In THE MATTER OF CORY D. RAINES (Two Cases)

Cory D. Raines, a Georgia lawyer since 2015, represented two minor siblings in a personal injury case and, after settling their claims for a combined $43,000 in mid-2021, deposited the money in his client trust account. He then ignored the siblings' mother's repeated requests for the funds, let the account balance drop to $1.37, and used the money for himself instead of paying the hospital liens or the siblings. In a second case, Raines failed for years to pay a medical clinic money it was owed from settlements for other clients, only paying after the clinic filed a complaint with the State Bar. Because Raines never answered the State Bar's formal complaints, he was found in default, meaning the allegations were treated as true. A Special Master reviewed the record and recommended disbarment. The Supreme Court of Georgia agreed, finding Raines knowingly violated the rules requiring lawyers to safeguard client and third-party funds, and ordered his name removed from the rolls of attorneys allowed to practice in Georgia.

The court held that an attorney who knowingly converts client and third-party settlement funds for personal use, fails to keep required trust account records, and disregards third parties' interests in those funds violates Georgia's trust account rules and warrants disbarment, especially given multiple aggravating factors and no meaningful mitigation.

Clients who trust lawyers with settlement money, and medical providers relying on payment from those settlements, depend on attorneys following strict trust account rules. This case shows Georgia will disbar lawyers who convert client funds for personal use, reinforcing protections for vulnerable clients like injured minors.

Disbarred

1. Because Raines never answered the State Bar's formal complaints despite being served, he was found in default under Bar Rule 4-212 (a), meaning the facts alleged and rule violations charged were deemed admitted without further proof.
2. The Special Master applied the ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, a framework courts use to weigh the duty violated, the lawyer's mental state, the harm caused, and aggravating or mitigating circumstances, and found Raines acted knowingly and caused significant harm.
3. The court found seven aggravating factors applied, including a dishonest motive, a pattern of misconduct spanning multiple clients, bad-faith obstruction of the disciplinary process, and vulnerability of the victims (minor siblings), while only one mitigating factor (no prior discipline) applied.
4. Under ABA Standard 4.11, disbarment is generally warranted when a lawyer knowingly converts client property and causes injury, and under Standard 7.1, disbarment is warranted when a lawyer knowingly violates a duty to obtain a benefit and causes serious injury; both standards matched Raines's conduct.
5. The court compared Raines's conduct to prior Georgia disbarment cases involving similar trust account violations, concluding that disbarment was consistent with how the court has treated comparable misconduct by other attorneys.

• attorney disbarment
• trust account violations
• misappropriated settlement funds
• State Bar of Georgia
• personal injury settlements