In the Matter of Richard Linwood Parsons

Richard Linwood Parsons, a Georgia lawyer since 2012, pleaded guilty in a New Jersey court to endangering the welfare of a child, admitting he engaged in sexually explicit conversations meant to impair or debauch the morals of someone he believed to be fourteen years old. He was sentenced to time served plus life on parole and sex offender registration. Because this conviction would count as a felony under Georgia law, the State Bar of Georgia brought disciplinary charges against him for violating the rule that makes a lawyer's felony conviction professional misconduct. A Special Master held a hearing where Parsons admitted the conviction and the rule violation but did not contest the facts further. The Special Master recommended disbarment, and neither Parsons nor the Bar objected. The Supreme Court of Georgia reviewed the record and agreed, ordering Parsons removed from the rolls of Georgia attorneys.

A lawyer's felony conviction, including one for a crime endangering a child through sexually explicit conduct, violates the rule against being convicted of a felony and warrants disbarment, particularly where the crime is serious and threatens public confidence in the legal profession.

The decision removes a convicted sex offender from the list of people licensed to practice law in Georgia, reinforcing that felony convictions, especially those involving crimes against children, will end a lawyer's career regardless of whether the crime touched client representation.

Disbarred

1. The court applied Rule 8.4(a)(2) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, which makes it professional misconduct for a lawyer to be convicted of a felony, and confirmed that Parsons's New Jersey guilty plea would qualify as a felony under Georgia law because it was punishable by more than 12 months in prison.
2. Using the ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, a framework that weighs the duty violated, the lawyer's mental state, the harm caused, and aggravating or mitigating factors, the Special Master found Parsons acted knowingly in committing a serious crime with potential for severe harm.
3. The court weighed mitigating factors, including Parsons's lack of prior discipline and his cooperation, against aggravating factors, including that his conduct was driven by a selfish motive and involved illegal activity, and found the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating ones.
4. Relying on prior cases disbarring or accepting surrender of license from attorneys convicted of child sex crimes, the court concluded that allowing a lawyer convicted of a sex crime against a child, real or perceived, to keep practicing would undermine public confidence in the legal system.
5. Because disbarment is the maximum and, under the court's reasoning, the appropriate penalty for this violation, the court adopted the Special Master's unopposed recommendation.

• attorney disbarment
• felony conviction
• child endangerment
• State Bar of Georgia
• sex offender registration