In the Matter of Paul Jason York

Paul Jason York, a Georgia lawyer, represented a woman charged with misdemeanor family violence who was released on bond with an ankle monitor. York forged the signatures of a judge and an assistant district attorney on a fake court order to get the monitor removed. He was charged with felony forgery and entered a pretrial diversion agreement requiring him to stop practicing law until reinstated by the State Bar, among other conditions. After a formal State Bar complaint, York first asked for a three-year suspension, but the Supreme Court of Georgia rejected that request because his diversion agreement would not end until after his proposed suspension was over. York then filed a new petition asking to voluntarily surrender his law license entirely, admitting he violated several rules of professional conduct. The special master and the State Bar both recommended accepting this new petition, and the court agreed.

The court held that voluntary surrender of a law license, which functions the same as disbarment, was the appropriate discipline for a lawyer who admitted forging a judge's and prosecutor's signatures on a fake court order and making false statements, violating multiple rules of professional conduct.

The decision removes York from the rolls of Georgia lawyers, protecting clients and the courts from someone who admitted forging official signatures on a court order. It also shows the court will reject discipline proposals that let a lawyer resume practicing before finishing required treatment or monitoring programs.

Voluntary surrender of license accepted

1. In an earlier ruling in this same case, the court rejected York's first proposal of a three-year suspension because his pretrial diversion agreement, a deal with prosecutors requiring him to complete counseling and other conditions in exchange for dropping criminal charges, would not expire until after his suspension ended, meaning he could resume practicing law before finishing those requirements.
2. After that rejection, York filed a new petition asking to voluntarily surrender his law license entirely rather than seeking a suspension, admitting his forgery of a judge's and prosecutor's signatures violated several Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, including rules against conflicts of interest, dishonesty to a court, and fraud.
3. The special master who reviewed the new petition recommended the court accept it, and the State Bar of Georgia agreed that voluntary surrender of the license was appropriate given the seriousness of the admitted misconduct.
4. The court noted that disbarment is the maximum penalty for each of the rules York admitted violating, and pointed to past cases where it accepted similar voluntary surrenders or imposed disbarment for comparable dishonesty toward courts and clients.
5. Because voluntary surrender of a license is treated as equivalent to disbarment under the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, and because the court found no remaining obstacle like the one that blocked the earlier suspension request, it accepted York's petition and ordered his removal from the rolls of licensed Georgia attorneys.

• attorney disbarment
• voluntary surrender of license
• forged court order
• State Bar of Georgia
• pretrial diversion agreement