--- title: In THE MATTER OF WAYMON SIMS (Two Cases) collection: opinions id: S22Y0395 cite_as: In THE MATTER OF WAYMON SIMS (Two Cases), 313 Ga. 117 (2022) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22Y0395 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22Y0395.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22Y0395/text source_url: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10679967/in-the-matter-of-waymon-sims-two-cases/ date: 2022-01-19 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/S22Y0331.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22A0041.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/index.md omitted: opinion extras omitted_chars: 1770 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22Y0395.md?full=1 docket: S22Y0395, S22Y0396 citation: 313 Ga. 117 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: 910 date_filed_source: courtlistener record_source: courtlistener legal_areas: - professional discipline upstream_id: "10679967" summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 --- # In THE MATTER OF WAYMON SIMS (Two Cases) Supreme Court of Georgia, docket S22Y0395, S22Y0396, filed 2022-01-19, 313 Ga. 117. ## Opinion 313 Ga. 117 FINAL COPY S22Y0395, S22Y0396. IN THE MATTER OF WAYMON SIMS (two cases). PER CURIAM. These disciplinary matters are before the Court on the report of special master Catherine H. Hicks, who recommends that this Court accept the petitions for voluntary surrender of license filed by respondent Waymon Sims (State Bar No. 648825) after the filing of a formal complaint. See Bar Rule 4-227 (c). In his petitions, filed in State Disciplinary Board Docket (“SDBD”) Nos. 7294 and 7316, Sims requested that he be allowed to voluntarily surrender his license for his admitted violations of Rules 1.5 (c) (1), 1.15 (I) (a), 1.15 (II) (a), 1.15 (II) (b), 1.15 (II) (c) (1) (i), 1.15 (III) (a), and 1.15 (III) (b) (2) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct. See Bar Rule 4-102 (d). While the maximum penalty for a violation of Rule 1.5 (c) (1) is a public reprimand, the maximum penalty for a violation of the remainder of the rules is disbarment. The State Bar responded to both petitions and recommends that they be accepted. The special master then issued a single report, recommending the Court accept the petitions. With regard to SDBD No. 7294, the special master made the following findings of fact. Sims, who has been a member of the State Bar since 1979, was retained to represent a client in a claim for injuries she sustained in an automobile accident. However, Sims’s retainer agreement with the client failed to state clearly that litigation and other expenses would be deducted after the contingency fee was calculated. After Sims settled the client’s case, he deposited the funds into an account ending in 1392. It was discovered that Sims commingled and maintained personal and client funds in account 1392 and that he used account 1392 in multiple ways, including as a business account. With regard to SDBD No. 7316, the special master found that Sims commingled and maintained personal and client funds in his Interest on Lawyers Trust Account (“IOLTA”) ending in 4777, his trust account ending in 1392, his IOLTA ending in 1384, his trust account ending in 6273, and his trust account ending in 2366. In addition, Sims held client funds in accounts ending in 1392 and 6273; neither account properly constituted a trust account because the interest from those accounts did not go to the client or the Georgia Bar Foundation; and Sims disbursed funds to clients from account 1392. Moreover, Sims deposited personal funds into a trust account, failed to deposit client funds into and administer client funds from a properly constituted trust account, and withdrew funds to pay for personal and business obligations from a trust account. Specifically, from July 2016 to December 2018, Sims deposited client funds into account 1392, which was not properly established as a trust account; in the same period of time, he held funds in accounts ending in 1392 and 4777; and he paid contractors and other expenses from accounts ending in 1392 and 4777. Sims also maintained personal funds in and used funds from accounts 1392 and 6273 to pay personal and business expenses, and while account 1392 was designated as a trust account, it was used for multiple purposes. The special master agreed with Sims that his conduct constituted a violation of Rules 1.5 (c) (1), 1.15 (I) (a), 1.15 (II) (a), 1.15 (II) (b), 1.15 (II) (c) (1) (i), 1.15 (III) (a), and 1.15 (III) (b) (2). She also noted that previous disciplinary cases addressing violations of Rules 1.5, 1.15 (I), 1.15 (II), and 1.15 (III) have resulted in disbarment. See In the Matter of Turner, 311 Ga. 204 (857 SE2d 197) (2021) (disbarring attorney who violated Rules 1.3, 1.4, 1.15 (I) (a), 1.15 (I) (c), 1.15 (II) (b), 1.15 (III) (b) (1), 1.15 (III) (e), 8.4 (a) (4), and 9.3, and who, among other things, failed to maintain complete records for his trust account, to keep records to reflect at all times the exact balance held for each client or third person, and to properly designate his trust account, and where attorney withdrew funds from his trust account for his own personal use); In the Matter of Berry, 310 Ga. 158, 159 (848 SE2d 71) (2020) (disbarring an attorney who violated Rules 1.2 (a), 1.3, 1.4 (a), 1.5 (b), 1.5 (c) (2), 1.15 (I) (a), 1.15 (I) (b), and 8.4 (a) (4), where the attorney failed to maintain records related to funds that he received for the benefit of his client in connection with the settlement of her personal injury claim and misappropriated the funds that he was supposed to remit to a provider on her behalf). Accordingly, the special master recommended that the Court accept Sims’s petitions for voluntary surrender of his license. We have reviewed the record and agree to accept Sims’s petitions for voluntary surrender of his license, which is tantamount to disbarment. See Bar Rule 4-110 (f). Accordingly, it is ordered that the name of Waymon Sims be removed from the rolls of persons authorized to practice law in the State of Georgia. Sims is reminded of his duties pursuant to Bar Rule 4-219 (b). Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. Decided January 19, 2022. Voluntary surrender of license. Paula J. Frederick, General Counsel State Bar, William D. NeSmith III, Deputy General Counsel State Bar, Jenny K. Mittelman, Andreea N. Morrison, Assistant General Counsel State Bar, for State Bar of Georgia. Christine A. Kohler, for Sims. ## 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 an Atlanta-area attorney's request to voluntarily give up his law license after he admitted mishandling client and trust account funds in two separate disciplinary cases. ### Plain-language summary Waymon Sims, a lawyer who had practiced since 1979, faced two State Bar disciplinary cases after he mixed personal and client money in several bank accounts, including accounts that were supposed to be trust accounts holding client funds separately. In one case, his fee agreement with a client injured in a car accident did not clearly explain how expenses would be deducted from her settlement, and he deposited her settlement money into an account he also used for business purposes. In the second case, Sims kept client and personal funds mixed across five different accounts over more than two years, paid business and personal expenses from accounts meant to hold client money, and used accounts that did not properly qualify as trust accounts at all. Sims admitted these violations and asked to voluntarily surrender his law license rather than go through a full disciplinary hearing. A special master reviewed the case and recommended acceptance, noting similar past cases resulted in disbarment. The Supreme Court of Georgia agreed and ordered his name removed from the rolls of licensed attorneys. ### Holding, as summarized The court accepted Sims's voluntary surrender of his law license, treating it as the equivalent of disbarment, based on his admitted violations of rules governing fee agreements and the safekeeping of client and trust account funds. ### Disposition Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. ### Why it matters The decision removes a lawyer from practice in Georgia for mishandling client funds, protecting future clients from similar harm. It also reinforces for all Georgia attorneys that mixing personal and client money in trust accounts is treated as serious misconduct warranting disbarment-level consequences. > The summarized reasoning, checked quotes, suggested questions, and the CourtListener opinion records (1,770 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22Y0395.md?full=1