March 30, 2006
When it comes to disciplining bad lawyers, Florida's performance has gotten worse in the past four years, though the Sunshine State still does a better job than most states. That's according to the 2006 Lawyer Discipline Report Card issued recently by Halt, a legal-reform advocacy group in Washington, D.C. Florida, which ranked second nationally in the group's last report card in 2002, is now ranked 14th, with an overall score of C-plus. The Florida Bar was cited for not investigating all complaints and for the fact that only 3 percent of the complaints investigated led to any discipline. However, the Florida Bar was praised for its consumer-friendly procedures, and C-plus was a relatively high grade. Only three states -- Connecticut, Colorado and Arizona -- scored higher, with B-minuses. Sixteen states received grades of D-plus or lower; Utah got the only F.
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