In the Matter of Jeffrey Bull Grable

Jeffrey Bull Grable, a Georgia lawyer since 1997, agreed to represent a client in a business dispute with her co-owner. He promised to file a lawsuit on her behalf but never finished it. When the co-owner sued the client instead, Grable agreed to file a counterclaim defending her but again failed to complete and file it. A large judgment was eventually entered against the client, and even though Grable learned about it, he never told her. Grable asked the Supreme Court of Georgia to accept his voluntary surrender of his law license rather than face a formal disciplinary complaint. He admitted violating rules requiring diligence, communication, and following client instructions, and noted he had been suspended once before for similar conduct. The court reviewed the petition and the State Bar's response and agreed to accept the surrender, effectively removing him from the practice of law.

The court held that voluntary surrender of a law license, treated as equivalent to disbarment, was an appropriate sanction given the lawyer's admitted failure to pursue his client's legal matters, his failure to inform her of an adverse judgment, and his prior similar disciplinary history.

The client in this case suffered a judgment against her without ever being told it happened, and lost her chance to fight it. The ruling shows how Georgia disciplines lawyers who abandon clients' cases, protecting the public by removing repeat offenders from practice.

Voluntary surrender of license accepted

1. Grable admitted violating Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct requiring lawyers to follow client instructions (Rule 1.2(a)), act with diligence (Rule 1.3), and keep clients informed of important developments (Rule 1.4(a)(3)), after failing to file a lawsuit and counterclaim and not telling his client about a judgment against her.
2. The maximum punishment for the diligence and client-instruction violations is disbarment, while the communication violation carries a lesser maximum of a public reprimand, showing the seriousness of the core misconduct.
3. The court looked to guidance from the American Bar Association's Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, which the Georgia Supreme Court regularly consults, and found aggravating factors including Grable's substantial legal experience and his 2005 suspension for similar conduct.
4. Because the State Bar agreed the requested discipline, equivalent to disbarment, matched the severity of the misconduct and the aggravating history, the court accepted the voluntary surrender rather than requiring a formal disciplinary complaint and hearing.

• attorney discipline
• voluntary surrender of license
• State Bar of Georgia
• legal malpractice
• client neglect