In THE MATTER OF DOMINIQUE MARC HENRI LEMOINE (Two Cases)

Dominique Lemoine, a Georgia lawyer since 1998, faced two disciplinary cases. In one, he agreed to hold nearly $222,400 in escrow for a surgical glove sale, but disbursed money against the buyer's instructions, lied about wiring funds back, and used the buyer's money to pay other clients and his own expenses. In the other, an elderly French couple wired him $175,000 related to an IRS dispute, and he failed to pay their property taxes as directed, misrepresented that he had paid them, and never returned over $146,000 he owed them. A Special Master and the State Disciplinary Review Board found Lemoine violated multiple trust-account and honesty rules and recommended disbarment. Lemoine challenged the factual findings, argued his mental state should limit the punishment to a suspension, and claimed his conduct was not connected to legal representation of a client. The Supreme Court of Georgia rejected all these arguments and ordered him disbarred.

The court held that Lemoine's knowing conversion of client and fiduciary funds, combined with dishonest misrepresentations to clients and a buyer, violated multiple trust-account and conduct rules, and that his actions were sufficiently connected to legal representation of a client to support the violations; disbarment is the appropriate sanction given the significant aggravating factors and lack of mitigating circumstances.

The decision reinforces that Georgia lawyers who mishandle client or third-party trust funds, even when acting partly as intermediaries or escrow agents, face disbarment. It signals to the public and the profession that misusing IOLTA accounts and misleading clients about returned funds will not be excused by claims of financial pressure or limited legal representation.

Disbarred

1. The court applied the deferential standard from prior cases holding that the Special Master, who hears live testimony, is best positioned to judge witness credibility, and the court will not disturb his factual findings unless they are clearly erroneous.
2. Reviewing the record, the court found the Special Master's findings supported: Lemoine admitted he never ensured his account met IOLTA (trust account) requirements, that he improperly used client and third-party funds to cover shortfalls and pay personal expenses, and that he misrepresented to a buyer and to elderly clients that funds had been returned or taxes paid.
3. The court rejected Lemoine's argument under In the Matter of Brown, which limits certain trust-account rules to lawyers acting purely as fiduciaries outside legal representation, because the Special Master found Lemoine acted as the LLC's attorney in the glove transaction and was directly retained by the elderly clients to handle their IRS matter, so his fund mishandling was connected to legal representation.
4. In assessing sanction, the court agreed with the Special Master's finding that Lemoine acted knowingly, not merely negligently, in converting funds and misleading clients, and noted that aggravating factors (dishonest motive, pattern of misconduct, multiple offenses, vulnerable victims, and extensive legal experience) outweighed the single mitigating factor of no prior discipline.
5. Because Lemoine cited no authority supporting a lesser sanction and the court's own precedents involving comparable trust-account and dishonesty violations resulted in disbarment, the court concluded disbarment, rather than suspension, was the appropriate discipline.

• attorney disbarment
• trust account violations
• IOLTA misuse
• State Bar discipline
• client fund mismanagement