TALLAHASSEE — Deland attorney William Ronald Alexander Jr. has been publicly reprimanded by publication following a Feb. 7 Florida Supreme Court order over alleged trust account irregularities, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
"A Florida Bar audit found that Alexander commingled personal funds with client funds in his trust account," the state bar said in its Feb. 28 announcement of the discipline and the Supreme Court's order. "The audit also determined that Alexander’s trust account was not in substantial compliance with bar rules."
In its single-page order, the high court approved the uncontested referee's report filed in the matter before reprimanding Alexander and ordered him to pay almost $3,227 in costs.
Alexander, who represented himself throughout the state bar's disciplinary proceedings against him, also will be required to attend a trust accounting workshop, according to the consent judgment filed with the court. The consent judgment also includes Alexander's conditional guilty plea.
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 Alexander's reprimand.
Alexander was admitted to the bar in Florida on April 25, 1996, according to his profile at the state bar website. Alexander had no prior record of discipline before the state bar, according to the consent judgment.
Allegations against Alexander stemmed from an overdraft notice the Florida Bar received concerning the attorney's client trust account, according to the consent judgment. Alexander told the bar that he'd been unaware of the overdraft and that he miscalculated how much remained in the account.
A subsequent audit found the overdraft occurred when Alexander wrote a check for $1,500 from the trust account to his operating account when less than $1,442 was available. Alexander returned the funds to the trust account.
A state bar compliance audit also found that the name of the trust account did not include the words "trust account" and that the ledger cards Alexander provided did not include reasons for all transactions, as required by state bar rules.
"However, the bar's audit found no evidence of misappropriation of client funds," the consent judgment said.