Lawyers Disciplined for Misconduct (Tampa edition)

Lawyers Disciplined for Misconduct (Tampa edition)

Four Tampa Bay area lawyers were recently disciplined by the Florida Supreme Court following investigations by the Florida Bar.

× Clearwater attorney Lois Charlyne Chatham, admitted to the bar in 1998, was disbarred after she failed to respond in writing to a bar investigation. She is accused of violating rules regulating trust accounts; failing to provide competent representation to a client; and failing to act with reasonable diligence.

In December 2002, Chatham was placed on rehabilitative probation by the court after Pinellas-Pasco Judge George Greer referred her to the bar for failing to file an estate inventory in a probate case. The judge contacted the bar a second time in 2001 after Chatham received a $3,700 check when a probate estate was liquidated and she failed to report it.

Chatham was previously admonished by the court in 1992 for failing to act with reasonable diligence and promptness on a client's behalf.

× Largo lawyer Marilyn Elizabeth Hafling, admitted to the bar in 1992, resigned rather than be disciplined. She is accused of failing to act with diligence and promptness on behalf of a client and failing to keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter.

In 1998, Hafling was placed on 18 months' probation for similar allegations. In that matter, she failed to attend a final divorce hearing or to inform the client of the hearing. As part of her discipline in that matter, she was required to hire a firm to analyze her office procedures and record keeping.

× Longtime St. Petersburg criminal defense lawyer Robert A. Love, admitted to the bar in 1979, was suspended from the practice of law for 10 days after he failed to respond in writing to a bar inquiry. He's also accused of failing to keep a client reasonably informed. Love's practice must undergo an office procedures and record-keeping analysis.

× Dunedin attorney Robert Leon Tankel, admitted to the bar in 1982, was suspended from the practice of law for 15 days and he'll be placed on suspension for 18 months. Tankel is accused of making a false statement to a third party while representing a client and engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.