In the Matter of Patrick A. Powell

A third party paid attorney Patrick A. Powell $5,000 toward a $12,000 fee to represent a client in a federal criminal case in Atlanta. After entering an appearance, Powell did essentially nothing: he did not respond to requests for updates, missed pretrial and status conferences, ignored the district court and prosecutor, and failed to show up for a hearing meant to make him explain himself. A grievance followed, and Powell also failed to respond to the State Bar's investigation or the formal complaint against him, leading a special master to enter a default finding the facts against him true. The question before the Supreme Court of Georgia was what discipline fit this pattern of client abandonment and non-cooperation. The court agreed with the special master that Powell violated multiple rules of professional conduct and, given his intentional misconduct, significant harm to his client, prior discipline, and lack of any mitigating factors, ordered him disbarred.

The court held that disbarment was the appropriate sanction because Powell's abandonment of a paying client in a pending federal criminal case, combined with his intentional misconduct, resulting harm, prior discipline, and prolonged failure to respond to disciplinary authorities, warranted removal from the practice of law.

The ruling removes Powell from practicing law in Georgia, protecting future clients from similar abandonment. It also reinforces that Georgia attorneys who ignore clients, courts, and Bar investigations face the most severe sanction available, disbarment.

Disbarred

1. Because Powell never answered the State Bar's Formal Complaint, the special master entered a default under Bar Rule 4-212 (a), meaning the factual allegations in the complaint were treated as established without a contested hearing.
2. The established facts showed Powell took payment to represent a client in federal criminal proceedings but then failed to communicate, perform any work, appear at conferences, or respond to the court and prosecutor, which the special master found violated several Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct including diligence and communication rules.
3. The special master applied the ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, a framework courts use to match misconduct to an appropriate punishment, and found Powell's conduct intentional and significantly harmful to his client.
4. The special master identified multiple aggravating factors, such as a prior disciplinary sanction, a selfish motive, a pattern of misconduct, and substantial legal experience, with no mitigating factors to offset them.
5. The Supreme Court of Georgia reviewed the record, agreed with these findings, and concluded that disbarment matched the outcomes in similar prior cases where attorneys abandoned clients and ignored disciplinary authorities.

• attorney disbarment
• client abandonment
• State Bar of Georgia
• default judgment
• federal criminal case