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Malik Leigh | Habitat Gallery
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Leigh SCOTUS Petition

Hello my friends and others :

Thursday, June 12, 2025

        On June 11, 2025, a Petition with the United States Supreme Court was filed on behalf of myself BY myself to challenge my disbarment to practice law in the state of Florida. A copy of the Petition for a Writ of Certiorari can be found above. The reason why I filed this is simple: my disbarment was wrong. But it was more than just a wrong done. It was an intentional silencing of a person that has always fought for his clients.

        This will not come as any surprise to any of my former clients; definitely none of my former students. They know that as hard as I fought for them; OF COURSE, I'm going to fight just as hard for myself. But it's more than just getting my bar license back. It is ALSO a note to the other Attorneys, Doctors, Teachers, Real Estate Agents, anyone with a job, or students in Florida, that you do not have to stay caged within the "box of expectation" that exists for Black people, and you do not have to "Play the Role" for success. You shouldn't have to at least.

        In South Florida, and most often the broader United States, Black people, as a rule, do not hire Black attorneys. The reason is that generally, Black People know that Black attorneys will often fall short of going all the way for them. The reason is that Black Attorneys are afraid of being ostracized or worse, sanctioned and blackballed for being that so-called "pitbull" attorney. We are not afforded the same latitude and discretion that our white counterparts (or in South Florida, our Latino counterparts as well) are afforded. Black Clients are often made to feel like a burden or their cases insignificant, so they seek out white representation. Additionally, Black attorneys, especially in South Florida (DEFINITELY in West Palm Beach), REFUSE to help the MASSES of Black people in need. I know of only one aside from myself and she knows that I am referring to her.

        What was done to me was started by a Black Woman. She took an image of me in a benign instagram post and created something that did not exist and from that day forward, I was made to defend something that only a fucking imbecile would think is a direct threat to them or anyone. But she did it to move up. She did it to gain favor from the Court. What happened at Palm Beach Lakes was started by a Black Woman. A Black Woman that cared more about her sorority affiliation than educating Black and Brown children, and she did it to show she was one of the "trustworthy ones" to her higher ups. And what happened with the people at Stonybrook happened ONLY because they were mostly Black Women with children. As we know, NOBODY cares about them, sadly, including the HUNDREDS of Black Attorneys in West Palm Beach. 

        So, I filed this Writ of Cert to the United States Supreme Court because despite the fact that 99.999% of ALL attorneys, including EVERY SINGLE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT JUSTICE sitting on the bench now and since Stonybrook was built in the 70s, I am still willing to help. I am not now; and despite what The Florida Bar tried to say in their "trial," have I ever, called anyone a racist. I AM, however, calling out, institutional racism that is RIFE in The Florida Bar, the Florida Legal System, and American Society in general. It is more than just calling someone a name, it is a Black Woman Attorney relying on the expected racial emotional response from a Judge(s) when they see an image of a (then) muscular bearded Black Man, who is an attorney, accused of being "threatening" with a nonexistent gun (a camera). It is the retaliatory responses from a Judge who I had to correct on an insignificant legal fact in court. It's excusing a white female attorney for pleading violations, but a Federal Judge sanctioning me because I called her out on it (No, she never got sanctioned). It's accusing me of antisemitism because I used the word "extinction" in a sentence unrelated to law (the movie Deep Impact). It's a Federal Judge telling you that you are not allowed to curse IN YOUR FREE TIME!! And it's knowing that in South Florida, Black Attorneys will do nothing because they are afraid of their conditioned access to practice freely.

        The Florida Bar disbarred me on 24 counts. To this day, I do not know what most of them are. When I asked, I was told by bar counsel that they did not have to tell me. But I was made to wait 6 years, go through a process that they created, made to listen to a Judge that refused to let me speak then implied that because of my size, I must be physically abusive to my partner (yea, she did that), then she still gave me 91 days, but the Florida Supreme Court overturned that and gave a blanket disbarment with one justice saying that EVEN IF WE VOTE TO SUSPEND YOU, THE FLORIDA BAR WILL NEVER READMIT YOU. This means that not only is the process a sham and unfair, but the Florida Supreme Court knows it. That is a violation of my Constitutional Right to Due Process. This happened. But why? Why are Black Attorneys in the State of Florida more often suspended and disbarred for minor violations, when White attorneys can damn near rob banks and beat up clients and barely get anything? Shit, don't get me started on Pam Bondi, Matt Gaetz, and many, many, many, MANY others. You will read about some of them in my Petition.

