--- title: In the Matter of Elizabeth Vila Rogan collection: opinions id: S20Y0869 cite_as: In the Matter of Elizabeth Vila Rogan, 847 S.E.2d 308 (2020) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0869 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0869.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0869/text source_url: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10367414/in-the-matter-of-elizabeth-vila-rogan/ date: 2020-08-10 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/S20Y1265.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20A0725.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/index.md omitted: opinion extras omitted_chars: 1395 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0869.md?full=1 docket: S20Y0869 citation: 847 S.E.2d 308 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: 351 date_filed_source: courtlistener citations: - 309 Ga. 583 record_source: courtlistener legal_areas: - professional discipline upstream_id: "10367414" summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 --- # In the Matter of Elizabeth Vila Rogan Supreme Court of Georgia, docket S20Y0869, filed 2020-08-10, 847 S.E.2d 308. ## Opinion FINAL COPY 309 Ga. 583 S20Y0869. IN THE MATTER OF ELIZABETH VILA ROGAN. PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the petition for voluntary surrender of license filed by Elizabeth Vila Rogan (State Bar No. 727642), who has been a member of the Bar since 1991. After initially being indicted on one count of forgery in the first degree based on her act of knowingly signing a judge’s initials to a clarifying order without having obtained his express permission, Rogan entered a negotiated plea of nolo contendere to obstruction of officers in violation of OCGA § 16-10-24, pursuant to the First Offender Act, OCGA § 42-8-60. Rogan admits that by virtue of her plea, she violated Rules 4.1 (a), 8.4 (a) (3), 8.4 (a) (4), and 8.4 (a) (8), of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct found in Bar Rule 4- 102 (d). The maximum sanction for a violation of any of these Rules is disbarment. Rogan initially filed a petition for voluntary discipline seeking a 12-month suspension, but after the State Bar opposed her petition and stated that her actions warranted disbarment, she filed a request to convert her petition to a voluntary surrender of license, which is tantamount to disbarment. The State Bar does not oppose her request. We have reviewed this record and agree to accept Rogan’s petition for the voluntary surrender of her license, as we conclude that the proposed discipline is commensurate with Rogan’s misconduct. See In the Matter of Griffieth, 298 Ga. 436 (782 SE2d 443) (2016); In the Matter of Davidson, 275 Ga. 202 (563 SE2d 134) (2002). Accordingly, the name Elizabeth Vila Rogan hereby is removed from the rolls of persons entitled to practice law in the State of Georgia. Rogan is reminded of her duties under Bar Rule 4-219 (b). Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. DECIDED AUGUST 10, 2020. Voluntary surrender of license. Paula J. Frederick, General Counsel State Bar, William D. NeSmith III, Deputy General Counsel State Bar, Jenny K. Mittelman, James S. Lewis, 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 a Georgia lawyer's request to give up her law license after she pleaded no contest to obstructing officers, a move equivalent to disbarment. ### Plain-language summary Elizabeth Vila Rogan, a Georgia lawyer since 1991, was originally indicted on forgery charges for signing a judge's initials on a court order without his permission. She resolved the criminal case by entering a negotiated plea of no contest to obstructing officers under Georgia's First Offender Act, which lets some defendants avoid a formal conviction record. Because of that plea, Rogan admitted she violated several Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct covering honesty in dealing with courts and officials and criminal conduct reflecting on fitness to practice law. She first asked the Supreme Court of Georgia for a 12-month suspension, but after the State Bar said her conduct warranted disbarment, she instead asked to voluntarily surrender her law license, a step treated the same as disbarment. The State Bar did not object, and the court agreed the punishment fit the misconduct, so it removed her from the list of lawyers allowed to practice in Georgia. ### Holding, as summarized The court held that voluntarily surrendering a law license, which functions the same as disbarment, was an appropriate and proportionate sanction for a lawyer who pleaded no contest to obstructing officers after being accused of forging a judge's initials on a court order. ### Disposition Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. ### Why it matters The case shows the Supreme Court of Georgia treating a lawyer's dishonest conduct toward the courts, here forging a judge's initials, as serious enough to justify losing the right to practice law, reinforcing standards Georgia lawyers and courts rely on for trust in legal documents. > The summarized reasoning, checked quotes, suggested questions, and the CourtListener opinion records (1,395 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0869.md?full=1