On Wednesday, April 19, 2023, the Supreme Court of Florida ruled on the Decision and Order of Involuntary Inactive Enrollment filed by the State Bar concerning the disciplinary charges against Redwood City attorney Naomi Sue Comfort.

The case is styled “In the Matter of Naomi Sue Comfort,” and was brought by the Office of Chief Trial Counsel of the State Bar of California (OCTC), Case No. SBC-22-O-30445.

The charges cited Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 1.15(d)(4), 1.16(d), and 1.16(e)(2).

The rules of professional conduct can be found on The State Bar of California page.

The Notice of Disciplinary Charges charged Comfort with six counts of misconduct, accusing her of failing to act with reasonable diligence in the interest of his client, Robert H. Covington, who hired Comfort for the purpose of filing a Spousal Property Petition to transfer title to real property to Covington following the death of his spouse. Comfort was further alleged to have failed to respond promptly to Covington’s reasonable status inquiries, improper withdrawal from employment, failed to refund unearned fees and failed to participate in the State Bar’s investigation of the herein disciplinary matter.

Thereafter, the OCTC sought Ms. Anderson’s disbarment pursuant to Rule 5.85, which states:

. . .when an attorney fails to participate in a disciplinary proceeding after receiving adequate notice and opportunity. The rule provides that if an attorney’s default is entered for failing to respond to the NDC, and the attorney fails to have the default set aside or vacated within 90 days, OCTC must file a petition requesting that the court recommend the attorney’s disbarment.”

The Judge of the State Bar Court, then ruled for the Involuntary Inactive Enrollment of Ms. Comfort by an Order dated December 20, 2022.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court disbarred Ms. Comfort from the practice of law and struck her name out from the roll of attorneys in relation to her violation of the rules of professional conduct as charged.

Ms. Comfort was further ordered to make restitution to Covington in the amount of $2,000 plus 10% interest per year from January 28, 2021, to comply with California Rules of Court, rule 9.20, and to pay monetary sanctions to the State Bar in the amount of $5,000.

Ms. Naomi Sue Comfort practiced in Redwood City, prior to her disbarment, and she had been licensed in California, license no. 195582. Comfort graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles, School of Law. Her info can be found on Avvo.com.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.