In the Matter of Marc Celello

Marc Celello, a lawyer admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1997, pleaded guilty in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Because of that federal conviction, Celello asked the Supreme Court of Georgia to accept the voluntary surrender of his law license rather than go through a full disciplinary hearing. Celello admitted that his conviction violated a State Bar rule that makes it professional misconduct for a lawyer to commit a criminal act reflecting adversely on his honesty or fitness to practice law. The State Bar did not object. The court reviewed the record and agreed to accept the surrender, which has the same effect as disbarment, and removed his name from the rolls of Georgia lawyers.

The court held that Celello's federal guilty plea for conspiracy to commit securities fraud violated the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct's prohibition on criminal acts reflecting adversely on a lawyer's fitness to practice, and accepted his voluntary surrender of his license as equivalent to disbarment.

The case shows how a criminal conviction, even one from federal court unrelated to a specific client, can end a Georgia lawyer's ability to practice law, protecting the public from lawyers whose conduct calls into question their honesty or fitness to practice.

Voluntary surrender of license accepted

1. Celello pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit securities fraud, a federal crime, and by that conviction admitted he violated Rule 8.4(a)(2) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, which bars lawyers from committing criminal acts that reflect adversely on their honesty or fitness to practice law.
2. Because the maximum penalty for that rule violation is disbarment, and the State Bar did not oppose the request, the court reviewed the record to decide whether accepting a voluntary surrender was appropriate instead of proceeding through the normal disciplinary process.
3. The court concluded that accepting the voluntary surrender of Celello's license was appropriate, noting that under the Bar's rules such a surrender is treated as the equivalent of disbarment, meaning he loses his right to practice law in Georgia just as if he had been formally disbarred.

• attorney discipline
• securities fraud conviction
• voluntary license surrender
• State Bar of Georgia