In the Matter of William Leslie Kirby III

William Leslie Kirby III, a Georgia lawyer, admitted mishandling four separate client matters, including a child-support case, a criminal appeal, and two divorces, by missing hearings, failing to communicate, not withdrawing properly from cases, and not returning client files or money owed. Kirby asked the Supreme Court of Georgia to accept a proposed punishment three separate times: first a reprimand, then a 30-day suspension, then a four-month suspension. The court rejected all three as too lenient given the pattern of misconduct across multiple clients. In this fourth petition, Kirby asked for a six-month suspension instead, and the Special Master who reviewed the case agreed that was appropriate. The court accepted the six-month suspension, noting that similar Georgia cases involving misconduct in multiple client matters have typically resulted in suspensions of at least six months.

The court held that a six-month suspension, rather than the lighter reprimand, 30-day suspension, or four-month suspension previously proposed, is the appropriate sanction for Kirby's admitted violations of Rules 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, and 1.16 across four client matters, consistent with sanctions imposed in comparable Georgia disciplinary cases.

The ruling gives Georgia lawyers and clients a concrete benchmark: mishandling multiple client matters through neglect and poor communication typically draws at least a six-month suspension, and repeatedly proposing lighter discipline will not shorten that outcome.

Petition for voluntary discipline accepted; six-month suspension imposed

1. The court reviewed its three prior rejections of Kirby's proposed sanctions, each time finding the proposed punishment too light given his pattern of misconduct across four separate client matters involving missed deadlines, poor communication, and failure to properly withdraw from representation.
2. The court noted that in his third petition, Kirby improperly tried to seek discipline (a four-month suspension) that had already been rejected, which troubled the court even though he had shown progress addressing his mental health and practice management problems.
3. In this fourth petition, Kirby abandoned his attempt to reinstate previously rejected discipline and instead requested a six-month suspension, which the Special Master who had reviewed all four petitions recommended accepting.
4. The court compared Kirby's case to several prior Georgia attorney discipline cases involving similar rule violations across multiple client matters, finding that six-month suspensions (or comparable sanctions) were the common outcome in cases of this severity.
5. Based on that pattern and Kirby's own request, the court concluded a six-month suspension was the appropriate sanction and ordered it to take effect immediately upon issuance of the opinion, ending automatically after six months with no further steps required for reinstatement.

• attorney discipline
• State Bar of Georgia
• law license suspension
• client neglect
• voluntary discipline petition