In the Matter of David Carleton Head

David Carleton Head, a lawyer admitted to practice in Georgia since 1990, was convicted in 2022 of misdemeanor theft by conversion after he converted title to an ambulance owned by his elderly, ailing client. He was sentenced to 12 months of probation for the crime. A Special Master held a hearing and found that this conviction violated the State Bar rule barring lawyers from being convicted of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude (conduct contrary to honesty and good morals) connected to their fitness to practice law. Neither Head nor the State Bar objected to the Special Master's findings. The Supreme Court of Georgia reviewed the record itself and agreed that Head's conduct, taking advantage of a vulnerable client he was supposed to protect, was dishonest and breached his professional duties. The court ordered Head disbarred, removing him from the rolls of lawyers allowed to practice in Georgia.

The court held that Head's misdemeanor theft by conversion conviction, involving the taking of an elderly client's property, violated Rule 8.4(a)(3) because it was a crime of moral turpitude tied to his fitness to practice law, and that disbarment is the appropriate sanction absent mitigating factors.

The ruling removes a lawyer with decades of experience from practicing in Georgia, protecting future clients from similar exploitation. It also reinforces that Georgia lawyers who commit crimes of dishonesty against clients, even misdemeanors, face the harshest possible bar discipline.

Disbarment imposed

1. The court applied Rule 8.4(a)(3), which makes it professional misconduct for a lawyer to be convicted of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude (conduct contrary to honesty and good morals) that relates to fitness to practice law.
2. It found that Head's conviction for converting his elderly client's ambulance title satisfied this rule because the underlying conduct directly involved dishonesty toward a client, showing his unfitness to practice law.
3. Using the American Bar Association's Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions as guidance, the court considered the duty violated, Head's intentional mental state, and the harm caused to his client and to public trust in the legal profession.
4. The court identified several aggravating factors with no offsetting mitigating factors: Head's prior disciplinary history (two reprimands and an admonition), his dishonest motive to enrich himself, his client's vulnerability, his substantial legal experience, and the illegal nature of his conduct.
5. Based on ABA Standard 5.11(b), which calls for disbarment when a lawyer intentionally engages in dishonest or fraudulent conduct seriously reflecting on fitness to practice, and on comparable prior Georgia disbarment cases, the court concluded disbarment was the appropriate sanction.

• attorney disbarment
• theft by conversion
• State Bar of Georgia
• moral turpitude
• elderly client exploitation