A bar complaint can come from clients, lawyers, judges or others. The Bar may open a file itself based on a news article, a police report, or a letter from a bank. Certain situations require lawyers to self-report; in other scenarios a lawyer may choose to self-report. After hearing from the responding attorney, Bar counsel can close the file or forward it to a grievance committee for further investigation.
You should never discount the seriousness of a Florida Bar grievance, nor assume that a complaint will be dismissed merely because you are convinced it lacks substantial merit.
Statements made in the initial written exchanges can ultimately affect the outcome. That is why the best time to hire a Florida Bar defense attorney to defend the grievance is at the start. An experienced bar defense counsel can see the traps to avoid in submitting the response.