        Throughout the entire disbarment process I did not speak to any media. I was not permitted to. Now, I can not only say what I want, but I can even show the Palm Beach Lakes stuff. I still refuse to speak to any Sinclair or Palm Beach Media because FUCK Y'ALL. Remember, the First Amendment STILL means something (this week at least). Wait til you see what they sent to the Florida Department of Education. That I was teaching in "ebonics?"  This is the type of institutional racism I am speaking of. 

        I AM a fantastic Attorney. My clients love me and I am friends with nearly all of them still. Many of you have called me and I have spent hours on the phone with you trying to help you with your issues and as you know, I often REFUSE payment. That is who I am. But I will not lay down to nonsensical bullying. I didn't allow it with my opposing counsels and I won't allow it to happen to me. If y'all thought this was over, NOPE.

        Anyways, If you made it this far, I thank you for reading. NO, I will not be taking random emails. If the US Supreme Court picks up my petition, it will be awhile before it is heard, so in the meantime, It will just be me telling on Florida Bar Presidents who signed off on my charges, one of which included her, but she claimed I didn't, even though HER NAME WAS ON IT AND SHE RESPONDED TO ME ABOUT IT.  Yup. All of that. This happens with Medical Boards, Teachers, Nurses, Real Estate Agents, in Colleges and Universities, and just generally. Institutional racism comes in many forms, or rather many methods, and it's not JUST by white people. However, it IS based upon white supremacist ideologies; to maintain the status quo. I've represented all types of people with honor and respect for their situations. I have never lied to them, I have never cheated them, and I have always busted my ass for them. But the system that we are made to believe is fair, is everything. Including to the Black woman that started all of this so she could be "that one." And she got the job too. It worked for her.

        Have a great weekend, Happy Father's Day (my Birthday is this weekend, so Happy Birthday to me), and Free Palestine.

Malik Leigh, (---.)

        Well, looking at my analytics, it's clear that many of you have clicked on my website due to your curiosity to find out "just how bad is this guy?" following the Florida Supreme Court decision to take away my Florida Bar license from local news coverage. Let me be EXTREMELY CLEAR, the Florida Supreme Court made their Bar trial-overriding decision based upon incorrect facts, incomplete facts, false statements from the Bar's witnesses, and in a very important instance, KNOWN MANUFACTURED evidence presented by the Florida Bar, in their case against me. Now, that is not to say that nearly 9 years ago when all of this happened that I did not make a few minor or innocent mistakes from time to time; hell, probably all of my cases (It happens to every attorney), but to say that I flagrantly ignored Court Orders, is absolutely false. I violated not a single order. In fact, I was even sanctioned for things "I" brought to the Court's attention for clarification.

        As many of you may know, this all started during my time at Palm Beach Lakes High School (at the time, 90% Black and Latino student body) when I as a Law Teacher, supported my students' decision to challenge the Palm Beach County School District's Board for their purposeful failure to provide actual certified teachers. I personally didn't do anything, it was purely my support of them. As a first year teacher, I was rated "Highly Effective" which does not happen often.

 

        At the time, It was falsely reported that I did not teach the established Law Curriculum but rather chose to teach my own "liberal politics" to my students. There was no established Curriculum in this program. There was an extremely old book that I used, but no set curriculum. One was presented to the Florida Department of Education by the School District to counter my complaint to the US Dept of Education, but this was not only false, but I was backed up with an official affidavit from the Program's director: Terra Hands, that no Law Curriculum existed. It NEVER had one. I was, however, given permission to teach the class at my discretion. As for my tests, they were ALL approved previously by the School. Every last one of them. Well, until this erupted in the news.  My final exam only consisted of the year's worth of APPROVED questions with added classroom jokes CREATED BY THE STUDENTS for extra credit. The entire final exam was extra credit for the most part. But after Andrew Marra of the Palm Beach Post (son of the presiding federal court judge overseeing one of the Federal cases) printed false stories in his original article post School Board Meeting, things were set on a path that could only have been set straight if operated solely through the media; which, again, I had no interest in. My only interest was to protect my students. Mr. Marra had every previous test to compare, the student's name that made the classroom joke I added to the test, and every other piece of information to make an honest reporting, yet, chose not to. There is a fairly lengthy text exchange where I told him of his misleading story, and he chose not to correct anything. Of course I still have everything so, stay tuned.

