--- title: In the Matter of Marc Celello collection: opinions id: S20Y0679 cite_as: In the Matter of Marc Celello, 308 Ga. 339 (2020) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0679 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0679.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0679/text source_url: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10367557/in-the-matter-of-marc-celello/ date: 2020-03-13 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/S20A0372.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20A0058.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/index.md omitted: opinion extras omitted_chars: 1284 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0679.md?full=1 docket: S20Y0679 citation: 308 Ga. 339 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: 224 date_filed_source: courtlistener citations: - 840 S.E.2d 349 record_source: courtlistener legal_areas: - professional discipline upstream_id: "10367557" summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 --- # In the Matter of Marc Celello Supreme Court of Georgia, docket S20Y0679, filed 2020-03-13, 308 Ga. 339. ## Opinion 308 Ga. 339 FINAL COPY S20Y0679. IN THE MATTER OF MARC CELELLO. PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the petition of Marc Celello (State Bar No. 950497) for voluntary surrender of his license following the entry of a guilty plea in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to conspiracy to commit securities fraud in violation of 18 USC § 371. Celello, who was admitted to the Bar in 1997, admits that by his conviction he has violated Rule 8.4 (a) (2) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct found in Bar Rule 4-102 (d). The maximum penalty for a violation of Rule 8.4 (a) (2) is disbarment. The State Bar has not filed a response. We have reviewed the record and agree to accept Celello’s petition for the voluntary surrender of his license, which is tantamount to disbarment. See Rule 1.0 (r). Accordingly, the name of Marc Celello is hereby removed from the rolls of persons entitled to practice law in the State of Georgia. Celello is reminded of his duties under 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 MARCH 13, 2020. Voluntary surrender of license. Davis, Zipperman, Kirschenbaum & Lotito, Nicholas A. Lotito, for Celello. ## 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 a Georgia lawyer's request to permanently give up his law license after he pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to commit securities fraud. ### Plain-language summary Marc Celello, a lawyer admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1997, pleaded guilty in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to conspiracy to commit securities fraud. Because of that federal conviction, Celello asked the Supreme Court of Georgia to accept the voluntary surrender of his law license rather than go through a full disciplinary hearing. Celello admitted that his conviction violated a State Bar rule that makes it professional misconduct for a lawyer to commit a criminal act reflecting adversely on his honesty or fitness to practice law. The State Bar did not object. The court reviewed the record and agreed to accept the surrender, which has the same effect as disbarment, and removed his name from the rolls of Georgia lawyers. ### Holding, as summarized The court held that Celello's federal guilty plea for conspiracy to commit securities fraud violated the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct's prohibition on criminal acts reflecting adversely on a lawyer's fitness to practice, and accepted his voluntary surrender of his license as equivalent to 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 The case shows how a criminal conviction, even one from federal court unrelated to a specific client, can end a Georgia lawyer's ability to practice law, protecting the public from lawyers whose conduct calls into question their honesty or fitness to practice. > The summarized reasoning, checked quotes, suggested questions, and the CourtListener opinion records (1,284 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0679.md?full=1