TALLAHASSEE (Florida Record) — Orlando attorney Adam Paul Philpott has been suspended for six months following a March 1 Florida Supreme Court order after his no contest plea on a misdemeanor charge stemming from a 2016 DUI arrest, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
"In October 2017, Philpott pleaded no contest to a first-degree misdemeanor," the state bar said in its April 30 announcement of the discipline and the Supreme Court's order. "After being stopped by police, Philpott refused to submit to a breath, blood or urine test. He had a prior conviction for driving under the influence."
Philpott was already suspended following a court order in late 2016.
Philpott's latest suspension, which was effective immediately, will be followed by five years' probation if he is reinstated, according to a consent judgment filed with the court. The consent judgment also includes Philpott's conditional guilty plea.
Philpott also was ordered to sign a Florida Lawyers Assistance program rehabilitation contract and pay a little more than $1,349 in costs.
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 Philpott's suspension. Philpott was admitted to the bar in Florida on April 15, 2004, according to his profile at the state bar website.
In February 2016, Philpott was arrested for driving while under the influence, which is a third-degree felony, "his second such charge within ten years after a prior conviction", the consent judgment said. Philpott also refused a breath, blood or urine text, which is a first-degree misdemeanor.
The following December, Philpott was suspended for 91 days and placed on probation following a state Supreme Court order the previous month after he was found in contempt for allegedly failing to comply with a November 2014 court order. In that order, Philpott was publicly reprimanded and placed on three years' probation after being found in contempt for failing to abide by the conditions of his probation when he allegedly failed to abstain from alcohol and was arrested for DUI.
This past October, the state dropped the driving while under the influence charge and Philpott entered his no contest plea to refusal to submit to a breath, blood or urine test, a misdemeanor offense.