--- title: In the Matter of Patrick A. Powell collection: opinions id: S21Y0468 cite_as: In the Matter of Patrick A. Powell, 310 Ga. 859 (2021) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S21Y0468 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S21Y0468.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S21Y0468/text source_url: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10367866/in-the-matter-of-patrick-a-powell/ date: 2021-02-15 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/2021.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S20A1101.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S21Y0603.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/index.md omitted: opinion extras omitted_chars: 1951 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S21Y0468.md?full=1 docket: S21Y0468 citation: 310 Ga. 859 court: Supreme Court of Georgia case_type: bar discipline authoring_justice: Per Curiam disposition: Disbarred vote: All the Justices concur word_count: 730 date_filed_source: courtlistener citations: - 854 S.E.2d 731 record_source: courtlistener legal_areas: - professional discipline upstream_id: "10367866" summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 --- # In the Matter of Patrick A. Powell Supreme Court of Georgia, docket S21Y0468, filed 2021-02-15, 310 Ga. 859. ## Opinion 310 Ga. 859 FINAL COPY S21Y0468. IN THE MATTER OF PATRICK A. POWELL. PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the report and recommendation of Special Master LaVonda Rochelle DeWitt, recommending that Patrick A. Powell (State Bar No. 586289) be disbarred for his misconduct in abandoning a client in a criminal matter in federal court. Powell is currently suspended until further order of this Court because of his failure to respond to the Notice of Investigation issued in this matter. See Case No. S20Y0741 (Jan. 23, 2020). The record before this Court reflects that in June 2020 the State Bar filed and served the underlying Formal Complaint by e- mail and served it by mail and by publication in August 2020. Powell, who was admitted to the Bar in 1998 and was suspended for three months in 2011, see In the Matter of Powell, 289 Ga. 215 (710 SE2d 145) (2011), failed to file an answer to the Formal Complaint, and the Special Master granted the State Bar’s motion for default. See Bar Rule 4-212 (a). The Special Master found the following facts to be established by Powell’s default, and we agree that the record supports her findings. In May 2018 Powell was retained by a third party to represent a client in connection with federal criminal charges pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The third party paid Powell a $4,000 retainer and made one additional $1,000 payment towards the $12,000 fee Powell quoted. Although Powell entered an appearance on the client’s behalf in May 2018, he failed to respond to requests for an update on the case, failed to perform any work on the case, failed to appear at pretrial and status conferences held in August 2018, failed to respond to the district court and prosecutor when they attempted to contact him, and failed to appear at a show cause hearing. A grievance was filed in December 2018, and, as noted above, Powell failed to respond to the resulting Notice of Investigation. By this conduct, the Special Master determined that Powell violated Rules 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 (a), 1.5 (a), 3.2, and 9.3 of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct found in Bar Rule 4-102 (d). The maximum sanction for a violation of Rules 1.2 and 1.3 is disbarment, and the maximum sanction for a violation of the remaining rules is a public reprimand. The Special Master appropriately considered the ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, see In the Matter of Morse, 266 Ga. 652, 653 (470 SE2d 232) (1996), and found that Powell’s actions were intentional and caused injury that affected his client significantly. The Special Master found numerous aggravating factors1 and no mitigating factors, and concluded that disbarment was the appropriate sanction. 1 We agree with the Special Master that the following aggravating factors are present: prior disciplinary sanction; dishonest or selfish motive; a pattern of misconduct; vulnerability of the victim; and substantial experience in the practice of law. See ABA Standard 9.22 (a), (b), (c), (h), and (i). As mentioned above, in 2011 we suspended Powell for three months for violating Rules 1.3, 1.4, and 3.2. See In the Matter of Powell, 289 Ga. at 216. Having reviewed the record, we agree with the Special Master’s recommendation. Powell’s abandonment of his client and his failure to respond for over two years to the disciplinary authorities warrants the sanction of disbarment, and this sanction is consistent with prior cases in which we have disbarred attorneys who abandoned clients and failed to respond to the disciplinary authorities. See, e.g., In the Matter of Annis, 306 Ga. 187 (829 SE2d 346) (2019); In the Matter of Jennings, 305 Ga. 133 (823 SE2d 811) (2019); In the Matter of Miller, 302 Ga. 366 (806 SE2d 596) (2017); In the Matter of Lenoir, 282 Ga. 311 (647 SE2d 572) (2007). Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the name of Patrick A. Powell be removed from the rolls of persons authorized to practice law in the State of Georgia. Powell is reminded of his duties pursuant to Bar Rule 4-219 (b). Disbarred. All the Justices concur. DECIDED FEBRUARY 15, 2021. Disbarment. 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 disbarred attorney Patrick A. Powell after he abandoned a client facing federal criminal charges, took thousands of dollars in fees, and then ignored the court and disciplinary authorities for over two years. ### Plain-language summary A third party paid attorney Patrick A. Powell $5,000 toward a $12,000 fee to represent a client in a federal criminal case in Atlanta. After entering an appearance, Powell did essentially nothing: he did not respond to requests for updates, missed pretrial and status conferences, ignored the district court and prosecutor, and failed to show up for a hearing meant to make him explain himself. A grievance followed, and Powell also failed to respond to the State Bar's investigation or the formal complaint against him, leading a special master to enter a default finding the facts against him true. The question before the Supreme Court of Georgia was what discipline fit this pattern of client abandonment and non-cooperation. The court agreed with the special master that Powell violated multiple rules of professional conduct and, given his intentional misconduct, significant harm to his client, prior discipline, and lack of any mitigating factors, ordered him disbarred. ### Holding, as summarized The court held that disbarment was the appropriate sanction because Powell's abandonment of a paying client in a pending federal criminal case, combined with his intentional misconduct, resulting harm, prior discipline, and prolonged failure to respond to disciplinary authorities, warranted removal from the practice of law. ### Disposition Disbarred. All the Justices concur. ### Why it matters The ruling removes Powell from practicing law in Georgia, protecting future clients from similar abandonment. It also reinforces that Georgia attorneys who ignore clients, courts, and Bar investigations face the most severe sanction available, disbarment. > The summarized reasoning, checked quotes, suggested questions, and the CourtListener opinion records (1,951 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S21Y0468.md?full=1