In short: Florida lawyers must hold client money in trust accounts and reconcile them monthly. Misappropriating trust funds usually leads to disbarment. If your lawyer took your money, report it to The Florida Bar, apply to the Bar’s Clients’ Security Fund, and talk to a lawyer about civil claims, including against the lawyer’s firm and bank where facts support it.
The "Lawyers Behaving Badly" videos below include lawyers who took money from estates, clients, and even family. Here is how the system is supposed to work, and what a client can do when it fails.
The Trust Account Rules
Chapter 5 of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar requires lawyers to hold client and third-party money in a separate trust account, never mixed with the lawyer’s own funds (Rule 5-1.1). Lawyers must keep detailed records and perform monthly reconciliations (Rule 5-1.2). Money is disbursed only for the client’s purposes.
Why Theft Usually Means Disbarment
Misappropriation of client funds is among the most serious offenses a lawyer can commit. Disbarment is the presumptive sanction, and the Florida Supreme Court has rejected lighter discipline recommended by referees in several of the cases below. Mitigation such as restitution, mental health, or a long clean record can matter, but rarely saves the license when the taking was knowing.
Protect the Account
For lawyers, the video on locking down every bank account is the practical lesson: dual authorization for disbursements, positive pay, verified wire instructions by phone, and reconciling every month yourself. Trust accounts are a target for outside fraud too.
What Clients Can Do
- Report it. File a complaint with The Florida Bar. Bar proceedings are separate from your recovery but create an official record.
- Clients’ Security Fund. The Bar maintains a fund that reimburses clients who lost money to a lawyer’s dishonest conduct, subject to limits and eligibility rules. Apply promptly.
- Civil claims. Conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, civil theft (§ 772.11), and claims against a firm, partners, or others who participated.
- Probate. If the money came from an estate or trust, the personal representative or successor trustee may need to pursue it, and the court can compel an accounting.
Watch: the videos behind this article
The Day I Locked Down Every Bank Account — Lawyers, This Is Your Warning
Watch the Real Appellate Arguments
These are recordings of Florida Supreme Court arguments in attorney discipline cases involving client and trust funds, posted on the channel. An argument is not a ruling: read the written opinion before relying on any outcome.
Attorney Stole $123,000 From His Uncle's Estate — A 90-Day Suspension? | FL Bar v. Korones
Attorney Stole Client Funds — Bar Wants Disbarment, Referee Said 90 Days | FL Bar v. Travis
Attorney MASSIVE Trust Fund SHORTAGE and Covered It Up | FL Bar v. Alters | SC14-100
LAWYER BEHAVING BADLY-Attorney Trust Account Disbarment Fla. Bar v. Anderson | SC18-1646 | | FL Sup.
A "Liquidity Crisis" and Loans From Clients in Their 70s and 80s — Suspension or Disbarment?
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to a Florida lawyer who steals client money?
Misappropriation of trust funds usually results in disbarment, and may lead to criminal charges and civil liability.
How do I get my money back if my lawyer stole it?
Report it to The Florida Bar, apply to the Clients’ Security Fund, and consult a lawyer about civil claims for conversion, civil theft, or breach of fiduciary duty.
What is a lawyer trust account?
A separate bank account where a lawyer must hold client and third-party money, kept apart from the lawyer’s own funds and reconciled monthly.
Can I sue a law firm for a lawyer's theft?
Possibly, depending on the firm’s structure and involvement. Partners, supervisors, and others who participated may be liable.
Talk to a Florida litigation lawyer
Weidner Law, P.A. handles Florida civil litigation and appeals from St. Petersburg. To have your case reviewed, call (727) 954-8752 or email weidner@mattweidnerlaw.com.
Read the law yourself, free: the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, Appellate Procedure, and Judicial Administration are all on floridarules.net.
This article is general information about Florida law, not legal advice about your situation. Reading it, watching the videos, or contacting the firm does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case turns on its own facts, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements.
