In the Matter of Kara Sherrisse Lawrence

A man hired attorney Kara Sherrisse Lawrence to handle his immigration case and paid her a $3,500 flat fee, but Lawrence ended up debiting $5,351.75 from his bank account, more than he had authorized. She never actually filed anything with immigration officials because the client could never get a valid code to accept her representation online, yet her office told him his application was moving forward. When the client went looking for her, he found she had abandoned her office with no forwarding information. After the client filed a complaint with the State Bar, Lawrence responded by referring to a different person, 'Mr. Bennett,' and never properly answered the Bar's follow-up requests or the formal complaint against her, resulting in a default. A special master recommended disbarment, and the Supreme Court of Georgia reviewed the record and agreed, ordering her name removed from the rolls of Georgia attorneys.

The court held that disbarment is the appropriate sanction where an attorney abandoned her client, misappropriated funds beyond the authorized fee, misrepresented the status of the case, and repeatedly failed to cooperate with the State Bar's disciplinary process.

The ruling removes an attorney from practice who abandoned a paying client and took unauthorized funds, protecting future clients from similar harm. It also reinforces that Georgia attorneys who ignore Bar investigations and formal complaints face the harshest available discipline.

Disbarred

1. Because Lawrence failed to answer the State Bar's formal complaint, the special master entered a default, which meant the allegations in the complaint, including her overcharging the client and abandoning the case, were deemed admitted.
2. The special master applied the ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, a framework courts use to weigh the seriousness of misconduct, and found Lawrence's actions were intentional and caused both actual and potential harm to her client.
3. The special master identified several aggravating factors under those standards, including a dishonest or selfish motive, a pattern of misconduct lasting over a year, obstruction of the disciplinary process, refusal to acknowledge wrongdoing, and indifference to making restitution.
4. The special master weighed limited mitigating factors, namely Lawrence's lack of prior discipline and her inexperience as a newer attorney, but found they did not outweigh the aggravating factors.
5. The Supreme Court of Georgia reviewed the record, agreed that disbarment was warranted, and noted the outcome was consistent with prior Georgia cases disbarring attorneys who abandoned clients and ignored disciplinary authorities.

• attorney disbarment
• State Bar of Georgia
• immigration client
• client abandonment
• misappropriated funds