On Thursday, January 29, 2026, The Florida Bar filed a Petition for Emergency Suspension with the Supreme Court of Florida, seeking the immediate suspension of attorney A. Marie Delapena’s license to practice law in Florida. The petition, filed due to concerns about the alleged misappropriation of client funds, cites several violations of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar.
The case is entitled “The Florida Bar v. A. Marie Delapena,” with case nos. 2026-30,252(9A)(CES), 2026-30,108(9A), and 2025-30,513(9A).
The Florida Bar’s petition alleges that Delapena’s actions pose a significant risk to the public. The filing references an affidavit from the bar’s auditor, Matthew D. Herdeker, which serves as Exhibit “A” and details the alleged financial improprieties.
According to the petition, Delapena is already suspended from practicing law due to a prior Supreme Court case, SC2024-1812, dated July 9, 2025. This suspension stemmed from a jury finding her guilty on June 20, 2025, of 15 felony counts of wire fraud and 22 felony counts of bank fraud. Despite this existing suspension, The Florida Bar argues that Delapena has maintained access to her trust account, prompting the need for further action.
The petition outlines three specific instances where Delapena allegedly misappropriated client funds. In one instance, involving a client identified as “J.G.R.,” proceeds from the sale of a marital home, amounting to $113,637.24, were wired into Delapena’s TD Bank trust account on May 19, 2023. These funds were then allegedly depleted through multiple transfers to Delapena’s operating accounts. By July 24, 2023, the balance in the trust account was reportedly only $33.74. The petition claims funds unrelated to the J.G.R. matter were later used to pay J.G.R. and her spouse.
A similar situation is described regarding a client identified as “J.R.” Proceeds of $112,251.11 from the sale of a marital home were wired into Delapena’s trust account on December 29, 2023. The petition alleges that these funds were quickly depleted through transfers to Delapena’s operating account and disbursed to various recipients, including a Zelle account and a PayPal account in Delapena’s name. On October 5, 2024, Delapena allegedly misrepresented that she held $92,251.11 in trust for J.R., when the balance was only $29.85. A court order on May 22, 2025, stated Delapena held $87,251.11 from the home sale, but the trust balance was only $26.21.
The third instance involves a client identified as “G.H.J.” On November 13, 2024, $98,338.36 from a marital home sale was wired into Delapena’s trust account, and subsequently depleted through transfers to Delapena’s other accounts. On August 30, 2025, G.H.J. emailed the bar, reporting that Delapena held $86,606.00 of his family’s money in her trust account but refused to release it.
The Florida Bar asserts that Delapena violated several rules, including those related to safekeeping property, compliance with trust accounting rules, engaging in misconduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation, and failing to respond to official inquiries from the bar.
As a result, The Florida Bar is requesting the Supreme Court to issue an order immediately suspending Delapena from practicing law and mandating several actions, including ceasing to accept new clients, refraining from initiating litigation on behalf of clients, providing notice of the suspension to all relevant parties, and ceasing all withdrawals from trust accounts.
The Bar also requests that Delapena not transfer ownership of any property purchased with client funds, deposit any fees received after the suspension order into a specified trust account, and provide copies of the suspension order to all banks and financial institutions where she maintains accounts holding client funds.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
