Florida Supreme Court building in Tallahassee, Florida. Photo: Phil Sears

A Tallahassee attorney tied up in a litany of litigation is now facing a show-cause order from the Florida Supreme Court, and additional charges of misconduct from the Florida Bar.

The Florida Supreme Court issued an order to show cause against Phillip Timothy Howard after a grievance committee with the state bar entered a petition asking the high court to take action against the litigator.

The Florida Bar entered a complaint against Howard the next day, alleging he was not diligent and acted incompetently while representing the plaintiffs in an Engle progeny tobacco lawsuit.

According to the Florida Bar's petition for contempt and order to show cause, Howard failed to respond to a subpoena for records in an investigation against him. An exhibit included with the petition said Howard repeatedly delivered insufficient documents to the grievance committee. Although he was asked to supply the Florida Bar with a list of clients, ledger cards, court filings and statements that would indicate how much money he was receiving for his work, the petition claimed Howard only provided bank statements for 2014 through 2016 and eventually stopped responding altogether.

"To date, no email sent to respondent's record bar email address has bounced back as invalid or undeliverable," bar counsel Shaneé L. Hinson wrote in the pleading, noting Howard had previously communicated with the bar's staff auditor via email.

The grievance committee determined Howard "failed to show good cause for failing to sufficiently respond to an official bar inquiry and that the non-compliance was willful."

The Florida Supreme Court gave Howard until Oct. 1 to respond to the show-cause order. The high court added it would deliver a reply and determination on whether to hold the attorney in contempt by Oct. 11.

Read the Florida Bar complaint:

Howard is facing a Florida Bar complaint charging him with violating several bar rules, including misusing client and trust-account funds, as well as charging excessive fees.

The new complaint filed Tuesday contends Howard and Ankur Mehta, a non-attorney who worked for the Howard & Associates law firm, failed to adequately prepare clients Richard and Margaret Harris for a lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. Howard was later terminated from the case, and the errata sheets he prepared were eventually deemed fraudulent by both the succeeding plaintiff's lawyer and opposing counsel.

Retired Leon Circuit Judge Karen Gievers presided over the case and denied Howard's motion for $750,000 in attorney fees and costs in May.

The complaint filed by the Florida Bar also accuses Howard of violating rules of conduct concerning competence, diligence, and the expected responsibilities of partners, managers and supervisory lawyers.

Mehta's company Mehta Consulting LLC filed a lawsuit against Howard in June for alleged unjust enrichment and breach of contract. Its complaint, which said Mehta provided "office management services" to Howard & Associates, contends the plaintiff is owed $200,000 in damages, as well as $160,000 in loans from Howard.

A February 2018 complaint entered with the bar by former Howard & Associates administrative employee Kimberly Poling said Mehta practiced law without a license while working alongside Howard. Her complaint also said the firm had ongoing problems with timely compensating employees, and called Mehta a "consigliere" of Howard's.

Howard is currently in a legal battle with Coral Gables litigator J.B. Harris, who'd previously worked alongside the attorney as his co-counsel. Harris has pursued legal action against Howard for allegedly failing to finance Engle progeny lawsuits as promised.

Howard has also been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with defrauding retired NFL players he was representing. The former professional athletes had retained the attorney's services in class-action litigation concerning brain injuries they sustained during their respective careers.

Howard did not respond to press inquiries by deadline.

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