Former Broward Judge Laura Watson Disbarred; Five Attorneys Suspended
Watson was disbarred for a secret settlement she helped negotiate as an insurance litigator.
April 28, 2017 at 04:00 AM
3 minute read
The Florida Supreme Court disbarred former Broward Circuit Judge Laura Watson and suspended five other South Florida attorneys, the Florida Bar announced Friday.
Watson's permanent disbarment comes nearly two years after the high court removed her from the bench for unethical conduct that predated her time as a judge. As an attorney at Watson & Lentner, she was part of a secret insurance litigation settlement that didn't designate any money for specially-retained bad-faith attorneys on the case, the court found.
Along with other firms, Watson & Lentner received a $14.5 million settlement from Progressive Insurance Co. on behalf of health care providers. Watson & Lentner paid clients $361,000 and kept more than $2 million as attorney fees, leaving out bad-faith attorneys who later sued Watson along with other attorneys and firms who benefitted from the settlement.
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