Tampa Radio: Three Bubba Attorneys Suspended

Stephen Diaco, Adam Filthaut, Robert Adams

The Florida Supreme Court has suspended the law licenses of three Tampa attorneys who arranged the arrest of a rival lawyer during a high-profile trial in 2013.

Bubba The Love Sponge Clem

Friday's decision is a temporary step taken in advance of the justices hearing the lawyers' arguments for reconsidering a trial judge's recommendation that Stephen Diaco, Robert Adams and Adam Filthaut — all employees of the Adams & Diaco firm — be permanently disbarred.

In August of last year, Pinellas Senior Judge W. Douglas Baird found the lawyers responsible for orchestrating the DUI arrest of C. Philip Campbell in order to gain an advantage for their client during a multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit.

Their firm was representing radio shock jock Bubba the Love Sponge Clem against his rival, Todd "MJ" Schnitt. At the time, Campbell was the attorney for Schnitt.

Calling the men's actions "inexplicably egregious, spiteful and malicious," the judge proposed that all three receive the most severe punishment allowed, a recommendation that is subject to the Florida Supreme Court's final approval.