--- title: In the Matter of Daniel Lee Dean collection: opinions id: S20Y1435 cite_as: In the Matter of Daniel Lee Dean, 310 Ga. 100 (2020) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y1435 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y1435.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y1435/text source_url: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10367344/in-the-matter-of-daniel-lee-dean/ date: 2020-10-05 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/S20A0827.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20A0799.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/index.md omitted: opinion extras omitted_chars: 1649 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y1435.md?full=1 docket: S20Y1435 citation: 310 Ga. 100 court: Supreme Court of Georgia case_type: bar discipline authoring_justice: Per Curiam disposition: Voluntary surrender of license accepted, tantamount to disbarment vote: All the Justices concur word_count: 404 date_filed_source: courtlistener citations: - 849 S.E.2d 424 record_source: courtlistener legal_areas: - professional discipline upstream_id: "10367344" summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 --- # In the Matter of Daniel Lee Dean Supreme Court of Georgia, docket S20Y1435, filed 2020-10-05, 310 Ga. 100. ## Opinion 310 Ga. 100 FINAL COPY S20Y1435. IN THE MATTER OF DANIEL LEE DEAN. PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the petition for voluntary surrender of license filed by Daniel Lee Dean (State Bar No. 214575) prior to the issuance of a formal complaint, pursuant to Bar Rule 4-227 (b) (2). Dean, who has been a member of the Bar since 1977, is currently undergoing treatment for terminal cancer. We recently appointed receivers for his client files, records, and accounts, based on our determination that he “has become so impaired as a result of a terminal illness that he is unable to properly represent his clients.” In the Matter of Dean, S20B1282 (June 18, 2020). Dean states that he currently has three grievances that have been filed against him, which allege numerous violations of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct found in Bar Rule 4-102 (d), some of which are punishable by disbarment. While Dean does not agree with all of the factual allegations in the grievances, he acknowledges that there is some factual basis to support violations of Rules 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.15 (I), 1.15 (II), 1.15 (III), 1.16, 4.1, and 8.4. Dean urges us to accept the surrender of his license pursuant to Bar Rule 4-104 (a) in lieu of discipline for his alleged violations of the Bar Rules. See In the Matter of Healy, 308 Ga. 658 (842 SE2d 844) (2020). He further promises that should we accept his surrender of license, notwithstanding any successful treatment of his illness that may occur in the future, he will not seek reinstatement to the practice of law. The State Bar has filed a response, asking that we grant Dean’s petition for voluntary surrender of license. Having reviewed the petition, we agree to accept Dean’s petition for voluntary surrender of license under Bar Rule 4-104, which is tantamount to disbarment. Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the name of Daniel Lee Dean be removed from the rolls of persons authorized to practice law in the State of Georgia. Dean is reminded of his duties pursuant to Bar Rule 4-219 (b). Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. Decided October 5, 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 the voluntary surrender of law license from an attorney facing terminal illness and multiple ethics grievances, treating the surrender as equivalent to disbarment. ### Plain-language summary Daniel Lee Dean, a Georgia attorney since 1977, is undergoing treatment for terminal cancer. The court had already appointed receivers to take over his client files and accounts after finding he was too impaired by illness to properly represent clients. Three grievances alleging numerous violations of Georgia's professional conduct rules, some serious enough to warrant disbarment, had been filed against him. Rather than face a formal disciplinary complaint, Dean asked the court to accept the voluntary surrender of his law license, acknowledging some factual basis for several rule violations while disputing other allegations. He promised never to seek reinstatement even if he recovers. The State Bar supported his request. The Supreme Court of Georgia agreed, accepting the surrender as tantamount to disbarment and removing Dean's name from the rolls of attorneys authorized to practice law in Georgia. ### Holding, as summarized The court held that Dean's petition to voluntarily surrender his law license under Bar Rule 4-104 in lieu of formal discipline should be accepted, treating the surrender as equivalent to disbarment given the acknowledged factual basis for multiple rule violations. ### Disposition Voluntary surrender of license accepted, tantamount to disbarment. All the Justices concur. ### Why it matters The decision permanently removes an attorney from practice, protecting his clients and the public from further harm, while resolving pending misconduct grievances without a lengthy disciplinary trial. It also confirms that the State Bar can wind up sensitive terminal-illness cases through voluntary surrender rather than contested proceedings. > The summarized reasoning, checked quotes, suggested questions, and the CourtListener opinion records (1,649 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20Y1435.md?full=1