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Found 237 matching passages in 117 documents.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 19, 2024
In THE MATTER OF ESTON WILLIAM HOOD, JR. (Two Cases)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia suspended attorney Eston William Hood, Jr. for two years, rejecting a recommended one-year suspension as too lenient given his admitted false statements to opposing counsel, courtroom staff, and the State Bar itself.
1 Hood later amended his petition for voluntary discipline solely to include one inadvertently omitted character reference. With regard to SDBD No. 7407,2 the following facts are established by the record. In late 2018 or early 2019, Hood agreed to represent a client against whom a default judgment, totaling $5,710, had been entered in DeKalb County...
In considering aggravating and mitigating circumstances, the Special Master determined that the following factors applied in aggravation: prior disciplinary history, in that, in 2019, Hood received a Formal Letter of Admonition, a form of confidential discipline, for violations of Rules 1.3 and 1.4 that involved allegations similar to those raised herein;13...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 15, 2024
RBC GLOBAL ASSET MANAGEMENT (U.S.) INC. v. LATTIMORE
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia reversed a $20 million default judgment against an investment adviser, ruling that the woman collecting on a judgment used the wrong garnishment form because the company is not a 'financial institution' under Georgia law.
mutual fund, or other organization held out to the public as a place of deposit of funds or medium of savings or collective investment. OCGA § 18-4-1 (4). The definition of “financial institution” does not include “registered investment advisors.” In fact, the Georgia Uniform Securities Act of 2008 defines “investment adviser” to specifically exclude a...
6 Pursuant to Securities and Exchange Commission regulations (Rules and Regulations, Investment Advisers Act of 1940), Global may have “deemed custody” of portfolios or funds that it manages, even though those funds are held by others. “Deemed custody” is a term of art used to indicate managerial control of the funds for investment purposes, not actual...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 20, 2024
In THE MATTER OF DEIRDRE MARIA STEPHENS (Two Cases)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ordered the disbarment of attorney Deirdre Maria Stephens, rejecting a lighter six-month suspension recommendation after finding she repeatedly lied to a trial court about the location of $80,000 in client funds.
Finally, in September 2019, in response to the grievance filed against her, Stephens made additional false and misleading statements, stating: Throughout this legal ordeal I have informed my client that if a Motion for Contempt was filed and properly served then the money had to be released as I would not jeopardize my license so that he could attempt to...
(b) Conclusions of Law With regard to SDBD No. 7488, the Special Master found that Stephens admitted to violating Rule 1.15 (I) (a) and Rule 1.15 (II) (a), by allowing her trust account to fall below the minimum required balance and causing an overdraft on her trust account. Next, with regard to SDBD No. 7489, the Special Master determined that Stephens...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 1, 2024
In THE MATTER OF JOHN L.G. HERBERT, JR. (Four Cases)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred attorney John L. G. Herbert, Jr. after he defaulted on disciplinary charges accusing him of taking about $850,000 entrusted to him by overseas real estate investors.
2 This Rule provides, in pertinent part, that “a lawyer shall . . . keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the matter . . . [and] promptly comply with reasonable requests for information.” 3 This Rule provides that “[a] lawyer shall not make an agreement for, charge, or collect an unreasonable fee or an unreasonable amount for expenses,”...
7 This Rule provides, in pertinent part, that “[a]ll funds held by a lawyer for a client and all funds held by a lawyer in any other fiduciary capacity shall be deposited in and administered from a trust account.” 8 This Rule provides, in pertinent part, that “[n]o funds shall be withdrawn from such trust accounts for the personal use of the lawyer...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 11, 2024
In the Matter of Diana Y. McDonald
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred a solo practitioner who lied to a client's counterparty and to the State Bar about $4 million held in her trust account while secretly spending much of it herself.
2 McDonald admitted that she identified her firm as a “law group,” even though she was a solo practitioner. She testified that, at one point, another attorney had practiced with her, but that attorney left the firm in 2018. She continued practicing as a “law group” through the events leading to this disciplinary matter, which occurred in 2019. provide goods...
Then, on January 9, 2019, after the third party again demanded return of its $4,000,000, McDonald informed the third party that she had received confirmation from her client that the Bitcoin would be delivered “before the end of business today”; represented that, “[a]s a gesture of good faith and recognition for the delay,” she had negotiated with her...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 15, 2024
In the Matter of William Slater Vincent
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted a Fulton-area attorney's petition for voluntary discipline over trust account violations, ordering a public reprimand instead of the suspension the State Bar had sought.
PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on William Slater Vincent’s (State Bar No. 727801) second amended petition for voluntary discipline filed before the issuance of a formal complaint. See Bar Rule 4-227 (b).1 In his second amended petition, Vincent2 admits that he violated Rules 1.15 (II) (a)3 and 1.15 (III) (b)4 of the Georgia Rules...
