In the Matter of Timothy Paul Healy

Timothy Paul Healy, a Georgia lawyer since 1979, faced numerous grievances alleging violations of the state's rules for lawyers, many serious enough to warrant disbarment. Rather than contest each grievance, Healy got an alcohol and drug evaluation and later treatment, and healthcare providers found that his condition would impair his ability to practice law and put the public at risk. Healy asked the Supreme Court of Georgia to let him voluntarily surrender his law license instead of going through the disciplinary process, promising never to seek reinstatement even if he recovers. The State Bar of Georgia agreed to this arrangement, and Healy wound down his practice by referring or withdrawing from his cases. The court reviewed the sealed record, found Healy had effectively admitted enough wrongdoing to justify permanent removal, and accepted his surrender, striking his name from the rolls of Georgia lawyers.

The court held that Healy had admitted sufficient grounds for permanent removal from law practice under Bar Rule 4-104, and because the State Bar consented and the sealed record supported it, his voluntary surrender of license was accepted as equivalent to disbarment.

The decision permanently ends Healy's law practice and removes him from representing Georgia clients, protecting the public from someone the Bar found posed a risk. It also shows how Georgia lawyers facing health-related impairment can resolve serious ethics complaints by surrendering their license instead of fighting each charge.

Voluntary surrender of license accepted, tantamount to disbarment

1. The court applied Bar Rule 4-104, which allows a lawyer facing disciplinary grievances to permanently give up his law license instead of contesting the charges through the normal disciplinary process.
2. Healy did not admit every fact in the grievances but acknowledged there was some factual basis supporting findings that he committed numerous ethical violations, many punishable by disbarment.
3. Healthcare evaluations Healy obtained confirmed that his condition would impair his ability to practice law and place the public at risk, supporting the seriousness of allowing him to step away from practice permanently.
4. Because the State Bar of Georgia consented to accepting Healy's surrender in lieu of discipline and the sealed record supported that outcome, the court found the legal standard for accepting a voluntary surrender was met.
5. The court concluded that accepting the surrender is legally equivalent to disbarment under the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, and warned that if Healy ever sought reinstatement despite his promise not to, he could still be prosecuted for the original violations plus a new violation for breaking that promise.

• attorney discipline
• voluntary surrender of license
• State Bar of Georgia
• disbarment