TALLAHASSEE (Florida Record) – Jacksonville attorney Megan Elizabeth Richards was reprimanded by service of recent Florida Supreme Court order regarding her DUI arrest earlier this year, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
In its two-page order filed Aug. 30, the high court approved the uncontested referee's report filed in the matter before reprimanding Richards and ordering her to pay $1,250 in costs. Richards also agreed to contact the Florida Lawyers Assistance (FLA) program for an evaluation within 30 days of the court's order and to be placed on probation during the time of her FLA contract, a period not to exceed five years, according to the consent judgment filed with the court.
The consent judgment also includes Richards' conditional guilty plea.
The state Supreme Court's order followed Richards' March 7 arrest in Duval County for DUI and resisting an officer without violence, both first-degree misdemeanors, according to the consent judgment and the state bar's Sept. 28 announcement of the discipline and the Supreme Court's order.
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 Richards' reprimand.
Richards was admitted to the bar in Florida on Nov. 6, 2007, according to her profile at the state bar website. No prior discipline before the state bar is listed on Richards's state bar profile.
After her DUI arrest, Richards pleaded no contest on both charges, according to the consent judgment. Richards also disclosed to the state bar a prior DUI arrest and a refusal to submit to a breathalyzer test in Hillsborough County in February 2015, according to the consent judgment. That arrest "ultimately resulted in a plea to reckless driving," the consent judgment said.
Richards stipulated to a finding of probable cause in the matter against her, according to the consent judgment.