Here are a just a few facts (all of which will be laid out in due time with exhibits and evidence - names too. ALL OF THEM):

  1. The Trump exam jokes were neither mine nor the only student jokes on the final exam. The student signed a sworn affidavit attesting this this to the Court. The school district always had it and knew. 

  2. Terra Hands, Chair of the Choice Magnet Program, signed a sworn affidavit that acknowledged that there was no curriculum for the Law class and that I had full autonomy, with her oversight, to teach the law class as I saw fit.

  3. I never once encouraged my students to protest on my behalf. One had already been physically assaulted and I did not want anymore harmed. I did, however, tell them to not speak to local news because the Palm Beach Post is clearly trash, as well as local television stations who ran with the school district's line (s) without asking me, or took spliced statements and refused to correct them when I told them what they had wrong.

  4. I have never and would never threatened any attorney with physical violence. However, the School District's Counsel made up a story that I made an Instagram post physically threatening them. The post is STILL there. there was no threat directed towards anyone. I am a hobby photographer and my post was directed to a friend who, at the time was on a VH1 show. The message, which was directed to her, SHE RESPONDED TO. However, opposing counsel claimed it was about them to the Court in their desperation along with approximately 200 social media posts unrelated to them or any case; nearly all years prior to this case, as proof. For whatever reason, the Court accepted it. ( I was sanctioned for this. You'd have to look in Pacer for the absurdity.

  5. As stated, School District's Opposing Counsel pulled nearly 200 social media posts to present to the Court. Many to most of them were fabricated, being cropped and changed with the wrong social media source listed (an instagram post made to look like a twitter post). During the Bar trial, the school district person that did it, Ana Jordan, ADMITTED THAT SHE DID THAT, which means what was presented was false and manufactured. However, the Court still sanctioned me for these manufactured posts which were made months or years before any related trial. (the dates were even still on them!) (full disclosure, my ONLY true violation was 2 Facebook posts where I used the Defendant's names. That was a no-no, but done after receiving death threats. Regardless, I admitted at the time, that I was wrong.) (her admission is on the transcript)

  6. Opposing Counsel in the school district case DID sign my partners name on a legal document and filed it after making changes to it without my knowledge or permission. We informed the Court and followed her specific instructions in her Trial Order, yet, somehow we violated some rule. (I still don't know what that violation is) There IS a bar rule that states that no Counsel may sign another's name without their permission. THEY ADMITTED THEY DID THIS! I and my partner were sanctioned for what THEY did. 

  7. The Court apparently said we violated a rule by calling various law enforcement agencies to get information on just how serious that counsel's "forgery" was. We never called the cops "ON" anyone, we called to get information and never got past the operator. We were "Doing our Due Diligence" prior to making a decision. Somehow however, we violated a rule and were sanctioned for trying to gain information.

    • Side note: No, we never called the cops and reported anything, but this was how it was falsely presented at trial. And, no, they did not call any of the agencies to verify anything in their "investigation." It was a friend at the states attorneys office for the 15th circuit that told us to escalate this. The federal Court Judge said we were lying. I gave her the ASA's info and she copped an attitude with me. The Federal Court judge then said that it was impossible to email a "wet Signature" because at the time, she was ignorant of Adobe Sign and Fill. I told her to email me something right now and I could sign it and email it back to her within 30 seconds. She didn't like me showing her up. She then wrote a letter to the bar, not alleging any violation but to look for one. (Yes, I still have this letter. It is an official letter)

  8. Opposing counsel in this instance did not deny receiving our final wet signed document that they then changed, signed my partner's name on (not mine) and then filed in federal court. They said they just didn't open it. There was a supervisor there at the time, and she "didn't open it" either, but they did make changes on it and filed it; document that was never presented to us, one we had never seen, made changes on it, signed the name of a person who was not working on it, but somehow the violation was ours. We both were sanctioned for their actions.


