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Found 250 matching passages in 126 documents.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 4, 2022
In the Matter of Trent Lee Coggins
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted a Valdosta lawyer's petition for a six-month suspension over trust account violations, retroactive to when he stopped practicing, and reinstated him immediately because the suspension period had already passed.
PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the report and recommendation of Special Master Jack J. Helms, Jr., who recommends that the Court accept the petition for voluntary discipline filed by respondent Trent Lee Coggins (State Bar No. 173299) pursuant to Bar Rule 4-227 (c) after the filing of a formal complaint. Coggins asks that the...
Additionally, prior to the May 2016 closing, Coggins was present and overheard a telephone conversation between his client and the third party in which they discussed applying the proceeds of the sale of the four lots toward repayment of the Loan. Coggins believed that the third party would release the four lots from the security deed upon application of...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 7, 2022
In the Matter of Andrew Matteson
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia rejected an attorney's request to accept a three- to six-month suspension for mishandling client funds and abandoning cases, because he gave the court no proof of his mental health claims or that he had made his clients whole.
In his petition, Matteson, who was admitted to the Bar in 2000, makes the following admissions unconditionally with respect to State Disciplinary Board Docket (“SDBD”) No. 7496. In exchange for a total retainer of $1,500 paid to Matteson’s law firm, Matteson represented a client in several personal and business matters over a number of years including 2017....
3 Rule 1.15 (I) (c) provides that, upon receiving funds in which a client has an interest, a lawyer shall promptly notify the client and deliver that portion of the funds which the client is entitled to receive. 4 Rule 1.16 (a) (2) provides that a lawyer shall withdraw from representation of a client if the lawyer’s physical or mental condition materially...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 4, 2022
In the Matter of Edward Hine, Jr
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted attorney Edward Hine, Jr.'s request to permanently give up his law license after he admitted mishandling client and trust funds, an outcome equivalent to disbarment.
PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the petition for voluntary surrender of license, which Respondent Edward Hine, Jr. (State Bar No. 355775), filed before the issuance of a formal complaint, see Bar Rule 4-227 (b), but after this Court rejected his earlier petition for voluntary discipline. See In the Matter of Hine, 314 Ga. 70 (875...
(3) the client gives informed consent, in a writing signed by the client, to the essential terms of the transaction and the lawyer’s role in the transaction, including whether the lawyer is representing the client in the transaction. Rule 1.15 (I) (a) provides, in relevant part, that “[a] lawyer shall hold funds or other property of clients or third persons...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 4, 2022
In the Matter of Karen Lynn Pass
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia issued a public reprimand with conditions to attorney Karen Lynn Pass for mishandling client trust funds and failing to properly supervise a nonlawyer employee who stole client money.
PER CURIAM. These two disciplinary matters are before the Court on the consolidated report submitted by the Special Master, Patrick H. Head, who recommends that this Court impose a public reprimand with conditions upon respondent Karen Lynn Pass (State Bar No. 480920) for her violations of Rules 1.15 (I) (a), 1.15 (II) (b), and 5.3 (b) of the Georgia Rules...
2 Rule 1.15 (II) (b) provides in relevant part that “[n]o personal funds shall ever be deposited in a lawyer’s trust account, except that unearned attorney’s fees may be so held until the same are earned. . . . Records on such trust accounts shall be so kept and maintained as to reflect at all times the exact balance held for each client or third person. No...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 8, 2022
McEntyre v. Sams East, Inc
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that anyone who helps load a vehicle, not just the driver, has a legal duty to securely fasten the load, and can be sued for negligence if that duty is broken and someone is hurt as a result.
BETHEL, Justice. This case involving personal injury claims arising from an automobile accident is before this Court on three certified questions from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia. The questions seek this Court’s interpretation of OCGA § 40-6-248.1 (b), which provides that “[n]o person shall operate or load for...
1 In addition to the parties’ briefs and presentations at oral argument, the Court was assisted in answering the three certified questions by an amicus curiae brief from Georgians for Lawsuit Reform. mattresses became loose and fell from the bed of McCall’s truck onto a public roadway. Shortly after the mattress fell onto the road, Amanda McEntyre’s vehicle...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 9, 2022
In the Matter of Amber Holly Bunch
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted an Atlanta-area lawyer's request to voluntarily surrender her law license after she admitted mishandling client trust funds in two personal injury matters, an outcome treated the same as disbarment.
In her petition, Bunch, who has been a member of the State Bar since 2016, admitted the following facts. With regard to State Disciplinary Board Docket (“SDBD”) No. 7462, Bunch admitted that in December 2017, a client retained her for a personal injury action arising from an accident. Bunch eventually settled the client’s claim against the defendant for the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 4, 2022
Lee v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Harvey Lee's murder conviction, rejecting his claims that his trial lawyers were constitutionally ineffective for not objecting to evidence about the victim's good character, a family photo, and comments on his silence during a police interview.
