Boca lawyer disbarred 24 hours before he became murder suspect
Less than 24 hours after a Boca Raton attorney asked to be temporarily disbarred, his father was dead and he became the suspect, records released Thursday show.
Brandon Labiner, a personal injury lawyer, was suspended from The Florida Bar in April pending the outcome of multiple allegations of wrongdoing. That included a 2022 DUI arrest in Coral Springs and allegations from his father, Boca Raton estate planning and probate attorney Paul Labiner, of swindling hundreds of thousands of dollars intended for Paul Labiner’s wife.
On June 30, Brandon Labiner applied for disciplinary revocation, essentially voluntarily giving up his license to practice law, according to records released Thursday by The Florida Bar. The petition stated he would apply for readmission to The Bar in five years. The petition also makes “no admission” on the pending charges against him.
The decision was made because of the pending criminal charges and he didn’t want to have to testify about it, said Kevin Tynan, one of his attorneys on The Florida Bar matter.
The court document was filed electronically at 4:59 p.m. June 30. The arrest report shows police responded to the murder scene in the parking garage of Paul Labiner’s law office at 4:26 p.m. July 1.
Brandon Labiner, 34, was charged July 2 with premeditated first-degree murder with a firearm and remains in jail without bond.
His family immediately suspected him of the crime, telling a detective that there was a growing rift between father and son and that Brandon Labiner was “under a lot of stress,” including the stillborn death of his baby and pending divorce, according to details disclosed Wednesday in court records.
Brandon Labiner’s sister and her husband told authorities that Brandon Labiner “also told them a few months ago that he purchased a firearm and Brandon made comments that it would be better if (redacted name) was dead.”
The victim was shot in the head, upper chest, and twice in his lower body after the gunman waited for him, “pacing around the parking garage,” according to arrest records.
According to a civil lawsuit filed by Paul Labiner against his son in September, Brandon Labiner had been scammed by a “client” in May 2022. He accepted a foreign check from the client, who told him it was a settlement check. “In order to get a quick and easy fee and without verifying whether or not the check had cleared,” Brandon Labiner wired $100,000 to the client, according to the lawsuit.
Brandon Labiner was “devastated” and “despondent” by the loss, according to the lawsuit, and at the end of that month, tried to make up the funds by funneling money out of his father’s accounts into his own.
Records from The Florida Bar’s emergency suspension filed in April allege “Brandon Scott Labiner has caused, or is likely to cause, immediate and serious harm to clients or the public.”
The same document alleges Brandon Labiner misappropriated at least $451,219.58 of his stepmother’s trust fund, set up by his father, using cash advances at ATMs, PayPal, wire transfers and Venmo.
After his father filed The Bar complaint, Brandon Labiner admitted taking the money, but said his father had taken more than that from him, so he was reimbursing himself, according to records.
The Bar subpoenaed First Citizens Bank and obtained official certified bank records from the bank of all the accounts involved, “which indicate the bank documents respondent provided were forged and none of the alleged unauthorized transfers by Paul occurred,” according to records.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at [email protected]. Follow on Twitter @LisaHuriash
Related Posts
- Law And Order Star Describes The 'Incredible' Experience Of Working With Anthony Anderson In Season 21
- Mary Mara, ‘ER’ and ‘Law and Order’ Actor, Dies at 61 in Apparent Drowning
- Mary Mara, ‘E.R.’ and ‘Law and Order’ Actor, Dies in Possible Drowning at 61
- ‘ER’ and ‘Law and Order’ Actress Dies at 61 – The Hollywood Reporter
- Law and Order: Socorro Police Department blotter