In the Matter of Timothy Walter Boyd

An Atlanta-area lawyer represented a client fighting a Wells Fargo foreclosure and later an IRS levy. When the lawyer's investigation found no valid claim against the mortgage company, he lied to the client for months, claiming he had filed and won a lawsuit against another firm involved in the case, before finally admitting the lawsuit never existed. He also overbilled the client after their agreement ended. This was the lawyer's third try at proposing his own punishment to the State Bar. His first two proposals (a reprimand) were rejected by the State Bar and a special master. This time he asked for a suspension of six to 18 months, and the State Bar agreed to that range. But the Supreme Court of Georgia refused to accept the deal, citing the seriousness of his misconduct, his three prior private disciplinary sanctions for similar conduct, and a newly filed disciplinary matter involving similar rule violations. The court sent the case back to be combined with that new matter.

The court held that Boyd's petition for voluntary discipline proposing a six-to-18-month suspension could not be accepted, given the severity and repetition of his misconduct, his prior disciplinary history, the lack of any mitigating factors, and a pending new disciplinary matter involving similar violations, and it ordered the case consolidated with that new matter for combined resolution.

The ruling shows the Supreme Court of Georgia will not automatically approve negotiated discipline deals, even when the State Bar agrees, if a lawyer's pattern of dishonesty and repeat violations suggests a harsher sanction like disbarment may be warranted. It protects clients from lawyers with repeated histories of misconduct.

Petition for voluntary discipline rejected and case remanded with direction

1. The court applies the American Bar Association's Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, a framework Georgia courts use to weigh aggravating and mitigating factors before deciding attorney discipline.
2. The special master found multiple aggravating factors: Boyd's history of prior private discipline, a dishonest and selfish motive, a pattern of repeated rule violations, refusal to acknowledge wrongdoing, a vulnerable client facing foreclosure and an IRS levy, and Boyd's substantial experience practicing law.
3. The special master found no mitigating factors applied, rejecting Boyd's claims of remorse and genuine efforts at correction because he only admitted wrongdoing and refunded fees after being confronted through recorded calls and a fee arbitration.
4. Because Boyd had already been privately disciplined three times for similar conduct, including failing to communicate with clients and misrepresenting the status of legal matters, the court treated this history as showing he either misunderstood or ignored the seriousness of his prior sanctions.
5. The court noted that a newly filed disciplinary matter, which led to Boyd's interim suspension, involves many of the same rule violations at issue here, reinforcing the court's concern that his proposed six-to-18-month suspension was too lenient.
6. Comparing Boyd's proposed discipline to past cases involving similar misconduct, where the court imposed disbarment or a three-year suspension, the court concluded it could not accept Boyd's petition and instead ordered the two disciplinary matters consolidated.

• attorney discipline
• State Bar of Georgia
• voluntary discipline petition
• client misrepresentation
• foreclosure legal services