In the Matter of Stephen Anthony Power

Stephen Anthony Power, a Georgia lawyer, faced three separate complaints filed with the State Bar. In one, a client paid him for a divorce case that he never worked on and never refunded. In another, a client paid a flat fee for a child custody case, and Power stopped communicating and never filed the petition he had told his client he would file. In the third matter, his law firm trust account was overdrawn twice, and he never responded to the State Bar's questions about it. When the State Bar tried to serve Power with formal notice of the charges, he could not be found and eventually had to be served by publication (a legal notice printed publicly). He still never responded, putting him in default and giving up his right to a hearing. The Supreme Court of Georgia reviewed the undisputed facts and decided that disbarment, the most serious punishment available, was the right outcome given his pattern of abandoning clients and his failure to participate in the process at all.

The court held that disbarment is the appropriate sanction for a lawyer who abandoned multiple clients, failed to refund unearned fees, overdrew his trust account twice without explanation, and defaulted by failing to respond at every stage of the disciplinary process.

Clients across Georgia rely on lawyers to handle their money and their legal matters honestly. This case shows how the State Bar and the Supreme Court of Georgia respond when a lawyer abandons clients, mishandles trust funds, and refuses to cooperate: with removal from the practice of law.

Disbarred

1. Because Power failed to respond to the Notice of Discipline after being properly served by publication, he was in default under the State Bar's rules, meaning the facts alleged against him were deemed admitted and he gave up his right to an evidentiary hearing.
2. The admitted facts showed Power took fees from two clients (for a divorce case and a child custody case) and then did no meaningful work, cut off communication, and never refunded the money, along with two unexplained overdrafts in his trust account, the account lawyers must use to hold client funds safely.
3. The State Disciplinary Board found probable cause that these facts violated several Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, including rules on diligence, communication, fees, and safekeeping client property, some of which carry disbarment as the maximum possible punishment.
4. The Board weighed aggravating factors, Power's 12 years of experience, a repeated pattern of misconduct across multiple clients, and his intentional refusal to respond to the Bar or keep his contact information current, against the single mitigating factor that he had no prior discipline.
5. Comparing this case to similar past cases where lawyers abandoned clients, violated trust account rules, and defaulted in the disciplinary process, the court concluded disbarment was the consistent and appropriate sanction.

• attorney disbarment
• State Bar of Georgia
• client abandonment
• trust account violations
• default in disciplinary case