In the Matter of Cheryl Joyce Braziel

Cheryl Joyce Braziel, a Georgia lawyer, represented a client injured in a car accident in Texas. After settling the client's injury claim for $31,440, she negotiated with the hospital and the Texas Attorney General's child support office over liens against the settlement money. She told the child support office the client would get nothing from the settlement, which persuaded them to reduce the lien to zero, even though the client actually received money. She then failed to tell either the hospital or the child support office that she had received the settlement funds, did not pay the child support lien at all, and did not pay the hospital's lien until 2019, years later, after the hospital's lawyer complained to the State Bar. A special master found she violated several rules of professional conduct. The Supreme Court of Georgia agreed and ordered a two-year suspension from practicing law, with reinstatement conditioned on completing a law practice management program.

The court held that Braziel violated Georgia's rules requiring lawyers to honor known third-party interests in settlement funds, promptly notify and pay lienholders, and avoid making false statements to third parties, warranting a two-year suspension with a condition on reinstatement.

The decision reinforces that Georgia lawyers must promptly notify and pay lienholders like hospitals and child support agencies after settling a client's case, and shows real discipline follows when lawyers mislead third parties or sit on settlement funds owed to others.

Two-year suspension with condition on reinstatement

1. The court reviewed the special master's factual findings, which were unchallenged since neither Braziel nor the State Bar sought review by the State Disciplinary Review Board.
2. It found Braziel violated Rule 1.15(I)(c), which requires a lawyer to promptly notify and pay third parties with a known interest in settlement funds, because she never told the hospital or the Texas child support office she had received the settlement and delayed paying the hospital lien for two years.
3. It found Braziel violated Rule 4.1, which bars lawyers from knowingly making false statements of material fact to third parties, because she told the Texas child support office the client would receive nothing from the settlement in order to get the lien reduced to zero, then failed to pay even that reduced amount.
4. It accepted Braziel's admission that she violated Rule 1.15(I)(b), which bars disregarding a known statutory lien, by failing to pay the child support lien from the settlement proceeds.
5. Weighing mitigating factors like her cooperation against aggravating factors like her prior disciplinary history under the American Bar Association Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, and comparing similar past cases, the court concluded a two-year suspension with a reinstatement condition was the appropriate sanction rather than disbarment or a shorter suspension.

• attorney suspension
• State Bar of Georgia
• personal injury settlement
• hospital lien
• child support lien