--- title: In the Matter of Cory Howerton Fleming collection: opinions id: S22Y0339 cite_as: In the Matter of Cory Howerton Fleming, 313 Ga. 77 (2022) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22Y0339 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22Y0339.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22Y0339/text source_url: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10679972/in-the-matter-of-cory-howerton-fleming/ date: 2022-01-11 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/2022.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22A0144/5306072.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S21A1088.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/index.md omitted: opinion extras omitted_chars: 1292 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22Y0339.md?full=1 docket: S22Y0339 citation: 313 Ga. 77 court: Supreme Court of Georgia case_type: bar discipline authoring_justice: Per Curiam disposition: Petition for voluntary discipline accepted; emergency suspension imposed vote: All the Justices concur word_count: 328 date_filed_source: courtlistener citations: - 867 S.E.2d 819 record_source: courtlistener legal_areas: - professional discipline upstream_id: "10679972" summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 --- # In the Matter of Cory Howerton Fleming Supreme Court of Georgia, docket S22Y0339, filed 2022-01-11, 313 Ga. 77. ## Opinion 313 Ga. 77 FINAL COPY S22Y0339. IN THE MATTER OF CORY HOWERTON FLEMING. PER CURIAM. This lawyer disciplinary matter is before the Court on the petition for voluntary reciprocal discipline, in the form of an emergency suspension, filed by Cory Howerton Fleming (State Bar No. 292955). See Bar Rules 4-108 (a) (emergency suspension), 4-227 (b) (petition for voluntary discipline), and Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct (“GRPC”) Rule 9.4 (b) (reciprocal discipline), found in Bar Rule 4-102 (d). Fleming admits that on October 8, 2021, the Supreme Court of South Carolina issued an order for his interim suspension from the practice of law under South Carolina’s equivalent to Georgia Bar Rule 4-108 (a). Fleming promptly notified the State Bar of the suspension, see GRPC 9.4 (b), and, in its response to Fleming’s petition, the State Bar requests that the Court grant the petition. Having considered the petition and response, the Court agrees that an order of emergency suspension is appropriate. See, e.g., In the Matter of Moore, 303 Ga. 296, 296 n.1 (811 SE2d 343) (2018) (disbarring attorney and noting Court’s prior grant of voluntary petition for emergency suspension); In the Matter of Morris, 298 Ga. 864 (785 SE2d 408) (2016) (accepting petition for voluntary emergency suspension where attorney admitted impairment); In the Matter of Kirkland, 288 Ga. 480 (704 SE2d 806) (2011) (imposing indefinite suspension as reciprocal discipline following emergency suspension in Florida). Accordingly, the Court hereby accepts the voluntary petition and directs that Cory Howerton Fleming be suspended from the practice of law immediately and until further order of this Court. Fleming is reminded of his duties pursuant to Bar Rule 4-219 (b). Petition for voluntary discipline accepted. Emergency suspension. All the Justices concur. Decided January 11, 2022. Emergency suspension. 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. Thomas A. Pendarvis, for Fleming. ## 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 granted South Carolina attorney Cory Howerton Fleming's own request to be emergency suspended from practicing law in Georgia, mirroring an interim suspension already imposed by South Carolina's highest court. ### Plain-language summary Cory Howerton Fleming, a lawyer licensed in Georgia, was interimly suspended from practicing law by the Supreme Court of South Carolina on October 8, 2021. Fleming told the State Bar of Georgia about that suspension, as Georgia's rules require, and then filed his own petition asking the Supreme Court of Georgia to impose matching, or 'reciprocal,' discipline here. The State Bar of Georgia reviewed the petition and asked the court to grant it. The Supreme Court of Georgia agreed that an emergency suspension was appropriate and ordered Fleming suspended from practicing law in Georgia immediately, and until the court issues a further order. ### Holding, as summarized When a lawyer voluntarily petitions for reciprocal discipline after being interimly suspended in another state, and the State Bar supports the petition, the Supreme Court of Georgia will grant an emergency suspension from the practice of law pending further order. ### Disposition Petition for voluntary discipline accepted; emergency suspension imposed. All the Justices concur. ### Why it matters The order immediately stops Fleming from practicing law in Georgia while the underlying South Carolina matter proceeds, protecting his current and prospective clients from a lawyer already found to warrant interim suspension elsewhere. It also shows how Georgia coordinates discipline with other states' bar systems. > The summarized reasoning, checked quotes, suggested questions, and the CourtListener opinion records (1,292 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22Y0339.md?full=1