The Stonybrook case was an emergency which would take far too long to explain but here are just a few facts:

  1. No. I did not take pay for this case, I did it for free because children were actually dying.

  2. No, I did not repeatedly file the same emergency motion, ignoring Judge Coate's Order, I was instructed to do so by the Judge himself through his JA on the phone. (There was a clerk's error and drafting error that was admitted via email at the time to the Judge. The Bar has that email, but left it out, choosing only to say I willfully disregarded the Court's Order.

  3. I was repeatedly made to redraft my complaint stating that the language was scandalous. I did correct it, however, opposing counsel repeatedly claimed it was scandalous because I used the term "black women." This was occurring at Stoneybrook BECAUSE THEY WERE BLACK WOMEN, and it was essential to the case. 

  4. This was Civil Rights case that involved Toxic Tort. Judge Coates refused to acknowledge the Civil Rights nature and wanted me to remove the Civil Rights aspect to it, stating for himself, "this is not a Civil Rights Case." He did not want it to be and tried not to allow it to be.

  5. I was told to get a mentor to help with my drafting (to keep it from being a Civil Rights case.) I reached out to David Prather, John Howe, Sia Baker-Barnes, and Enrique Nieves. David, John, and Sia all declined for one reason or another, however, Mr. Nieves did agree and did a great job. He also assisted with the drafting of my last petition, and provided a letter acknowledging that he reviewed the petition. It was similar to my original with some significant edits. I was STILL sanctioned by Judge Coates for not following his instructions to get a "mentor." He then created orders that he hadn't made (which is in the record) that I was to have the mentor also sign the pleading. We had a hearing on the mentor issue. Opposing Counsel only had to disagree with who he was for Coates to say I hadn't complied.

    • Side note: During the referral process, Sia Baker-Barnes was on the Palm Beach County Bar Association's committee to refer this to a Bar trial. She agreed that I hadn't followed Judge Coates's Order to seek a mentor DESPITE being one of the people I reached out to. I presented the Court and the Bar the email WHICH SHE RESPONDED TO, but still, I was sanctioned for not seeking a Mentor. I suppose raising any resistance was going to interfere with her being th​e next Florida Bar President, which she assumed immediately after this referral. She had access to the email unless the Bar did not give them to her and the committee. One or the other.

  6. A gag order was placed on the case because of publicity. My clients violated that Gag order without my knowledge. They admitted that I told them about the existence of the Gag Order and they still did it without my permission. I was told that I had to have known and instructed them to do it, so I was sanctioned. I found out later that they were on the Steven Harvey Show.

  7. The court instructed me to remove case related information from our firm's website. And I did. However, I did have links to news stories from prior to any cases being filed for marketing (as many attorneys do) and requested a hearing on whether these were ok to remain or if they needed to be removed. "I" informed the court of these. I was sanctioned for still having them there despite seeking guidance to see if the Gag Order applied.

  8. I was also sanctioned for photos of a property in Atlanta Georgia that was owned by the previous owner but then current defendant. This property was not at dispute in any open cases, nor were there any correlations made to them. I was sanctioned for this. (I am a photographer, remember?). (I assisted in getting that Property shut down too...Forest Cove Atlanta.

  9. I sought a change of judge because Judge Coates did not have, in my opinion, the requisite temperament to handle this case because he seemed to have an issue with the term "black women" and showed hostility to the Defendants (all black women) and previous hostilities towards me in a previous case (He was ignorant of a legal matter pertaining to Mediation and the role(s) of Mediators in Family cases. I was his first Family Law Case on his first day as a Family Court Judge when he took over for Judge Amy Smith at North County.  In a Pre-trial Family Hearing, I had to correct him in open Court to his displeasure. He then later removed a fee award in retaliation during that case.) My "mentor" also reviewed and agreed that he should go, but Judge Coates sanctioned me because he said that there was no way my mentor would have agreed to that. The Mentor acknowledged that he did review the Motion to recuse. The Motion to dismiss a judge is a proper filing and it was done correctly and respectfully. The Florida Bar falsely claimed that I called Judge Coates a Racist in open court to the Florida Supreme Court. and they face no sanction for lying.  Yes, I used the word LYING.


