The Florida Bar Inquiry/complaint Form

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The Florida Bar
651 E. Jefferson Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2300
Toll Free 1-866-352-0707 (ACAP)
IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS
Read all instructions carefully before completing the form on the back of this page. If the form is not prop-
erly completed it may be rejected or returned for correction. You may attach up to 25 additional sheets
to supplement any section. If you have not already done so, you should contact the Attorney/Consumer Assis-
tance Program (ACAP) at the above toll free number, to see if they can help resolve the matter about which you
wish to complain.
Please note The Florida Bar cannot intervene on your behalf in a civil or criminal case, nor can we give you
legal advice. We do not have jurisdiction to consider complaints against judges and many elected officials. Our
lawyer regulation department considers whether an attorney has violated our rules of conduct and determines
whether under the totality of the circumstances the attorney should receive some type of discipline. The level
of investigation varies depending on the complexity of the allegations. If your complaint is closed, you will
receive a written explanation of the reasons why. There is no right to appeal a decision not to pursue an
investigation.
PART ONE – Required Information. You must give your name, address and phone number, and the name,
address and phone number of the subject attorney. The address of the attorney is particularly important as
many lawyers have the same or similar names. List only one attorney per form (you may copy this form if you
need additional copies) and print or type in black ink. You can file a complaint only against individual attor-
neys, not against a law firm. If you have already contacted ACAP, please indicate your ACAP reference number.
PART TWO – Facts/Allegations. Describe each thing about which you are complaining. Recite all of the
details, in chronological order, supplying dates where possible. Please number any additional pages you attach.
If you have letters, documents or other evidence, you should attach photocopies (DO NOT SEND ORIGINAL
DOCUMENTS). It is helpful if you mark your attachments as exhibits (A, B, C, etc.), and refer to them in your
description of your complaint. Please be aware that simply alleging conclusions without setting out
facts that support those conclusions will result in the need for the Bar to ask you for additional
information and may delay a disposition of your complaint.
PART THREE – Witnesses. Your inquiry/complaint will be considered even if there are no witnesses. If you
have witnesses, attach an additional sheet, listing nothing but witnesses, with the name, address and tele-
phone number for each witness, and include a brief description of the facts about which that witness would
testify. If you do not attach a list of witnesses, we will presume that you have no witnesses, other than the
attorney and yourself.
PART FOUR – Attempted Resolution. The Florida Bar offers various alternative resolution services for
disputes between attorneys and clients, such as the Attorney Consumer Assistance Program (ACAP) at the toll
free number on the top of this page. If you have not tried to do so, you should attempt to resolve your matter
by writing to the subject attorney, before contacting ACAP or filing a complaint. Even if this is unsuccessful, it
is important that you do so in order to have documentation of good-faith efforts to resolve your matter. If you
choose to go forward with a complaint, you should specify what resolution efforts you have made on your own
behalf, including whether you contacted ACAP– you should specifically indicate if you contacted ACAP, and if
so, what resulted from your use of the services of ACAP.
PART FIVE– Signature. You must sign the form and certify under penalty of perjury that your allegations
are true. Unsworn complaints are not considered.
RETURN TO THE FLORIDA BAR
DEPARTMENT OF LAWYER REGULATION
at the Branch Office nearest the attorney’s office address:
5521 West Spruce St.
1200 Edgewater Dr. Cypress Financial Center
Rivergate Plaza
Tallahassee Branch
Suite C49
Orlando, Fl.
5900 N. Andrews Ave.
Suite M-100
651 E. Jefferson St.
Tampa, FL 33607-5958
32804-6314
Suite 900
444 Brickell Ave.
Tallahassee, FL
Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
Miami, FL.
32399-2300
33309
33131

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