Those Pesky Ethical Situations

Many bar exams, if not most bar exams, test professional conduct issues. You would think that after taking and passing the MPRE and after answering professional conduct questions on the bar, you would know that the bar examiners love to test applicants on money and sex. Well, here is one lawyer who ignored his ethical responsibilities to his client and to the public. Fortunately, he is no longer a scourge on the legal profession. The Florida Supreme Court disbarred a lawyer for having sex with his client.

James Harvey Tipler was a lawyer who let a female client work off her fee through sex .The justices Thursday cited Tipler's guilty plea to solicitation to prostitution as one of several instances of professional misconduct. Tipler admitted having sex with his 18-year-old client and another woman in exchange for credits toward her $2,300 fee for handling a Bay County assault case, the justices wrote. He agreed to take off $200 every time he had sex with her and $400 when she arranged sex with another woman. The justices also found in other cases he altered evidence, caused a witness to give false testimony, charged excessive fees and stole clients' money.

You can find the complete case on the Florida Supreme Court website, if you want to read all the gory details. This dude was a piece of work. The case is entitled, The Florida Bar v. James Harvey Tipler. He actually had 3 separate cases pending, which was consolidated in this opinion. Also arising out of the same incident of having sex with his client, Tippler had been suspended for 15 months in Alabama. He also failed to report the suspension to the Florida bar within the 3 day requirement. Tipler was also facing discplinary problems in California

The list of violations of the Rules Regulating the Florida Bar (Professional Conduct Rules in Florida) reads like a laundry list: 3-4.3 (“The commission by a lawyer of any act that is unlawful or contrary to honesty and justice, whether the act is committed in the course of the attorney’s relations as an attorney or otherwise, whether committed within or outside the state of Florida, and whether or not the act is a felony or misdemeanor, may constitute a cause for discipline.”); 3-4.4 (indicating that criminal misconduct is a cause for discipline); 3-7.2(l)(1) (“A member of The Florida Bar who . . . has been . . . suspended from the practice of law by a court or other authorized disciplinary agency of another state . . . shall within 30 days . . . [notify] the Supreme Court of Florida and the executive director of The Florida Bar . . . .”); 4-1.2(d) (“A lawyer shall not counsel a client to engage, or assist a client, in conduct that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know is criminal or fraudulent.”); 4-1.5(a) (“An attorney shall not enter into an agreement for, charge, or collect an illegal, prohibited, or clearly excessive fee or cost . . . .”);
4-8.4(a) (“A lawyer shall not . . . violate or attempt to violate the Rules of Professional Conduct, knowingly assist or induce another to do so, or do so through the acts of another.”); 4-8.4(b) (“A lawyer shall not . . . commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects.”); 4-8.4(d) (“A lawyer shall not . . . engage in conduct . . . that is prejudicial to the administration of justice . . . .”); and 4-8.4(i) (“A lawyer shall not . . . engage in sexual conduct with a client that exploits . . . the lawyer-
client relationship . . . .”).

Tipler also submitted to court a videotape of a plaintiff in a medical malpractice case - in which he edited out and deleted all the bad stuff in the videotape. Just unbelievable.

Good riddance to a disgusting and sleezy member of our legal profession.

For students taking the Florida bar, I would advise you to read this case in depth - who knows, you might see it on a future bar exam.