There is much much more and I will present them with the factual evidence and exhibits in their entirety in time. I have nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of. 

In the end, Malik Leigh (me):

  • Supported and protected my students, (7 or 8 of which are either currently in law school or have already finished law school),

  • Tried to support and protect teachers who protected my students from actual physical attack from school district officials, who were later terminated by the School district in retaliation,

  • Helped poor Black, Jamaican, and Haitian single Mothers and their children from toxic housing that was labeled "unfit for human occupation," but was forced to remain in them,

  • Able to get a specific hurricane evacuation plan for the residents of Stonybrook, many of which have no access to transportation (the roofs of multiple buildings were ripped off during hurricane Irma, yet they were made to stay in them)

  • I got the long time Mayor of Riviera Beach and most of the City Council booted from their jobs,

  • I got most of my clients an expedite with their section 8 housing vouchers so they could move out of Stoneybrook quicker,

  • I prevented an organized crime group from collecting their Hud Fraud money for over a year in which Marco Rubio and Ben Carson were buddies with them (this shouldn't surprise anyone),

  • I Assisted HUNDREDS of Men, Women, and Children, most often pro bono in Domestic Violence, Kidnapping, Sexual Abuse of Minors, and against insane DCF abuse cases (where DCF was the bad actor)

  • I rescued children; one moments before her mother was murdered by the person we were seeking to save her from. (in Indiana)


         I Can hold my head up high knowing that I was a fantastic lawyer that worked hard for poor people, FOR FREE, in a way that even the Florida Supreme Court Justice Labarga, who to his own admission knew very well about the long standing issues at Stoneybrook, but NEVER lifted a finger to help them. (Justice Labarga himself told me in a Visit to the Palm Beach County Bar Association that the Residents of Stoneybrook were lucky to have me representing them...I feel like he remembered that conversation when He commented on his knowledge of Stonybrook during my Supreme Court Trial).

         As a Lawyer, I made a few mistakes. . . we all do, but I did not commit a single crime, I did not steal anyone's money, I did not lie to the Court EVER, I did not file for bankruptcy, I did not assault anyone nor did I every file a false, misleading, or frivolous pleading or case. I was always respectful to my judges, I represented my clients dutifully, and I, unlike nearly every Black Attorney in Palm Beach County, was not afraid to help MY people in need. 

        I received death threats from Trump Supporters who thought I was being anti-Trump on my test all because a lazy Journalist refused to print the truth nor find out the truth from the person who created it. Which is why I will not speak to any media. Especially, Palm Beach or South Florida Media. The only one that I would trust is no longer working in Florida. The Houston Chronicle did an excellent story and I'd advise you all to read it.

        So sorry MAGA, you may want to be mad at me, but I didn't say anything bad about y'all's Lord and Savior.

        Anyways, Stay Tuned. I have every transcript, every admission, every email, everything. Once laid out, you can see for yourself that my case was not about anything I did, but retaliation. However, if you choose to accept the narrative, then it is what it is.

        Thank you for listening. No one else did. I am Proud of the work I did and difference I tried to make. That is what Lawyers are supposed to do, challenge the status quo and fight for our clients. The sad part is that those that want to status quo to remain ALSO have lawyers, many of which believe the status quo should remain. Unfortunately, there are more of them than of me. What was done to me will be done again. To prevent people; attorneys like me from even trying to fight for the little guy. These do nothings go on LinkedIn and pat their backs about being made partner or shareholder or whatever having burned zero calories helping anyone, especially Black Attorneys in Palm Beach County and South Florida Generally. That is why places like Stonybrook have been that way for over 45 years. And of those 4 attorneys I listed earlier, only one has the understanding that poor people need help. The others could give a shit.

 

        But they are favored, and that's all they want.

Malik Leigh ~ My official Statement.

© 2021 by Malik Leigh, P.A.

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Watson Leigh, P.A.

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