TALLAHASSEE (Florida Record) — Orlando attorney Darylaine G. Hernandez has been publicly reprimand by publication following an Oct. 3 Florida Supreme Court order over allegations she failed to pay a third party provider in a personal injury case, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
Allegations against Hernandez stemmed from her representation of "an injured party" in the case, according to the state bar's Oct. 24 announcement of the discipline and the Supreme Court's order.
"The client and her prior legal counsel signed a letter of protection [LOP] with two medical providers," the announcement said. "The client’s case settled at mediation and, following the client’s wishes, Hernandez disbursed the settlement proceeds without paying a company that had acquired the client’s medical bills. Hernandez did not sign the LOPs but knew, or should have known, that her client and the client’s prior attorney had signed them and that a provider was claiming a portion of the settlement proceeds."
In its single-page order, the state Supreme Court approved the consent judgment reached between Hernandez and the state bar and ordered her to pay a little more than $1,653 in costs. The judgment also included Hernandez's conditional guilty plea.
The public reprimand will be administered by publication in Southern Reporter.
Hernandez was admitted to the bar in Florida on Sept. 16, 2004, according to her profile at the state bar website. Hernandez had no prior history of discipline, according to the consent judgment.
Allegations against Hernandez are rooted in settlement of her client's case in mediation when she, "following the client's expressed wishes," did not pay a company that had acquired outstanding medical bills from a medical provider, according to the consent judgment.
[Hernandez] did not sign a LOP with the health care providers, but [Hernandez] knew or should have known that her client and her prior attorney had signed LOPs with the medical providers and that [the company] was claiming a portion of the settlement proceeds," the consent judgment said.