In the Matter of Willie George Davis, Jr

An attorney drafted his sister's will naming himself executor, guardian, and conservator for her minor son, without disclosing the conflict of interest to her. After she died of cancer, he deposited over $157,000 in life insurance proceeds meant for his nephew into his law firm's trust account instead of a proper conservator account, and failed to keep records. When the nephew turned 18 and sought an accounting, the attorney repeatedly ignored court orders, was held in contempt, and was jailed, partly because of untreated depression and anxiety following several family deaths. A probate court in Cobb County entered judgments against him totaling nearly $200,000. The State Bar and the attorney agreed he should receive an 18-month suspension that could become indefinite if he failed to pay restitution and get mental health clearance. A Special Master recommended accepting that deal. The Supreme Court of Georgia disagreed, holding that at his current repayment rate the suspension could last about 50 years, which the court said was unacceptable and rejected the petition.

The court held that a voluntary discipline petition proposing an 18-month suspension convertible to an indefinite one, based on restitution conditions the attorney could take decades to satisfy, is unacceptable because Georgia does not allow suspensions of that length and reinstatement cannot hinge indefinitely on unmet financial conditions.

placeholder

Petition for voluntary discipline rejected

1. The court looked to the ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, a framework courts use to weigh the duty violated, the lawyer's mental state, harm caused, and aggravating or mitigating factors, to evaluate whether the proposed discipline fit the misconduct.
2. The Special Master found the attorney violated multiple duties, including failing to preserve his nephew's property, avoid a conflict of interest, act diligently and competently, and be candid with the probate court and State Bar, while also weighing his depression and grief as partial mitigation.
3. The court noted that under the proposed conditions, given the attorney's current $300-per-month repayment rate toward nearly $200,000 owed, he would effectively remain suspended for roughly 50 years, which the court said conflicts with its practice of not imposing suspensions of that length outside limited reciprocal-discipline situations.
4. The court reasoned that discipline must also protect the public's confidence in the legal system and ensure lawyers are fit to resume practice, and that tying reinstatement solely to restitution payments risked creating an endless, purgatory-like suspension rather than a meaningful, time-bound sanction.
5. Because the recommended discipline could become effectively permanent while offering fewer safeguards than disbarment (which requires recertification of fitness), the court concluded the proposed sanction did not adequately serve the purposes of attorney discipline and rejected the petition.

• attorney discipline
• estate mismanagement
• conservatorship
• trust account violations
• State Bar of Georgia