--- title: In the Matter of Neil Richard Flit collection: opinions id: S20Y0637 cite_as: In the Matter of Neil Richard Flit, 309 Ga. 440 (2020) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0637 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0637.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0637/text source_url: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10367427/in-the-matter-of-neil-richard-flit/ date: 2020-07-15 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/S20A0035.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20A0859.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/index.md omitted: opinion extras omitted_chars: 1400 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0637.md?full=1 docket: S20Y0637 citation: 309 Ga. 440 court: Supreme Court of Georgia case_type: bar discipline authoring_justice: Per Curiam disposition: Voluntary surrender of license accepted vote: All the Justices concur word_count: 520 date_filed_source: courtlistener citations: - 846 S.E.2d 403 record_source: courtlistener legal_areas: - professional discipline upstream_id: "10367427" summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 --- # In the Matter of Neil Richard Flit Supreme Court of Georgia, docket S20Y0637, filed 2020-07-15, 309 Ga. 440. ## Opinion 309 Ga. 440 FINAL COPY S20Y0637. IN THE MATTER OF NEIL RICHARD FLIT. PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the report of the special master, who recommends that the Court accept the petition for voluntary surrender of license filed by Neil Richard Flit (State Bar No. 091307) after the filing of a formal complaint, pursuant to Bar Rule 4-227 (c). In his petition, Flit requested that he be allowed to voluntarily surrender his license for his admitted violations, in two separate matters, of Rule 1.15 (I) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, see Bar Rule 4-102 (d), and the State Bar has requested that Flit’s petition be granted. For the reasons that follow, we accept the petition. In her report and recommendation, the special master found that, with regard to State Disciplinary Board (“SDB”) Docket No. 7215, Flit, who has been a member of the Bar since 2007, was retained to represent a client in a personal injury claim. Flit settled the case and deposited the funds in his trust account on or about August 2013. The client died in January 2014, but Flit did not promptly give the administrator of the client’s estate an accounting of the settlement proceeds or deliver to the administrator any of the funds the estate was entitled to receive until February 2018. With regard to SDB Docket No. 7231, the special master found that Flit was retained to represent a separate client in a different personal injury claim. Flit settled the case and deposited the funds in his trust account on or about June 2016, but he did not promptly give his client an accounting of the settlement proceeds and did not deliver to his client the funds she was entitled to receive until January 2019. The special master agreed with Flit that his conduct in both cases violated Bar Rule 1.15 (I), the maximum penalty for which is disbarment. Noting that a surrender of license is tantamount to disbarment, see Georgia Rule of Professional Conduct 1.0 (r), the special master recommended that the Court accept Flit’s petition. See In the Matter of Dabney-Froe, 302 Ga. 746 (808 SE2d 649) (2017) (accepting voluntary surrender of license where attorney failed to disburse funds or provide accounting of funds); In the Matter of Slade, 286 Ga. 465 (689 SE2d 315) (2010) (accepting voluntary surrender of license where attorney admitted that he failed to deliver funds to client or account for them). We have reviewed the records and agree to accept Flit’s petition for voluntary surrender of his license. Accordingly, it is ordered that the name of Neil Richard Flit be removed from the rolls of persons authorized to practice law in the State of Georgia. Flit is reminded of his duties pursuant to Bar Rule 4-219 (b). Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. DECIDED JULY 15, 2020. Voluntary surrender of license. Warren R. Hinds, for Flit. Paula J. Frederick, General Counsel State Bar, William D. NeSmith III, Deputy General Counsel State Bar, Jenny K. Mittelman, William V. Hearnburg, 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 attorney's request to give up his law license after he admitted holding onto client settlement funds for years without paying them out or explaining what happened to the money. ### Plain-language summary Neil Richard Flit, a member of the State Bar of Georgia since 2007, was accused in two separate disciplinary cases of mishandling client settlement money he was holding in trust. In one case, he settled a client's personal injury claim in 2013 but did not give the client's estate an accounting or pay out the settlement funds until 2018, after the client died. In another case, he settled a different client's injury claim in 2016 but did not account for or deliver her funds until 2019. After the State Bar filed a formal complaint, Flit asked to voluntarily surrender his law license rather than fight the charges. A special master reviewed the matter, found Flit's conduct violated the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct governing safekeeping of client funds, and recommended the court accept the surrender. The Supreme Court of Georgia agreed and ordered his name removed from the rolls of attorneys licensed to practice in the state. ### Holding, as summarized An attorney who admits failing to promptly account for and deliver client settlement funds held in trust violates Rule 1.15 (I) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, an offense punishable by disbarment, and voluntary surrender of license is an acceptable substitute for full disbarment proceedings. ### Disposition Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. ### Why it matters The case removes an attorney from practice for failing to promptly pay clients money they were legally owed, reinforcing that Georgia lawyers who mishandle trust account funds face losing their license, which protects clients who rely on attorneys to safeguard settlement money. > The summarized reasoning, checked quotes, suggested questions, and the CourtListener opinion records (1,400 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0637.md?full=1