Summary: A Florida attorney has been disbarred for drug use and having sex with her clients.
A lawyer who had sex with her clients and used a variety of drugs, including crack, recently lost her Florida license. According to the New York Daily News, Linda Dawn Hadad, 43, was a public defender in Daytona Beach, but when she wasn’t defending criminals, she was acting like one. The newspaper reports that not only did she use cocaine, crack, ecstasy, and other drugs, but she had sexual relationships with a few clients. Her friend told the press that she was a drug addict.
Hadad had been practicing law in Florida since 2002. Court documents showed that she had phone sex with inmates and that she had so much sex with two prisoners that a warden had to cut down her visitation rights.
Investigators also found that she rented cars for an inmate in exchange for drugs. Hadad admitted that she took prescription drugs like Xanax, Adderall, and oxycodone without a prescription and that she also did cocaine, crack, ecstasy, marijuana, meth, and acid.
Since 2010, Hadad had been arrested in Florida five times for charges such as driving under the influence and petty theft.
Hadad’s five mugshots. Photo courtesy of The Huffington Post.
Additionally, the Florida Bar’s press release made it sound like Hadad was overall incompetent as an attorney. Hadad allegedly moved her office without telling her clients, and she was late or just flaked on at least five court appearances. The Daily News reported that she also contacted a domestic abuse victim who had a no-contact order.
Her friend and attorney, W. Bryan Park III, told the Daily News that Hadad’s case was an example of what happens when a person becomes addicted to drugs. He said she is currently seeking help in a sober living facility in South Florida.
Source: New York Daily News