JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A lawyer who made headlines for an expletive-filled DUI arrest in 2019 has now been ordered to stop practicing law by the Florida Supreme Court.
James Alfred Stanley Jr., who once told police officers, "F*** you, I'm a lawyer, you dumb f***," has now been suspended from the Florida Bar through an emergency order.
A petition by the Florida Bar to suspend Stanley, who worked for Jacksonville law firm Meyers & Stanley, was granted Tuesday. The petition accuses Stanley of stealing money from his clients' settlements, rather than paying the money out to the clients. The order by the Florida Supreme Court says he has caused "or is likely to cause, immediate and serious harm to clients or the public by misappropriating client funds and committing fundamental trust account violations."
He is ordered to stop practicing and drop all current cases within 30 days.
The petition by the Florida Bar says Stanley was taking money from clients' settlements, instead of paying the money out to his clients. According to the petition, Stanley had overdrawn an account where the trust money should have been between $30,131 and $107,630 over seven months. One client had received a settlement of $110,000 and had only been paid once -- a payment of $4000.
Two checks totaling $70,000 were deposited into the account for another client. That client only ever received one check from Stanley, in the amount of $370.
Another example listed in the report is Stanley depositing two client settlement checks totaling $4,600 into his personal checking account.
The funds were used to pay off an overdraft fee in Stanley's bank account and for payments to Poshmark, Comcast, Amazon and a storage company, the report says. He is also accused of using the money to pay employees and to pay taxes.
Stanley is not allowed to accept new clients effective immediately and has been ordered to drop all his current cases. He will be disbarred and cannot advertise himself as a lawyer.
2019 arrest
In 2019, Stanley was arrested on a DUI charge after he was allegedly driving in Ponte Vedre and almost hit several mailboxes.
When police approached, Stanley had an open bottle of rum in his lap, the police report says. When asked if he was drunk, he replied, "I'm f****ed up," and said he had been drinking since 9 a.m., but left the house because he needed more alcohol.
The report says he was staggering when asked to exit the vehicle and police had to help him walk. "James was so unsteady on his feet, he fell into me two times and I had to keep him from falling. James had to be sat on my push bumper to keep from falling," the arresting officer wrote.
When he tried to get Stanley to complete further sobriety tests, he said, "No, just take me to jail."
According to the report, the officer told Stanley his refusal to take the test could be used against him in court.
"James stated 'f*** you, I'm a lawyer you dumb f***. I'm not doing the exercises, f***ing arrest me,'" he wrote.
He was then arrested. When he was taken to jail, he was told he was not entitled to a lawyer before his breathalyzer test. The report says that's when, "James stated, 'you're one stupid f***, if you think I'm not entitled to a lawyer," and refused to submit to the breathalyzer.
Stanley's charge of possession of an open container in a motor vehicle was dismissed.
The DUI charge was reduced to reckless driving and reopened as a separate case. He pleaded no contest to that charge.
