Lawyer Disbarred for Sex-For-Fees

Area lawyer disbarred for sex-for-fees
The News Herald Writer by DAVID ANGIER May 2, 2009

TALLAHASSEE, FL — The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday disbarred James Harvey Tipler for multiple bar infractions, law violations and unethical conduct, including trading sex for attorney fees. Tipler, 58, who was based in Fort Walton Beach but practiced in Panama City and Alabama, was charged in September 1999 with racketeering and four misdemeanor counts of prostitution. He traded legal services for sex with four women between Nov. 1, 1998, and Sept. 17, 1999. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of soliciting prostitution in 2001, which resolved his case without jail time. "He satisfied his own sexual appetite with a client as a sex-for-fees arrangement," Chief Justice Peggy Quince wrote in the unanimous decision. "He altered evidence and caused a witness to unknowingly give false testimony. He has charged his clients excessive fees and stolen their money. He has failed to maintain a trust account. He has broken public confidence in the profession of the practice of law by neglecting his clients and failing to prosecute their cases. He has prejudiced the administration of justice by misrepresenting facts to multiple courts. And, through the disciplinary process in these cases, he has been dilatory, deceitful and evasive." Tipler represented an 18-year-old Bay County woman who was charged with aggravated assault and entered into an agreement with her where he'd knock $200 off her $2,300 fee "each time she engaged in sex" with him and $400 if "she arranged for other females to have sex with him," according to the Supreme Court opinion.

After his case was resolved, Tipler began a lengthy process of resolving a disciplinary action in Alabama arising out of the same incident. The Alabama Bar also found that Tipler had edited a videotape in a medical malpractice suit to remove scenes that would have been harmful to his case. He was found to be in criminal contempt of court and suspended for 120 days. The Supreme Court found that Tipler had taken on clients, charged them but did not work on their cases, and misused more than $57,000 in funds. "Tipler secured fees based on intentional misrepresentation and fraud," Quince wrote. "In most of the cases, Tipler charged excessive fee, failed to comply with the Bar rules governing trust accounts and failed to protect his clients' interests." She wrote that while the court questions "whether Tipler is truly amenable to rehabilitation," the justices took into account the mitigating factors in his case, including emotional problems and a mental impairment, and chose not to disbar him permanently. He can reapply after a period of time. The opinion was sent to Tipler in Beverly Hills, Calif.