GAINESVILLE, Fla. – An Ocala lawyer who judges said neglected her clients and accepted money without performing any work has been disbarred, kicked out of the legal profession in Florida.
Danialle Riggins, 51, a business and civil lawyer, will no longer be allowed to practice law, effective March 15, the Florida Bar announced last week. The Florida Supreme Court, which handles disciplinary cases against lawyers, also ordered Riggins to pay $15,259 to her former clients and the bar.
Riggins could not be reached to discuss the case against her. When a reporter called the phone number she listed with the Florida Bar, someone hung up without answering each time.
One of her former clients, Gene Filer, said in an interview Wednesday he was satisfied with the decision.
“I got what I wanted, which was to have her disbarred. She hurt other people way worse than she hurt me,” Filer said.
Filer had hired Riggins to handle the eviction of a commercial tenant from a warehouse over nonpayment of rent. Riggins failed to appear in court at hearings in November 2022 and March 2023, causing Filer to pursue the cases on his own and explain to the judge that Riggins had abandoned him.
The Florida Bar took action against Riggins – a 2005 graduate of Florida A&M’s College of Law – after complaints from four clients, including Filer. Separately, two judges complained about what they described as inappropriate courtroom conduct and missed hearings.
One of the judges, Circuit Judge Ann Melinda Craggs, who handles family matters, said Riggins “did not seem to know on which cases she was attorney of record and was not advising her clients of scheduled hearings,” the disciplinary records said.
The other judge, County Judge Lori Cotton, said Riggins once appeared for a court hearing and announced that she represented the wrong side, ruining the case for her actual client.
Riggins is separately facing at least two civil lawsuits against her by banks accusing her of failing to pay her credit cards. A judge last month ruled in favor of Capital One for $13,827 after Riggins failed to show up in court to fight the lawsuit.
In January, JP Morgan sued Riggins to collect $6,523 it said she owes. That case is pending. She was expected in Marion County Court Tuesday afternoon and was ordered to show up personally or to hire a lawyer to represent her.
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