Lawyer receives suspension for contempt of court more than a year after his death
Last month, a Florida attorney was suspended for not properly responding to the Florida Bar—508 days after his death. (Image from Shutterstock)
Last month, a Florida attorney was suspended for not properly responding to the Florida Bar—508 days after his death.
Lawyer Emelike Nwosuocha of Miami died July 21, 2024, at age 64 amid an ongoing disciplinary matter that arose after he failed to pay attorney fees to a defendant in a medical negligence lawsuit that was dismissed with prejudice several years earlier, the Miami Herald reports.
Nwosuocha initially received a six-month suspension for failing to answer the defendant’s grievance in August 2023 and then a one-year suspension for contempt in June 2024 for not providing a sworn affidavit to the Florida Bar that listed the individuals and the entities who were notified of the initial suspension. The Florida Bar required Nwosuocha to provide a second notification affidavit, which was due in July 2024.
Nearly three months after Nwosuocha’s death, the Florida Bar notified him “of his noncompliance with the conditions of his suspension to his record bar mailing address and record bar email address, specifically his failure to submit the sworn affidavit,” the Miami Herald reports.
The Florida Bar also asked the Florida Supreme Court to find him in contempt again and suspend him for three years.
The state supreme court entered the judgment against Nwosuocha on Dec. 11.
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