TALLAHASSEE (Florida Record) — Tampa attorney Cindy LoCicero Runyan has been suspended following a June 6 Florida Supreme Court order after she was found in contempt for noncompliance with a previous discipline, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
"She failed to comply with the terms of a July 31, 2017, suspension order," the state bar said in its July 31 announcement of the discipline and the Supreme Court's order. "Specifically, Runyan was required to notify her clients, opposing counsel and tribunals of her suspension and provide the bar within 30 days, a sworn affidavit listing the names and addresses of all persons and entities that were furnished a copy of her suspension order."
In its two-page order, the state Supreme Court granted the state bar's petition for contempt and order to show cause and suspended Runyan for one year. Runyan was still under a previous suspension, so the high court's latest sanction against her was effective immediately. The court also ordered Runyan to pay $1,250 in costs.
Florida court orders are not final until time to file a rehearing motion expires. Filing such a motion does not alter the effective date of Runyan's suspension.
Runyan was admitted to the bar in Florida on Dec. 31, 1987, according to her profile at the state bar website.
Runyan was suspended a little more than a year ago following a July 2017 Florida Supreme Court order after she allegedly violated the terms of a February 2015 order that required, among other things, that she "refrain from mood-altering substances." Runyan's five years' probation also required her to sign a monthly rehabilitation contract with Florida Lawyers Assistance and pay a $100 monthly monitoring fee to the state bar's headquarters.
The probation order stemmed from her June 2014 arrest for allegedly misusing the 911 system. She also voluntarily entered a six month in-patient treatment program, was evaluated by Florida Lawyers Assistance and, at the time of the high court's 2015 order, was then in full compliance with the conditions of her treatment program.