In the Matter of Bryan Matthew Pritchett

Bryan Matthew Pritchett was a Georgia lawyer who represented injured workers in workers' compensation cases. In three separate client matters, he received settlement checks made out to his clients, forged their signatures so he could cash the checks, deposited the money into his own accounts, and spent it on himself. When clients asked about their money, he lied to them or ignored them, and he did the same when the State Bar investigated. Pritchett never answered the Bar's two formal complaints against him, so under the rules he was treated as having admitted all the facts and violations. A Special Master reviewed the case and recommended disbarment, and the Supreme Court of Georgia agreed. The court found that Pritchett's forgery and theft of client funds, combined with his dishonesty and refusal to cooperate, matched the kind of serious misconduct that has led to disbarment in past cases, and it ordered him removed from the rolls of Georgia lawyers.

An attorney who forges clients' signatures to steal settlement funds, lies to clients about their recoveries, and fails to cooperate with a State Bar disciplinary investigation commits violations that warrant disbarment, consistent with prior cases involving conversion of client funds and noncooperation with disciplinary authorities.

The ruling protects the public by permanently barring a lawyer who stole client money through forgery from practicing in Georgia. It also requires him to repay nearly $160,000 to his former clients before he could ever seek readmission, reinforcing accountability for attorneys who exploit clients' trust.

Disbarred

1. Because Pritchett never answered the Bar's formal complaints, he was deemed under the disciplinary rules to have admitted all the factual allegations and rule violations charged against him.
2. The Special Master applied the American Bar Association Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, a framework that weighs the duty violated, the lawyer's state of mind, the harm caused, and any aggravating or mitigating factors, to decide the proper punishment.
3. Under those standards, disbarment is generally the appropriate sanction when a lawyer knowingly converts (steals or misuses) client property, deceives clients for personal benefit, or engages in dishonest conduct causing serious harm, all of which were present here through Pritchett's forgery, theft of settlement funds, and lies to clients and the Bar.
4. The Special Master found ten aggravating factors, including a dishonest motive, a pattern of multiple offenses, vulnerable victims, and indifference to restitution, far outweighing the single mitigating factor of no prior discipline.
5. Comparing Pritchett's conduct to earlier Georgia disbarment cases involving similar conversion of client funds and failure to cooperate with the Bar, the court concluded disbarment was the only fitting sanction, even setting aside one disputed rule violation because other violations independently supported the same maximum penalty.

• attorney disbarment
• forgery
• client funds theft
• State Bar of Georgia
• workers' compensation lawyer