Attorney Fails Second Chance

Attorney Fails Second Chance

By Janet Leiser

Senior Editor

Tampa lawyer Michael Vincent Giordano is accused of neglecting his clients, including a death row inmate from Polk County whose case documents were almost destroyed after the attorney failed to pay storage fees.

As Giordano, 54, faced disciplinary proceedings by the Florida Bar, he tendered his resignation in June to the Florida Supreme Court. That means he won't have to repay $74,750 to nearly a dozen clients who received little or no service, according to the Bar.

"Basically he took money to represent clients, then he didn't do it," says Linda Lyman, manager of the Florida Bar's Tampa office.

The clients can seek reimbursement through the Bar's client security fund, she says. And Giordano, a lawyer since 1976, would have to repay the fund to regain his license.

As for forcing Giordano to repay the clients, she says, "Once they resign, we have no jurisdiction over them."

Drug sales

In 1985, Giordano was suspended from the practice of law after he pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and three counts of distribution of marijuana, according to Bar records. A former Hillsborough assistant state attorney, he sold illegal drugs to two prosecutors who were later indicted by a grand jury, according to newspaper accounts.

In 1988, Giordano was readmitted to the Florida Bar. Records show that 23 people, including lawyers and four circuit judges, testified on his behalf before Referee Catherine Harlan, who recommended his reinstatement to the Supreme Court.

During the first suspension, Giordano started his own company, Tampa Bay Area Legal Research Inc., and he organized the "Jeff Chilldon Memorial Golf Tournament" to benefit the Hillsborough Association of Retired Citizens. In addition, he spoke to college classes about drug abuse and how it impacted his life and career.

His conviction came up publicly again in 1995 after Hillsborough Public Defender Julie Holt was criticized by the media for nepotism in the hiring of friends, relatives and Giordano, a convicted felon.

Since then, he has done mostly criminal defense work.

In 1997, he represented a Thonotosassa man, called "Master Troy," in a highly publicized case that involved a sex dungeon where people paid to participate, according to prosecutors. His client Terry Lynn Thomas was sentenced to three years' probation.

In 2000, Giordano was involved in another well-known case. On appeal, he represented Harold Vann whose pickup truck hit a vehicle driven by Debbie Jackson, whose husband, Tom Jackson, is a writer for The Tampa Tribune. The couple's 11-year-old daughter Katie was killed. Their younger daughter, Elizabeth, was left in a vegetative state.

Vann's initial sentence of 24 1/2 years was overturned on appeal, and reduced to 16 years.

New allegations

Curtis W. Beasley, 56, has been on death row at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford since his 1998 first-degree murder conviction in Polk County for the slaying of Carolyn Monfort. The former painter has maintained his innocence.

After Beasley's initial appeals failed, the court appointed Giordano, who is on the Commission on Capital Cases registry.

In December, the manager of Lock-N-Key, the storage facility where Giordano stored Beasley's case documents, called the Florida Attorney General's office. Rod Robinson had tried to contact Giordano several times to request a past due payment of $773 for the rental unit but never heard back. Eventually Robinson talked to the lawyer who told him he was experiencing financial difficulties and couldn't pay the $155 monthly rent, records show.

If Robinson hadn't realized the significance of the legal documents, all 16 boxes might have been destroyed.

When the Bar later contacted Giordano about the papers, he also failed to respond to them, according to Bar records.

In addition to Beasley, there are other clients who say Giordano didn't help them out. There's Johnnie Parker, James E. Lyons, George Pitcher, Robert Peterkin, Luis A. Colon, Jeffrey Doby, Ira Stephens, James T. Curtis and Matthew P. McConnaughy.

Ray L. Johnson hired Giordano to represent him in a civil rights claim on a contingency fee basis. According to the Bar, the lawyer "failed to act with competence and diligence in pursuing Mr. Johnson's case."

Reinstatement

According to terms of Giordano's resignation, he can seek readmission after three years.

Giordano's lawyer, Scott Tozian, wasn't available for comment. He was representing Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge John Renke at a weeklong Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission hearing in Clearwater.

Attempts to reach Giordano were unsuccessful. The telephone number for his downtown Tampa office has been disconnected.