--- title: In the Matter of John Weimann Oxendine collection: opinions id: S25Y0045 cite_as: In the Matter of John Weimann Oxendine, 320 Ga. 190 (2024) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S25Y0045 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S25Y0045.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S25Y0045/text source_url: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10680232/in-the-matter-of-john-weimann-oxendine/ date: 2024-10-22 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/2024.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S22A1326.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S24A0617.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/index.md omitted: opinion extras omitted_chars: 1395 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S25Y0045.md?full=1 docket: S25Y0045 citation: 320 Ga. 190 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: 430 date_filed_source: courtlistener citations: - 907 S.E.2d 852 record_source: courtlistener legal_areas: - professional discipline upstream_id: "10680232" summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 --- # In the Matter of John Weimann Oxendine Supreme Court of Georgia, docket S25Y0045, filed 2024-10-22, 320 Ga. 190. ## Opinion 320 Ga. 190 FINAL COPY S25Y0045. IN THE MATTER OF JOHN WEIMANN OXENDINE. PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the petition for voluntary surrender of license filed by John Weimann Oxendine (State Bar No. 558155). Oxendine, who has been a member of the State Bar of Georgia since 1987, pled guilty in March 2024 pursuant to a negotiated agreement to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, in violation of 18 USC § 1347, a felony, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. He was sentenced in July 2024 to 42 months of incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release, plus fines, a special assessment, and more than $750,000 in restitution. In his petition for voluntary surrender, Oxendine admits that he is subject to Bar Rule 4-106 (setting procedures for handling disciplinary matters related to an attorney’s conviction of a crime) and that, by virtue of his felony conviction, he violated Rule 8.4 (a) (2) (lawyer shall not be convicted of a felony) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct (“GRPC”), see Bar Rule 4-102 (d), the maximum penalty for which is disbarment. Based on those admissions, Oxendine requests that the Court accept his petition to voluntarily surrender his license to practice law, which is tantamount to disbarment. See GRPC 1.0 (s). The State Bar has responded, raising no objection to Oxendine’s petition and stating its belief that it would be in the best interest of the public and the legal profession for the Court to accept the petition. We have reviewed the record and agree that acceptance of Oxendine’s petition for voluntary surrender of his license is in the best interests of the Bar and the public and is consistent with prior similar cases. See, e.g., In the Matter of Hardwick, 315 Ga. 840, 840 (884 SE2d 893) (2023); In the Matter of Fudge, 301 Ga. 793, 793 (804 SE2d 59) (2017); In the Matter of Gibson, 298 Ga. 437 (782 SE2d 442) (2016). Accordingly, the name of John Weimann Oxendine is hereby removed from the rolls of persons entitled to practice law in the State of Georgia. Oxendine is reminded of his duties under Bar Rule 4-219 (b). Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. Decided October 22, 2024. Voluntary surrender of license. Akin & Tate, S. Lester Tate III, for Oxendine. Paula J. Frederick, General Counsel State Bar, William D. NeSmith III, Deputy General Counsel State Bar, Andreea N. Morrison, 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 the voluntary surrender of law license from John Weimann Oxendine after his felony conviction for conspiracy to commit health care fraud, effectively disbarring him. ### Plain-language summary John Weimann Oxendine, a Georgia lawyer since 1987, pleaded guilty in March 2024 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, a federal felony. A federal court sentenced him to 42 months in prison, three years of supervised release, fines, and more than $750,000 in restitution. Oxendine asked the Supreme Court of Georgia to accept his voluntary surrender of his law license, admitting that his felony conviction violated the rule against lawyers being convicted of felonies. The State Bar of Georgia did not object and said accepting the petition served the public interest. The court agreed, finding the surrender consistent with how it has handled similar cases, and removed Oxendine from the rolls of lawyers permitted to practice in Georgia. ### Holding, as summarized A lawyer convicted of a felony violates Georgia's rule against felony convictions, and when such a lawyer petitions to voluntarily surrender his license, treated as equivalent to disbarment, the court will accept it if doing so serves the interests of the Bar and the public. ### Disposition Voluntary surrender of license accepted. All the Justices concur. ### Why it matters The decision permanently removes a convicted felon from the practice of law in Georgia, protecting clients and the public from being represented by someone convicted of fraud. It also shows how the Bar disciplinary system handles lawyers convicted of serious federal crimes. > The summarized reasoning, checked quotes, suggested questions, and the CourtListener opinion records (1,395 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/opinions/S25Y0045.md?full=1