--- title: In the Matter of Donald Francis Hawbaker collection: opinions id: S22Y0718 cite_as: In the Matter of Donald Francis Hawbaker, 314 Ga. 77 (2022) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22Y0718 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22Y0718.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22Y0718/text source_url: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10679902/in-the-matter-of-donald-francis-hawbaker/ date: 2022-06-22 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/S22A0254.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22A0242.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/index.md omitted: opinion extras omitted_chars: 1917 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22Y0718.md?full=1 docket: S22Y0718 citation: 314 Ga. 77 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: 611 date_filed_source: courtlistener record_source: courtlistener also_known_as: - CourtListener cluster 6465458 legal_areas: - professional discipline - criminal law upstream_id: "10679902" summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 --- # In the Matter of Donald Francis Hawbaker Supreme Court of Georgia, docket S22Y0718, filed 2022-06-22, 314 Ga. 77. ## Opinion 314 Ga. 77 FINAL COPY S22Y0718. IN THE MATTER OF DONALD FRANCIS HAWBAKER. PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the report and recommendation of Special Master LaRae D. Moore, recommending that the Court accept respondent Donald Francis Hawbaker’s (State Bar No. 908709) petition for voluntary surrender of his license following his felony convictions. See Rule 8.4 (a) (2) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct (“GRPC”) (conviction of a felony is a violation of the GRPC and the maximum penalty is disbarment), found in Bar Rule 4-102 (d). The record shows the following. Hawbaker has been a member of the State Bar since 2013 and has been a member of the Texas Bar since 1979. He is currently incarcerated following his July 2, 2021 guilty pleas in the Superior Court of Spalding County to five felony counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer; he was sentenced on each count to a term of 20 years, to serve 10, with the counts to run concurrently. The factual basis for the guilty pleas is that deputies went to Hawbaker’s home on February 4, 2020, to serve an arrest warrant on him for simple assault and disorderly conduct, but Hawbaker refused to leave his home and opened fire on the deputies. Pursuant to the State Bar’s request, this Court appointed a Special Master, see Bar Rule 4-106, and thereafter, Hawbaker submitted his petition for voluntary surrender, admitting that by his convictions he violated GRPC Rule 8.4 (a) (2). In a thorough report and recommendation, the Special Master recommended that the Court accept the petition for voluntary surrender. The special master concluded that allowing an attorney with such egregious felony convictions to practice law would seriously erode the public’s confidence in the profession. We agree, especially given that the evidence in mitigation was insufficient to justify a lesser penalty. See In the Matter of Ortman, 289 Ga. 130, 130-131 (709 SE2d 784) (2011) (Although disbarment is considered the typical level of discipline imposed in cases involving violent felonies, “we have never foreclosed the possibility that a lesser punishment than disbarment might be appropriate where the circumstances and mitigating factors are sufficient to justify a lesser penalty.”). Following the docketing of the record in this Court, neither party submitted a response. Having reviewed the record, we agree to accept the Special Master’s recommendation, which is consistent with prior similar cases. See, e.g., In the Matter of Zeh, 313 Ga. 56 (867 SE2d 124) (2021) (accepting petition for voluntary surrender of license following respondent’s conviction for aggravated assault and simple assault); In the Matter of Pronk, 281 Ga. 511 (640 SE2d 32) (2007) (accepting petition for voluntary surrender of license following respondent’s conviction for aggravated assault); In the Matter of Baumhammers, 274 Ga. 760 (559 SE2d 482) (2002) (accepting petition for voluntary surrender of license following respondent’s conviction for murder and aggravated assault); In the Matter of Collins, 263 Ga. 185, 185 (429 SE2d 908) (1993) (conviction for aggravated assault warranted disbarment). Therefore, we accept Hawbaker’s petition for voluntary surrender of his license, which is tantamount to disbarment. See GRPC Rule 1.0 (r). Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the name of Donald Francis Hawbaker be removed from the rolls of persons authorized to practice law in the State of Georgia. Hawbaker is reminded of his duties pursuant to Bar Rule 4-219 (b). Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. Decided June 22, 2022. 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 a Spalding County attorney who pleaded guilty to five felony counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer, a step equivalent to disbarment. ### Plain-language summary Donald Francis Hawbaker, a member of the State Bar of Georgia since 2013, pleaded guilty in Spalding County Superior Court to five felony counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer after he refused to leave his home when deputies came to serve an arrest warrant and opened fire on them. He was sentenced to 20 years on each count, to serve 10, running concurrently. After the State Bar asked the Supreme Court of Georgia to appoint a special master to review the matter, Hawbaker petitioned to voluntarily surrender his law license rather than contest discipline. A special master recommended the court accept the surrender, and the court agreed, finding the mitigating evidence did not justify a lesser punishment than the loss of his license. The court ordered his name removed from the rolls of attorneys authorized to practice law in Georgia. ### Holding, as summarized The court held that Hawbaker's felony convictions for aggravated assault on a peace officer violated the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct and that the mitigating evidence was insufficient to justify anything less than accepting his voluntary surrender of his law license, which is treated the same as disbarment. ### Disposition Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. ### Why it matters The decision removes an attorney convicted of shooting at police officers from Georgia's rolls of practicing lawyers, reinforcing that felony convictions involving violence, especially against law enforcement, will typically end a lawyer's ability to practice in the state. > The summarized reasoning, checked quotes, suggested questions, and the CourtListener opinion records (1,917 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22Y0718.md?full=1