Joseph Anthony Troiano can no longer practice law in the State of Florida. The Fort Myers attorney had been the subject of a couple of Tell Mel columns after his office closed down and The Florida Bar filed for an emergency suspension of his license. He was disbarred on Thursday.

Troiano’s practice, primarily in real estate law, had come under scrutiny after checks bounced on a client’s trust account.  The law firm’s operating account also had a negative balance. The Florida Bar asked for the emergency suspension in order to protect client funds.

Troiano pled guilty to violating The Florida Bar rules on regulation of trust accounts and agreed to the disbarment. He also agreed to cooperate wiht an investigaton in connection with the Clients’ Security Fund (a Florida Bar fund that reimburses clients who have lost money) and to make a “reasonable effort” to reimburse the fund any money they pay out to his clients because of his actions.