TALLAHASSEE (Florida Record) — Longtime Miami attorney Leroy G. Lee faces indefinite suspension following a Nov. 15 Florida Supreme Court order after being found in contempt for not responding to a disciplinary proceeding against him, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
"The Florida Supreme Court struck Lee’s untimely response to a June 28 order to show cause why he should have not been held in contempt for failing to fully respond to Florida Bar inquiries and held him in contempt," the state bar said in its Nov. 26 announcement of the discipline and the Supreme Court's order. "Lee will remain suspended until he has fully responded in writing to official bar inquiries."
In its two-page order, state Supreme Court granted the state bar's petition for contempt and order to show cause, issued in June, and denied Lee's "untimely" motion to deny the state bar's petition.
The court then held Lee in contempt and, as a sanction, suspended him "until he has fully responded in writing to the official bar inquiries, and until further order of this court," the order said.
Lee's suspension will be effective 30 days from the date of the court's order to allow him time to close his practice and protect his existing clients' interests, according to the state high 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 Lee's suspension.
Lee was admitted to the bar in Florida on April 26, 1997, according to his profile at the state bar website. No prior discipline before the state bar is listed on his bar profile.
In April the state bar made attempts to contact Lee "requesting documentation pertaining to the grievance" but Lee did not respond, according to the state bar's petition.
Neither the petition nor the Supreme Court's order describes the nature of the grievance.