Florida Bar seeks Court’s approval of Riviera Beach attorney Ferguson’s conditional guilty plea on allegations of misconduct

On Friday, May 12, 2023, the Florida Bar filed a petition seeking the Court’s approval of Riviera Beach attorney Edwin Ferguson’s conditional guilty plea for a consent judgment concerning allegations of misconduct.

The case is styled ‘The Florida Bar v. Edwin Ferguson’ with case no. 2023-50, 213 (15E).

In his representation of a client’s personal injury matter, Ferguson was alleged of misconduct. Initially, Ferguson was diligent in handling the matter, however, the case took a detrimental turn due to Ferguson’s inaction in the court file and resulted in a hearing on a failure to prosecute. Ferguson failed to appear which led to the dismissal of the case. Moreover, Ferfuson falsely claimed that a settlement had been reached and that funds were forthcoming. However, it was discovered that Ferguson had not followed through with any settlement negotiations, and in fact, no settlement had been reached at all.

Ferguson tendered the conditional guilty plea prior to the filing of a formal complaint before the Florida Bar and stipulated a 10-day suspension from the practice of law. In addition, Ferguson voluntarily waived his right to a probable cause hearing before a grievance committee and agreed to accept a finding of probable cause in relation to the matter.

The Conditional Guilty Plea states:

“Prior to the execution of this consent judgment, the respondent has paid the complainant $15,000.00, which was the maximum settlement amount agreed to by the opposing counsel. The respondent has not deducted any attorney’s fees from that amount.”

The Conditional Guilty Plea continues:

“Respondent has expressed extreme remorse for the shortcomings in his handling of his matter and apologizes to the bar and the client for his conduct.”

Based on these facts, the Florida Bar requests the Supreme Court of Florida to accept Ferguson’s conditional guilty for consent judgment be accepted, the proposed discipline be imposed, and the Bar be awarded the costs.

According to his LinkedIn page, Mr. Edward Ferguson graduated from Barry University- Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law. He is listed as the founder of The Ferguson Firm, serving Riviera Beach. He has been licensed to practice in Florida, license no. 15216, as well as in Maryland.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.