The evidence presented at trial showed that George and Tia Young were married and lived in Gwinnett County with their three children. George worked in security and, in an effort to help Lee, a family friend, hired Lee as a subcontractor and allowed him to live in the family’s home. Late on the night of November 16, 2017, George arrived home from work and...
On November 17, the morning after the shooting, George’s employer went to the Young home, and Tia asked him to help her find George’s one-million-dollar life insurance policy, of which she was the primary beneficiary. Tia located the policy and notified the insurance company of George’s death later that day. That same day, Lee went to George’s office...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 8, 2022
DOE v. SAINT JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC CHURCH
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a man who says a priest sexually abused him as a boy in the 1970s can still pursue most of his claims against the Catholic Church, because the two-year deadline to sue may have been paused by alleged fraud.
Likewise, Doe’s claims against the Church for failure to warn and provide adequate security on the premises require a showing that the Church knew or should have known about Father Edwards’s alleged history of sexual abuse, so that it could reasonably foresee that he presented a danger to young parishioners. See Johnson St. Properties v. Clure, 302 Ga. 51,...
Finally, Doe’s breach-of-fiduciary-duty, fraudulent- misrepresentation, and fraudulent-concealment claims each require a showing that the Church misrepresented or concealed its knowledge of “a material fact” — here, the Church’s knowledge that Father Edwards was dangerous to children. See OCGA §§ 23-2-53 (“Suppression of a material fact which a party is...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 20, 2022
In the Matter of Joseph Arrington II
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred attorney Joseph Arrington II for repeatedly misusing his trust account, including depositing personal funds and making cash withdrawals from money that was supposed to be held for clients.
PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the report and recommendation of special master Thomas E. Cauthorn III, recommending that the Court disbar respondent Joseph Arrington II (State Bar No. 023728), who was admitted to the Bar in 1996 and who remains suspended following his failure to respond to the State Bar’s notice of...
Following the evidentiary hearing, the special master issued his report and recommendation, which found, based upon the facts deemed admitted by Arrington’s failure to respond to the requests for admission, that Arrington knowingly used funds in his trust account for his personal use and for purposes unrelated to a client; knowingly deposited personal...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 29, 2022
Young v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Tia Young's felony murder conviction in her husband's shooting death, finding the circumstantial evidence sufficient and rejecting her claims about a joint trial and jury instructions.
The evidence presented at trial showed that George and Tia Young were married and lived in Gwinnett County with their three Tia’s case was docketed to the August 2022 term of this Court and submitted for a decision on the briefs. 2 Tia was convicted and sentenced for both misdemeanor and felony attempted tampering with evidence based on the same conduct,...
Officers searched the home and found two handgun holsters and one handgun in Lee’s room, as well as a rifle in Lee’s truck. A firearm examiner determined that the shooter used a .40-caliber M&P Smith and Wesson handgun. This weapon was never located, and there was no evidence that either Tia or Lee had ever possessed or purchased a .40-caliber Smith and...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 17, 2022
In the Matter of David J. Farnham
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted an attorney's voluntary surrender of his law license after he admitted mishandling a $250,000 personal injury settlement for a minor and failing to communicate with his client.
The facts, as admitted in Farnham’s petition for voluntary surrender, are as follows. Farnham was retained by a client to pursue a personal injury claim for injuries suffered by her minor daughter in an automobile accident. The insurance carrier for the at-fault driver agreed to pay the policy limits of $250,000, and Farnham received those proceeds in June...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 22, 2022
In the Matter of Edward Hine, Jr
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia rejected a longtime attorney's request for a six-month suspension over admitted misuse of estate client funds, finding his disclosed misconduct alone could warrant disbarment and that he had left out related misconduct involving a separate trust.
Hine begins his recitation of the underlying facts by recounting that his wife passed away in May 2021 after a 17-month battle with cancer, that he has transferred all of his clients save one to other counsel, that his one remaining client was in the process of selling off all of its assets, and that he intends to convert his Bar status to inactive once...
Hine acknowledges that he violated Rule 1.4 and Rule 1.8 (a) and (b) by failing to communicate with, and to seek the approval of, the estate’s beneficiaries before advancing funds to his operating account and that he violated Rule 1.15 (I) (a) and Rule 1.15 (II) (b) by depositing estate funds into his operating account. Hine asserts that a suspension would...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 15, 2022
Shelton v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld James Shelton's malice murder conviction in the death of Manuel Palmer, rejecting arguments that the evidence was insufficient and that his trial lawyers were constitutionally deficient for not pursuing a criminal-responsibility evaluation.
Mary, who lived next door to Palmer, told police officers that she saw Appellant and Palmer in Palmer’s car earlier in the day. She testified that she saw the two of them moving scrap material during the day and placing the material between her house and Palmer’s mobile home. She testified that they were moving the material from Appellant’s home because...
