--- title: In the Matter of Don Smart collection: opinions id: S20Y0957 cite_as: In the Matter of Don Smart, 309 Ga. 336 (2020) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0957 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0957.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0957/text source_url: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10367441/in-the-matter-of-don-smart/ date: 2020-06-29 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/S20A0013.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20A0088.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/index.md omitted: opinion extras omitted_chars: 1335 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0957.md?full=1 docket: S20Y0957 citation: 309 Ga. 336 court: Supreme Court of Georgia case_type: bar discipline authoring_justice: Per Curiam disposition: Voluntary surrender of license accepted (equivalent to disbarment) vote: All the Justices concur word_count: 331 date_filed_source: courtlistener citations: - 845 S.E.2d 688 record_source: courtlistener legal_areas: - professional discipline - criminal law upstream_id: "10367441" summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 --- # In the Matter of Don Smart Supreme Court of Georgia, docket S20Y0957, filed 2020-06-29, 309 Ga. 336. ## Opinion 309 Ga. 336 FINAL COPY S20Y0957. IN THE MATTER OF DON SMART. PER CURIAM. Don Smart (State Bar No. 653525), who was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1975, has filed a petition for voluntary surrender of his license,1 see Bar Rule 4-227 (b) (2), stating that on February 4, 2020, he entered a guilty plea in Chatham County Superior Court to one count of theft by conversion. He states further that the theft charge arose from his conduct in the administration of an estate, in the course of which he sold real property on the estate’s behalf, deposited the sales proceeds, totaling $509,618.68, into his trust account, and then, rather than disbursing the funds to the estate, converted the funds to his own use. Smart admits that, by his conduct, he has violated the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct found in Bar Rule 4-102 (d). Specifically, Smart’s admitted 1 Smart is currently under interim suspension. See In the Matter of Smart, 305 Ga. 724 (827 SE2d 685) (2019). conduct constitutes a violation of Rules 1.15 (I) (c), 1.15 (II) (b), and 8.4 (a) (2), the maximum sanction for any of which is disbarment. The State Bar has filed a response, asking the Court to accept the petition. Having reviewed the petition and response, we agree to accept Smart’s petition for voluntary surrender of his license, which is tantamount to disbarment. See Rule 1.0 (r). Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the name of Don Smart be removed from the rolls of persons authorized to practice law in the State of Georgia. Smart is reminded of his duties pursuant to Bar Rule 4-219 (b). Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. DECIDED JUNE 29, 2020. Voluntary surrender of license. Harry D. Dixon, Jr., for Smart. Paula J. Frederick, General Counsel State Bar, William D. NeSmith III, Deputy General Counsel State Bar, Jenny K. Mittelman, Wolanda R. Shelton, 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 Savannah attorney's request to permanently surrender his law license after he pleaded guilty to stealing more than $500,000 from an estate he was handling. ### Plain-language summary Don Smart, a lawyer admitted to practice in Georgia since 1975, was hired to help administer an estate. As part of that work he sold real property belonging to the estate and deposited the proceeds, over $509,000, into his trust account. Instead of turning that money over to the estate, he kept it for himself. He later pleaded guilty in Chatham County Superior Court to theft by conversion. Smart asked the Supreme Court of Georgia for permission to voluntarily give up his law license rather than go through disciplinary proceedings, admitting his conduct violated several rules governing how lawyers must handle client and trust funds. The State Bar of Georgia asked the court to accept his request. The court agreed, treating the voluntary surrender the same as disbarment and ordering his name removed from the list of lawyers allowed to practice in Georgia. ### Holding, as summarized An attorney who admits to converting estate funds held in his trust account for personal use, in violation of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct governing trust accounts and misconduct, may have his petition for voluntary surrender of license accepted, which the court treats as equivalent to disbarment. ### Disposition Voluntary surrender of license accepted (equivalent to disbarment). All the Justices concur. ### Why it matters The case shows how Georgia enforces trust account rules meant to protect clients and estates from lawyers who mishandle money. Removing Smart from practice protects future clients, while the underlying theft conviction and estate loss remain consequences for the people harmed. > The summarized reasoning, checked quotes, suggested questions, and the CourtListener opinion records (1,335 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y0957.md?full=1