UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
ORLANDO DIVISION
QUWANDA CANNION PHILLIPS,
Plaintiff,
v. Case No. 6:19-cv-2137-RBD-LHP
FEDEX GROUND PACKAGE
SYSTEM, INC.,
Defendant.
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ORDER
This cause is before the Court sua sponte. The Court previously ordered
Plaintiff’s Counsel, Curtis B. Lee, Esq., to show cause as to why he should not be
sanctioned for failing to comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(b) in
connection with misrepresentations he made to the Court in a motion for new trial.
(See Doc. 130.) Mr. Lee has now filed a response and Defendant has filed a brief,
as requested by the Court. (Doc. 143).
Mr. Lee states that his misrepresentations to the Court were unintentional,
but this does not excuse his lack of reasonable diligence under the circumstances.
(Doc. 131.) As a member of the Florida and Middle District Bar Associations, and
officer of the Court, Mr. Lee’s actions are unacceptable. It is a lawyer’s
responsibility to the Court, the legal profession, and the public to be diligent in
ensuring that the legal and factual contentions made are supported by the law and
the evidence. Mr. Lee was on notice that the representations he made with respect
to the evidence in the record were unsupported. Even so, he repeated those
representations without examining the transcript or requesting the testimony of
the witness in question. This disregard for his obligation for candor with the Court
and parties reflects poorly upon the legal profession and is inconsistent with the
sworn duty of a member of the Florida Bar and of the Bar of the Middle District of
Florida. This order will be posted on the public website of the Middle District of
Florida and a copy provided to the Florida Bar in the form of a public reprimand
as a sanction pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11(c).
Accordingly, it is ORDERED AND ADJUDGED:
1. Curtis B. Lee, Esq. is SANCTIONED in the form of this written
admonishment.
2. The Clerk is DIRECTED to post this Order on the website for the
Middle District of Florida.
3. The Clerk is DIRECTED to provide a copy of this Order to the Florida
Bar.
DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers in Orlando, Florida, on March 3,
2023.
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