Florida Bar Grievance Committee Finds Probable Cause To Probe Now-Sitting Judge Over Alleged Conflicts Of Interest That May Have Left One-Time Client Screwed Out Of Interest In Land

In Live Oak, Florida, the Suwannee Democrat reports:

• The Florida Bar’s Third Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee has found probable cause to support a landowner’s accusations of misconduct and conflict of interest against Circuit Judge Andrew J. Decker III of Live Oak.
  
  The finding resulted from an eight-month investigation by the committee into Decker’s handling of a real estate foreclosure case as a private attorney and before he was elected a judge last November.

  
  The complaint against Decker now goes before the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission, the agency that reviews ethics charges against state judges and can take disciplinary action if it finds fault. 

  
  The misconduct and conflict accusations were made last spring by Daniel A. Dukes of Union County, a partner in the B.W.D Land Trust represented by Decker in foreclosure negotiations with TD Bank. Other trust partners were Circuit Judge Paul S. Bryan of Lake City, and William E. Woodington of Union County.

  
  Among other things, Dukes accused Decker of conspiring with Judge Bryan to transfer Duke’s one-third ownership of the foreclosed property to the judge, then withdrew as Duke’s attorney and later represented the judge in a bankruptcy filing.

  
  He also accused Decker of representing clients before Judge Bryan without disclosing to the opposing side that Decker had served as the judge’s lawyer in other legal proceedings.

  
  The Grievance Committee, which serves as a grand jury for complaints against Florida lawyers, found there was probable cause that Decker violated four of the Florida Bar’s rules on misconduct and conflict of interest.

For more, see Local judge accused of misconduct (State commission to review accusations by landowner).