In the Matter of Richard Linwood Parsons

Richard Linwood Parsons, a Georgia attorney since 2012, pleaded guilty in a New Jersey court to endangering the welfare of children after engaging in sexually explicit conversations with someone he believed was a fourteen-year-old. He was sentenced to time served plus life on parole with sex offender registration. Because that crime would count as a felony under Georgia law, the State Bar of Georgia brought disciplinary charges against him for violating a rule that makes it professional misconduct for a lawyer to be convicted of a felony. A Special Master held a hearing where Parsons admitted the facts and the violation but did not contest aggravating or mitigating factors. 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 attorneys authorized to practice law in Georgia.

The court held that Parsons violated Rule 8.4(a)(2) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, which makes a lawyer's felony conviction professional misconduct, because his New Jersey guilty plea would qualify as a felony under Georgia law, and disbarment was the appropriate sanction.

The ruling shows Georgia lawyers convicted of felonies, even those unrelated to their legal work, face automatic disciplinary risk up to disbarment. It reassures the public that a felony conviction, particularly one involving a child, will end a lawyer's ability to practice, protecting client and public trust in the profession.

Disbarred

1. The court applied Rule 8.4(a)(2), part of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, which makes it misconduct for a lawyer to be convicted of a felony, with disbarment as the maximum penalty.
2. Because New Jersey's crime of endangering the welfare of children carried a three-to-five-year sentence, it qualified as a felony under Georgia's definition (a crime punishable by more than 12 months in prison), triggering the rule.
3. The court used the ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, a framework that weighs the duty violated, the lawyer's mental state, the harm caused, and any aggravating or mitigating factors, to decide the proper punishment.
4. The Special Master found Parsons acted knowingly in serious criminal conduct with potential for severe injury, and weighed his lack of prior discipline and cooperation against his selfish motive and illegal conduct.
5. The court reasoned that allowing a lawyer convicted of a child sex offense to keep practicing would undermine public confidence in the legal system, even though the crime did not directly involve his clients, leading it to adopt the recommended sanction of disbarment.

• attorney disbarment
• felony conviction
• child endangerment
• State Bar discipline