On Thursday, October 6, 2022, the Supreme Court of the State of Florida ruled on the Uncontested Report of the Referee Accepting Consent Judgment concerning West Park attorney Vegina Trimetrice Hawkins for misconduct.

The case, titled The Florida Bar v. Vegina Trimetrice Hawkins’ was brought by the Florida Bar. Case No. SC22-590.

The charges cited Rules Regulating the Florida Bar 3-4.3, 4-8.4(b), and 4-8.4(d), which state:

The standards of professional conduct required of members of the bar are not limited to the observance of rules and avoidance of prohibited acts, and the enumeration of certain categories of misconduct as constituting grounds for discipline are not all-inclusive nor is the failure to specify any particular act of misconduct be construe as tolerance of the act of misconduct. The commission of a lawyer of any act that is unlawful or contrary to honesty and justice may constitute a cause for discipline whether the act is committed in the course of the lawyer’s relations as a lawyer or otherwise, whether committed within Florida or outside of Florida, and whether the act is a felony or a misdemeanor.

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

A lawyer shall not engage in conduct in connection with the practice of law that is prejudicial to the administration of justice, including to knowingly, or through callous indifference, disparage, humiliate, or discriminate against litigants, jurors, witnesses, court personnel, or other lawyers on any basis, including, but not limited to, on account of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, employment, or physical characteristic.

The Rules Regulating the Florida Bar can be found here.

The following are as alleged and summarized from the filing:

The Florida Bar filed its Complaint against Hawkins on April 8, 2022. Hawkins at the relevant time period served as a circuit court judge in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida. Hawkins engaged in misconduct when she placed her hands on or near the neck of a court employee and made a back-and-forth shaking motion for a period of fewer than two seconds. The incident was captured by a security camera. It happened after the employee told Hawkins that the documentation for her afternoon docket was not ready. For this reason, the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) suspended Hawkins without pay on July 19, 2019. The JQC proceedings were dismissed prior to a hearing taking place because Hawkins resigned from the bench, effective November 20, 2020.

The Report of Referee Accepting Consent Judgment recommended that Hawkins be found guilty of misconduct and that she be disciplined by a 90-day suspension with automatic reinstatement, Florida Lawyers Assistance, Inc. evaluation, payment of FLA, Inc. registration fee, to attend therapy sessions with a licensed mental health counselor in the event FLA, Inc. recommends the same, and for Hawkins to pay The Florida Bar’s costs amounting to $2,238.95.

With the foregoing facts and discussions, the court ruled against Hawkins in relation to the above-cited Rules of Professional Conduct

The Disposition reads:

“The uncontested report of the referee is approved and respondent is suspended from the practice of law for ninety days.

Judgment is entered for The Florida Bar, 651 East Jefferson Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2300, for recovery of costs from Vergina Trimetrice Hawkins in the amount of $2,238.95, for which sum let execution issue.”

Ms. Hawkins has been licensed in Florida, license no. 843431.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.