In THE MATTER OF WAYMON SIMS (Two Cases)

Waymon Sims, a lawyer who had practiced since 1979, faced two State Bar disciplinary cases after he mixed personal and client money in several bank accounts, including accounts that were supposed to be trust accounts holding client funds separately. In one case, his fee agreement with a client injured in a car accident did not clearly explain how expenses would be deducted from her settlement, and he deposited her settlement money into an account he also used for business purposes. In the second case, Sims kept client and personal funds mixed across five different accounts over more than two years, paid business and personal expenses from accounts meant to hold client money, and used accounts that did not properly qualify as trust accounts at all. Sims admitted these violations and asked to voluntarily surrender his law license rather than go through a full disciplinary hearing. A special master reviewed the case and recommended acceptance, noting similar past cases resulted in disbarment. The Supreme Court of Georgia agreed and ordered his name removed from the rolls of licensed attorneys.

The court accepted Sims's voluntary surrender of his law license, treating it as the equivalent of disbarment, based on his admitted violations of rules governing fee agreements and the safekeeping of client and trust account funds.

The decision removes a lawyer from practice in Georgia for mishandling client funds, protecting future clients from similar harm. It also reinforces for all Georgia attorneys that mixing personal and client money in trust accounts is treated as serious misconduct warranting disbarment-level consequences.

Voluntary surrender of license accepted

1. A special master reviewed two disciplinary dockets against Sims and found he admitted violating Georgia's rules on fee agreements (Rule 1.5) and on safeguarding client funds in trust accounts (Rule 1.15), which require lawyers to keep client money separate from their own and properly document it.
2. In the first case, Sims's contingency fee agreement did not clearly explain that expenses would be deducted after the fee was calculated, and he deposited a client's settlement into an account also used as a general business account, mixing client and personal funds.
3. In the second case, over roughly two and a half years Sims held client funds across five different bank accounts, some of which were never properly set up as trust accounts, and he paid personal and business expenses directly from money that should have been held for clients.
4. The special master pointed to prior Georgia disciplinary cases involving similar trust account and fee violations that resulted in disbarment, showing this pattern of misconduct is consistently treated as warranting the most serious sanction.
5. Because Sims admitted the violations and asked to voluntarily surrender his license rather than contest the charges, and because the State Bar and special master both recommended acceptance, the court found voluntary surrender was an appropriate substitute for disbarment.

• attorney discipline
• trust account violations
• voluntary surrender of license
• commingling client funds
• State Bar of Georgia