--- title: In the Matter of Matthew A. Dickason collection: opinions id: S19Y1450 cite_as: In the Matter of Matthew A. Dickason, 308 Ga. 411 (2020) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S19Y1450 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S19Y1450.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S19Y1450/text source_url: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10367531/in-the-matter-of-matthew-a-dickason/ date: 2020-04-06 status: published corpus_version: opinions-2026-09-14 license: Public record of the Supreme Court of Georgia, via CourtListener and the court's own website; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/2020.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0209/10367530.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0312.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/index.md omitted: opinion extras omitted_chars: 1196 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S19Y1450.md?full=1 docket: S19Y1450 citation: 308 Ga. 411 court: Supreme Court of Georgia case_type: bar discipline authoring_justice: Per Curiam disposition: Voluntary surrender of license accepted vote: Melton, C. J., Nahmias, P. J., and Blackwell, Boggs, Peterson, Warren, Bethel, and Ellington, JJ., concur. word_count: 309 date_filed_source: courtlistener citations: - 841 S.E.2d 728 record_source: courtlistener legal_areas: - professional discipline upstream_id: "10367531" summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 --- # In the Matter of Matthew A. Dickason Supreme Court of Georgia, docket S19Y1450, filed 2020-04-06, 308 Ga. 411. ## Opinion 308 Ga. 411 FINAL COPY S19Y1450. IN THE MATTER OF MATTHEW A. DICKASON. PER CURIAM. Matthew A. Dickason (State Bar No. 220375), who was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 2003, has filed a petition for voluntary surrender of his license,1 see Bar Rule 4-227 (b) (2), stating the Bar has received numerous grievances about his failure to account for fiduciary funds placed in his trust account in connection with various real estate closings. He admits that he has failed to account for such funds and that the failure to do so constitutes a violation of Rule 1.15 (I) (c) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct found in Bar Rule 4-102 (d). The maximum sanction for a violation of Rule 1.15 (I) (c) is disbarment. He also acknowledges that the voluntary surrender of his license is tantamount to disbarment. See Bar Rule 1.0 (r). The State Bar has 1 Dickason is currently under interim suspension. See S19Y1450 (March 13, 2020). filed a response, noting that there are currently 20 grievances pending against Dickason and asking the Court to accept the petition. Having reviewed the petition and response, we agree to accept Dickason’s petition for voluntary surrender of his license. Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the name of Matthew A. Dickason be removed from the rolls of persons authorized to practice law in the State of Georgia. Dickason is reminded of his duties pursuant to Bar Rule 4-219 (b). Voluntary surrender of license accepted. Melton, C. J., Nahmias, P. J., and Blackwell, Boggs, Peterson, Warren, Bethel, and Ellington, JJ., concur. DECIDED APRIL 6, 2020. Voluntary surrender of license. Stovash, Case & Tingley, Matthew J. Pearce, for Dickason. Paula J. Frederick, General Counsel State Bar, William D. NeSmith III, Deputy General Counsel State Bar, Jenny K. Mittelman, Assistant General Counsel State Bar, for State Bar of Georgia. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the opinion above and is not part of the court's opinion. Quote the opinion, not the summary. The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted an Atlanta-area lawyer's request to give up his law license after he admitted failing to account for client trust funds tied to real estate closings. ### Plain-language summary Matthew A. Dickason, a Georgia lawyer admitted to practice in 2003, asked the Supreme Court of Georgia for permission to voluntarily surrender his law license. He did so after the State Bar received numerous complaints that he had failed to properly account for client funds he was supposed to hold safely in a trust account during real estate closings. Dickason admitted the failures violated the rule requiring lawyers to safeguard and account for client property, a violation that can carry disbarment as the maximum punishment. The State Bar noted 20 grievances were pending against him and asked the court to accept his petition. The court agreed, treating the surrender as equivalent to disbarment and ordering his name removed from the list of lawyers allowed to practice in Georgia. ### Holding, as summarized Because Dickason admitted violating Rule 1.15(I)(c), which requires lawyers to properly account for client trust funds, and because that violation can warrant disbarment, the court accepted his voluntary surrender of his law license as the equivalent of disbarment. ### Disposition Voluntary surrender of license accepted. Melton, C. J., Nahmias, P. J., and Blackwell, Boggs, Peterson, Warren, Bethel, and Ellington, JJ., concur. ### Why it matters Clients and parties to real estate closings who relied on Dickason to safely hold funds in trust were harmed, and this decision removes him from practicing law in Georgia entirely, protecting future clients from similar mishandling of trust account money. > The summarized reasoning, checked quotes, suggested questions, and the CourtListener opinion records (1,196 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S19Y1450.md?full=1