Supreme Court's order.
The state bar's announcement cited the petition for emergency suspension filed with the court. In addition to allegations in the state bar's announcement, the petition also alleges Hancock neglected "numerous clients".
The state Supreme Court's three-page order is not final until after time to file a rehearing motion expires. Filing such a motion would not alter the effective date of the Hancock's suspension.
Hancock was admitted to the Florida bar Sept. 28, 2010, according to his profile at the state bar website. No prior discipline before the state bar is listed on Hancock's state bar profile.
The state bar's 82-page petition for emergency suspension lists 15 disciplinary matters against Hancock pending before The Florida Bar file numbers. "The bar's investigation of this matter has indicated that [Hancock] has misappropriated client trust funds for his own benefit and neglected various client matters," the petition for emergency suspension said.
A state bar audit of Hancock's trust account for Jan. 1, 2015, through July 31, 2017, revealed Hancock "had misappropriated client funds for his own benefit or the benefit of his law firm" and that Hancock "was not in substantial compliance with the Rules Regulating Trust Accounts," the petition for emergency suspension said.
Hancock responded to a subpoena in late July 2017 and provided "various trust account records" but the records he provided were incomplete in that he "failed to produce canceled checks, a receipts and disbursements journal, ledger cards, and monthly comparisons as required by the subpoena," the petition said.