According to Juanita, Palmer came to visit her alone at her home between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. to drop off some of the money he obtained from scrapping his car.6 She testified that Palmer told her that he was going to stop talking or associating with Appellant and that he was “giving up the partying lifestyle.” Tessa Watkins, a neighbor, testified that...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 15, 2022
Anderson v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a DeKalb County man's murder conviction, ruling that evidence of an earlier attempted burglary was properly admitted and that his trial lawyer's decisions did not amount to constitutionally deficient representation.
Approximately an hour later and less than a mile away, at a different apartment complex on Metropolitan Avenue in DeKalb County, a man entered one of the apartment buildings, went to the fourth floor, and began knocking on doors of apartments on that floor. Two tenants who lived on the fourth floor saw a young African- on December 18, 2020. Anderson filed a...
Inside the apartment, the police located a black knit hat and four spent .38-caliber cartridges. A firearms examiner determined that all of the cartridges had been fired from the same gun and that they were consistent with having been fired from a Colt or Springfield .38-caliber pistol. The medical examiner testified that Newton suffered multiple gunshot...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · January 19, 2022
In THE MATTER OF WAYMON SIMS (Two Cases)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): 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.
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...
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...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 1, 2022
In the Matter of Anthony O. Van Johnson
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia suspended attorney Anthony O. Van Johnson for six months after he mishandled settlement funds and delayed a client's contempt and name-change filings, accepting his petition for voluntary discipline.
The Special Master found the following facts to be established by the record, and we agree that the record supports his findings. Van Johnson has been a member of the State Bar since 1996. In State Disciplinary Board Docket (“SDBD”) No. 7295, after settling a personal-injury client’s case for $9,000 and depositing the settlement proceeds in his Lawyers...
deposition testimony, a former employee falsely accused him of drugging her and sexually assaulting her. He testified that the district attorney dismissed the single charge which stemmed from these false allegations. He testified that the ordeal traumatized him and impacted his ability to represent the clients involved in this case, and that these matters...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 1, 2022
Jackson v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld Andre Jackson's convictions from two separate Richmond County trials, one for armed robbery and one for felony murder, rejecting his challenges to a hearsay ruling and to the trial court's refusal to separate the murder charges.
Williams testified that, the next day, Jackson knocked on his door and asked for “Joe.” Williams answered the door and told Jackson, whom he did not know, that he was not able to repair Johnson’s car at that time. As Williams attempted to close the door, Jackson kicked the door, splitting the wood around the strike plate; forced his way inside; “flash[ed]”...
Porchia Littleton testified that she and Johnson had been close friends since childhood. In May 2010, Johnson’s car was not running, and “Joe” was going to repair it. Littleton went with Johnson once to ask Williams about the car. Jackson and Johnson visited Littleton’s home on June 21. Shortly after they left, police officers arrived and wanted to search...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · January 19, 2022
In the Matter of Justin Grey Woodward
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted an attorney's petition for voluntary discipline and imposed a public reprimand for neglecting a client's case and mishandling his trust account in two separate incidents.
With regard to SDB Docket Nos. 7422 and 7423, Woodward admits that, at all relevant times, he maintained an IOLTA trust account; that on July 23, 2018, when implementing a one-time transfer of $500 in earned fees from that account into his operating account, he “inadvertently set the transfer to be a recurring weekly transfer”; that the following week, the...
and thorough,” and he asserts that, in an effort to rectify any harm he caused, he has refunded to the clients half of the attorney fees they paid to him, less the costs for filing and serving process in the case. With regard to SDB Docket Nos. 7422 and 7423, Woodward admits that he violated Rules 1.15 (I) (a) and 1.15 (II) (b).2 He explains that both of...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 9, 2022
In THE MATTER OF GRADY ALEXANDER ROBERTS III (Four Cases)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred attorney Grady Alexander Roberts III after finding he repeatedly failed to inform clients about court deadlines, dismissed appeals, and fee awards entered against them in two separate cases.
SDBD No. 7027 According to the special master, and as shown in the record,7 in 2014 Roberts was retained by a client, who was 68 years old and living on Social Security, to get a mortgage modification. The client was never presented with a modification document to review and was not updated on the status of her application. When the client asked about the...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 9, 2022
In the Matter of Dennis Robert Kurz
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted a voluntary discipline petition from an attorney who appeared in court after drinking at a Valentine's Day lunch and mishandled trust account funds, but imposed only a public reprimand rather than a suspension.
A second instance of Kurz effectively commingling personal and client funds occurred in 2016 in connection with Kurz’s representation of a client in pursuing civil claims related to the client’s employment. Immediately after the client paid the agreed- upon fee of $6,500 directly into Kurz’s trust account, Kurz transferred the funds to his operating...
The third instance uncovered by the Bar of Kurz effectively commingling funds occurred in 2014 and related to Kurz’s representation of a client who worked for ten years for a cleaning subcontractor at a hospital. Kurz was retained by the client to pursue a civil action against the subcontractor. The client asserted that she was fired in violation of her...
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