Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Paternity

When can a party ask for disqualification of the opposing lawyer in a Florida family law case? If the lawyer is deemed to have formed an attorney-client relationship with both parties in the same case, disqualification of the lawyer may be appropriate. In the case L.E.B. v. D.D.C., 2D19-4372 (Fla. 2d DCA September 25, 2020), the issue of disqualification of a legal aid attorney arose.

The parties were involved in a paternity case. Shortly before the case was filed, the mother consulted with her local Legal Aid Society and was accepted as a client. Legal Aid filed a petition against the father, and litigation ensued. The parties attended mediation and were unable to settle the case. It therefore proceeded to trial a little over a year after the case was filed by the mother. At the start of the trial, the father made an oral motion to disqualify Legal Aid from representing the mother, alleging that he had consulted with Legal Aid about 1 year prior to that office accepting the mother as a client. Legal Aid responded that it had none of the documents submitted to Legal Aid by the father, that the father never met with an attorney and only an intake clerk, and that the father waived any objection to Legal Aid’s representation of the mother because he never raised it in the year that the case had been pending. The trial court disagreed with Legal Aid and entered an order of disqualification. The mother appealed.

On appeal, the appellate court noted that Legal Aid’s position that the father was never a client was not correct. Although Legal Aid declined representation of the father, the appellate court reasoned he could still be considered to have formed an attorney-client relationship with Legal Aid. Notwithstanding this, the appellate court reversed the trial court’s disqualification of Legal Aid, holding “Here, [the father] was aware of the fact that [the mother] was represented by Legal Aid from the inception of the case in July 2017. He was also aware that he had previously sought assistance from Legal Aid on the same matter a year earlier. Nevertheless, he did not move to disqualify Legal Aid until the start of trial fourteen months after the case began. When questioned about the reason for the delay, [the father] did not contend that he was not aware before then of the facts that would support disqualification. Instead, he contended that, as a pro se litigant, he had not understood the legal ramifications of the facts or that he had the right to move to disqualify Legal Aid from representing [the mother] This argument, however, carries no weight. [. . .] His status as a pro se litigant does not afford him rights over and above those afforded to represented litigants.”

A pro se litigant is someone not represented by an attorney in a case. Having a lawyer represent you may save time and even money in the long run. Schedule a consultation with a Miami paternity lawyer to go over how the law may apply to your case.