In the Matter of Billy Reid Zeh, III

Billy Reid Zeh III, a member of the Georgia Bar since 2001, entered an Alford plea in the Superior Court of Glynn County to one count of aggravated assault and one count of simple assault. An Alford plea lets a defendant accept a conviction while not admitting guilt. He was sentenced under Georgia's First Offender Act to five years on probation, with credit for earlier jail time. Before the State Bar filed formal disciplinary charges, Zeh asked the Supreme Court of Georgia to let him voluntarily surrender his law license rather than face a full disciplinary case. He admitted the guilty plea violated professional conduct rules barring criminal acts reflecting adversely on honesty and fitness to practice law. The State Bar supported the request, noting the misconduct would otherwise warrant disbarment. The court agreed, treating the surrender as equivalent to disbarment and removing Zeh from Georgia's rolls of licensed attorneys.

The court held that Zeh's Alford plea to aggravated assault and simple assault violated Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct 8.4(a)(2) and (a)(3), warranting removal from practice, and accepted his voluntary surrender of license as equivalent to disbarment.

The decision removes a Georgia attorney from practice following a criminal conviction, protecting clients and the public from a lawyer with an assault conviction, and it reinforces that the State Bar and courts treat serious criminal misconduct by lawyers as grounds for losing the right to practice.

Voluntary surrender of license accepted, tantamount to disbarment

1. Zeh admitted that his Alford plea, a guilty plea in which a defendant accepts conviction without admitting guilt, to aggravated assault and simple assault violated Rules 8.4(a)(2) and (a)(3) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, which bar criminal acts reflecting adversely on a lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness to practice law.
2. The maximum penalty for violating those rules is disbarment, so the court weighed whether accepting a voluntary surrender of license was an appropriate substitute for full disciplinary proceedings.
3. The State Bar supported granting the petition, citing the court's interest in maintaining public confidence in the legal profession and its view that Zeh's misconduct warranted disbarment in any case.
4. The court reviewed the petition and concluded that accepting the voluntary surrender, treated under the Bar Rules as equivalent to disbarment, was the appropriate resolution given the admitted violations.

• attorney discipline
• voluntary surrender of license
• Alford plea
• assault conviction
• State Bar of Georgia