On Tuesday, February 7, 2023, the Supreme Court of Florida disbarred attorney Ian Horn for making false declarations before a grand jury. The case is entitled “The Florida Bar v. Ian Horn” with case no. SC22-242.

The charges cited Florida Rules of Professional Conduct 4-8.4(b) and 3-7.2(c) which states:

A lawyer shall not commit a criminal act that reflects s adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects.

Failure to notify the Florida Bar of felony criminal charges.

The Rules of Professional Conduct can be found here.

On June 21, 2022, the respondent was charged with two counts of misconduct for making false declarations before a grand jury, which constitutes a class D felony, and failure to notify the Florida Bar of this felony conviction. Mr. Horn was sentenced to two years of supervised probation, six months of home detention, and 50 hours of community service, along with a $5,000,00 fine. It was recommended then by the referee to the Supreme Court that the discipline for such actions should be disbarment.

The filing states:

“I recommend that the respondent be found guilty of misconduct justifying disciplinary measures and that he be disciplined by: a.) Disbarment; b.) Payment of The Florida Bars costs in these proceedings, and c). The respondent will eliminate all indicia of the respondent’s status as an attorney on email, social media, telephone listings, stationery, checks, business cards office signs, or any other indicia of the respondent’s status as an attorney, whatsoever.”

On September 27, 2022, in an Answer Bried filed by the bar counsel, it explained the indictment that was alleged against the respondent.

The filing continues:

“The indictment alleged that Respondent made two false statements in his testimony before the grand jury. In the first count, the indictment asserted that he falsely claimed he had no access to the referenced email communications due to a computer crash, and he had no alternative access to the emails through any online service. However, Mr. Horn accessed relevant email communications regarding NuTech after he had been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury but before his testimony. In the second count, the indictment asserted that Respondent falsely claimed that when he received the subpoena, he had some opinion letters in his possession. However, he had no such opinion letters.”

The Bar Counsel stated that Mr. Horn’s conviction is conclusive proof that he knowingly and voluntarily committed perjury. In connection with this, the latter requested that the court approve the referee’s recommendation of disbarment as well.

The filing further states:

“As Mr. Horn does not assert that this was a case of mistaken identity or that the conduct did not constitute a felony, the scope of the sanction hearing was limited to relevant character evidence and matters of mitigation. Mr. Horn’s contention that his false testimony was the product of an honest mistake is not a relevant matter of mitigation.”

On February 7, 2023, the court approved the recommendation after reviewing the report submitted by the referee and the briefs filed by the parties.

The Disposition states:

“Accordingly, the Respondent is hereby disbarred from the practice of law in Florida. The respondent is currently suspended; therefore, this disbarment is effective immediately. Respondent shall fully comply with Rule Regulating The Florida Bar 3-5.1 (h). Respondent shall also fully comply with Rule Regulating The Florida Bar 3-6.1, if applicable.”

Mr. Horn practices in Brandon, Florida. He is licensed in Florida. Mr. Horn’s info can be found on Linkedin.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.