--- title: In the Matter of Pamela Studivant Stephenson collection: opinions id: S21Y0081 cite_as: In the Matter of Pamela Studivant Stephenson, 310 Ga. 6 (2020) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S21Y0081 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S21Y0081.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S21Y0081/text source_url: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10367358/in-the-matter-of-pamela-studivant-stephenson/ date: 2020-09-28 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/S20Y1503.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20A0967.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/index.md omitted: opinion extras omitted_chars: 1123 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S21Y0081.md?full=1 docket: S21Y0081 citation: 310 Ga. 6 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: 338 date_filed_source: courtlistener citations: - 849 S.E.2d 171 record_source: courtlistener legal_areas: - professional discipline upstream_id: "10367358" summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 --- # In the Matter of Pamela Studivant Stephenson Supreme Court of Georgia, docket S21Y0081, filed 2020-09-28, 310 Ga. 6. ## Opinion 310 Ga. 6 FINAL COPY S21Y0081. IN THE MATTER OF PAMELA STURDIVANT STEPHENSON. PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the petition of Pamela Sturdivant Stephenson (State Bar No. 679558) for voluntary surrender of her license prior to the issuance of a formal complaint, pursuant to Bar Rule 4-227 (b) (2). Stephenson, who has been a member of the Bar since 1994, is currently under suspension because of her failure to respond to a Notice of Investigation filed by the State Bar. The maximum sanction for the violations contained in the notice is disbarment. See In the Matter of Stephenson, S20Y0212 (Sept. 20, 2019). The notice asserted that conduct alleged in a grievance against Stephenson could support violations of Rules 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 3.2, and 8.4 (a) (4) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct.1 Stephenson’s petition asserts her intention to surrender her license pursuant to Rule 4-104 (a). Stephenson thus requests that the Court accept her petition for voluntary surrender of her license, which she acknowledges is tantamount to disbarment. The State Bar has filed a response, asking this Court to grant Stephenson’s petition. Having reviewed the petition, we agree to accept Stephenson’s petition for voluntary surrender of her license, pursuant to Rule 4- 104 (a), which is tantamount to disbarment. Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the name of Pamela Sturdivant Stephenson be removed from the rolls of persons authorized to practice law in the State of Georgia. Stephenson is reminded of her duties pursuant to Bar Rule 4-219 (b). Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. 1 The maximum sanction for a violation of Rules 1.2, 1.3, and 8.4 (a) (4) is disbarment; the maximum sanction for a violation of Rules 1.4, 1.5, and 3.2 is a public reprimand. Decided September 28, 2020. Voluntary surrender of license. 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 Rockdale-area attorney's request to give up her law license rather than face formal disciplinary charges, a step the court treats as equivalent to disbarment. ### Plain-language summary Pamela Sturdivant Stephenson, a member of the State Bar of Georgia since 1994, had already been suspended for failing to respond to the Bar's investigation into a client grievance against her. That grievance raised possible violations of several professional conduct rules covering competence, diligence, communication with clients, fees, expediting litigation, and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, violations that could have led to disbarment. Rather than let the Bar file formal charges, Stephenson asked the Supreme Court of Georgia to accept the voluntary surrender of her law license. The State Bar supported her request. The court reviewed the petition and agreed to accept it, ordering her name removed from the rolls of lawyers authorized to practice in Georgia. ### Holding, as summarized The court held that Stephenson's petition to voluntarily surrender her law license, filed under State Bar Rule 4-104 (a) before any formal complaint issued, should be accepted, and that this surrender is treated as equivalent to disbarment. ### Disposition Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. ### Why it matters The decision permanently removes Stephenson from practicing law in Georgia without a full disciplinary trial, protecting future clients from the conduct described in the grievance while giving her a faster path than contested proceedings. It also shows how Georgia's Bar discipline system resolves cases through voluntary surrender. > The summarized reasoning, checked quotes, suggested questions, and the CourtListener opinion records (1,123 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S21Y0081.md?full=1