TALLAHASSEE (Florida Record) — Jacksonville attorney Alyscha Lauren Johnson has been publicly reprimanded following a Jan. 4 Florida Supreme Court order regarding allegations that several times she failed to appear in court, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
"A judge reported that Johnson had missed several appearances in his court and could not be located," the state bar said in its March 27 announcement of the discipline and the Supreme Court's order. "Once the bar located Johnson, she admitted to struggling with personal stress and said she needed to withdraw for a while from further legal work. The bar referred Johnson to Florida lawyer's assistance for an evaluation."
In its two-page order, the state high court approved an uncontested referee's report filed in the matter before reprimanding Johnson and ordered her to pay nearly $3,500 in restitution to two clients and a little more than $1,592 costs. In Florida, court orders are not final until time to file a rehearing motion expires.
Johnson was admitted to the Florida bar Sept. 27, 2010, according to her profile at the state bar website. No prior discipline before the state bar is listed on Johnson's state bar profile.
In February 2017, the judge alerted the state bar that Johnson "had missed court appearances and could not be located," said the consent judgment filed with the court. The consent judgment also includes Johnson's conditional guilty plea. After locating Johnson and referring her to the state's legal assistance program for evaluation, the bar "endeavored to advise the courts of the situation and to help her clients to the extent possible," the judgment said.
In April 2017, Johnson stipulated to the probable cause in the matter and the state bar filed its formal complaint against her in June 2017, according to the report of the referee accepting the consent judgment. Several of Johnson's clients filed complaints against her, alleging neglect. Johnson admitted to her failures to appear in court and to "advise her clients of her need to withdraw," the formal complaint said.