| ► Attorney David Taylor III of Jacksonville; cheating loser |
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Attorney David Taylor III of Jacksonville; cheating loser 
The state of Florida presented David Andrew Taylor III with a law license in 1997 after he graduated from St. Thomas University Law School.
The Florida State Bar found Dave guilty of the following misconduct.
Engaged in conduct involving fraud, dishonesty, deceit or misrepresentation
In one matter, Dave was hired by Delenna Allen to represent her husband, Jack Allen, on a felony charge of capital sexual battery. As a result of additional charges of a similar nature coming to light, the Allen’s agreed to seek an uncontested divorce.
Dave told Delenna that he had located an attorney, Jennifer Dickens who would handle the divorce for $2,000 or less. Delenna gave Dave a $2,000 check with the name of the payee left blank with the understanding that Ms. Dickens’ name would be filled in as the payee of the check. However, Dave later made the check payable to himself and deposited the check into his own account.
Delenna also wrote Dave an undated check for $750 at the same time as the $2,000 check, which represented a final payment on her husband’s attorney fees owed to Dave. However, at the time she delivered the $750 check to Dave, she told him there were insufficient funds to cover the check and that she would notify him when funds were available. Dave’s staff mistakenly deposited the $750 which was returned unpaid for lack of funds.
Dave then paid Ms. Dickens $1,000 to handle Delenna’s divorce and wrote a separate check for $408 to the Clerk of Court to pay court costs. Delenna was not aware of these specific arrangements and believed the whole $2,000 was to be paid to Ms. Dickens.
The excess of $592 was retained by Dave. After the $750 check was returned unpaid, Dave left, or caused to be left, a series of telephone messages with Delenna threatening to delay her divorce proceedings until the check was paid, telling her Ms. Dickens may no longer handle the divorce, that it would cost her several thousand dollars more to get her divorce back on track, that Dave might speak to her husband about re-thinking an uncontested divorce, and that he would have her arrested and prosecuted on the bad check.
It was only after Delenna filed an ethics complaint against Dave that he paid Delenna the sum of $592 which represented the difference between the actual attorney fees and costs incurred from the $2,000 she paid to Dave.
As a consequence of his misconduct, the Patron Saints for Attorney Misfits in Florida sitting on the Florida Supreme Court punished Dave by gifting him with a complimentary 30-day suspension of his law license.
As we speak (ca. December 2013) Dave practices at 233 East Bay Street in Jacksonville, Florida.
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