Lawyer who told clients marijuana use was legal ordered to pay $370,000

Florida lawyer who told his clients they were legally allowed to grow cannabis was ordered by a Jacksonville judge last month to pay a couple almost $370,000, it has emerged.

The ruling comes roughly three years after the pair sued him for bad legal advice.

Ian Christensen was disbarred on January 18 after charging people nearly $800 for a “patient identification card” and other services, which he said would prevent his clients from being arrested for growing or having the drug on them, even before the state had legalized medical marijuana. The Florida Supreme Court described his actions as “incompetence and extremely serious harm to clients.”

Scott and Marsha Yandell took his advice and were subsequently raided by a SWAT team in February 2015. At the time, he told the couple “they had nothing to worry about,” as long as it was for a medical purpose, according to the Florida Times-Union.

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Mark JM

Article URL : https://www.foxnews.com/us/lawyer-who-told-clients-marijuana-use-was-legal-ordered-to-pay-370000