Separately, Vincent admits that he violated Rule 1.15 (III) (b) by “failing to ensure that his Business Checking Preferred account . . . had a description which complied with” Rule 1.15 (III) (b) by identifying it as an “Attorney Trust Account” on statements, checks, and deposit slips. Vincent admits that he failed to take notice that the account...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · November 19, 2024
In the Matter of Christian Aaron Coomer
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted a two-year law license suspension for Christian Aaron Coomer, a former Court of Appeals judge, over conflicts of interest and financial dealings with an elderly client.
In late 2017, Coomer began to borrow money from Filhart. In December 2017, Filhart loaned $80,000 to CAC Holdings, LLC (“CAC”), a limited liability company of which Coomer was the sole member. Coomer presented Filhart a promissory note (“First Promissory Note”), promising to repay the loan in monthly installments with the last installment due in December...
PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the report and recommendation of Special Master Adam M. Hames, who recommends accepting the amended petition for voluntary discipline by Respondent Christian Aaron Coomer (State Bar No. 184995) and imposing a two-year suspension nunc pro tunc to August 16, 2023. In the petition, Coomer admitted...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 13, 2024
In the Matter of Anthony O. Van Johnson
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted an Atlanta-area attorney's voluntary surrender of his law license after he admitted forging a client's signature on a settlement check, keeping her money, and abandoning other clients' cases.
3 Rule 1.15 (I) provides: (a) A lawyer shall hold funds or other property of clients or third persons that are in a lawyer’s possession in connection with a representation separate from the lawyer’s own funds or other property. Funds shall be kept in one or more separate accounts maintained in an approved institution as defined by Rule 1.15 (III) (c) (1)....
(i) A statutory lien; (ii) A final judgment addressing disposition of those funds or property; or (iii) A written agreement by the client or the lawyer on behalf of the client guaranteeing payment out of those funds or property. The lawyer may disregard the third person’s claimed interest if the lawyer reasonably concludes that there is a valid defense to...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · July 2, 2024
In the Matter of Susan Michele Brown
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia rejected a petition by attorney Susan Brown to accept discipline for her conduct as a trust administrator, ruling that the ethics rules she supposedly violated do not reach a lawyer acting purely as a fiduciary outside the practice of law.
type of trust account from which a lawyer should administer the identified funds, dictates certain recordkeeping requirements, and sets out rules prohibiting commingling a lawyer’s personal funds with other funds in her possession and prohibiting the lawyer’s withdrawal of those funds for her own personal use (with some exceptions). With that overview, we...
By its plain terms, subsection (a) broadly applies to lawyers “who practice[ ] law in Georgia,” but it does not make clear by its express terms whether it applies only to funds or property obtained by a lawyer in the course of a legal representation of a client. Insofar as the subsection references a lawyer receiving money or property or holding funds “on...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · January 17, 2024
In THE MATTER OF DERRIC CROWTHER (Two Cases)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred attorney Derric Crowther, rejecting a review board's recommendation of a four-year suspension for mishandling client settlement funds and violating trust accounting rules in two separate cases.
difference of interpretation between him and the client. The Special Master observed that OCGA § 13-2-2 provides rules of contract interpretation, including that “[t]he custom of any business or trade shall be binding only when it is of such universal practice as to justify the conclusion that it became, by implication, a part of the contract,” and that...
(b) SDBD No. 7134 In 2016, Crowther settled two personal injury matters on behalf of two sets of clients. A financing company had provided “settlement financing” in both matters in exchange for which the clients granted it a lien on any settlement. After Crowther settled the matters, money was deposited into his trust account. He paid other lienholders, but...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · April 30, 2024
City of Atlanta v. 400 Edgewood, LLC
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia denied review of a dispute over a gas station ordered by an Atlanta municipal court to add security cameras and cut its hours, leaving in place a ruling that the court overstepped its power.
MCMILLIAN, Justice, concurring in the denial of certiorari. This case turns on whether it is within the jurisdiction of a municipal court to order the owner of a gas station and convenience store to make various changes to its security and operations, after the City of Atlanta asked that court to abate an alleged public nuisance on the owner’s property. I...
Edgewood filed a petition for certiorari review in the superior court, which affirmed the municipal court's order. [The Court of Appeals] granted Edgewood's application for discretionary appeal[.] 400 Edgewood, LLC, 369 Ga. App. at 673-74 (footnotes omitted). The Court of Appeals reversed, concluding that the municipal court impermissibly entered injunctive...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · February 6, 2024
KENNESTONE HOSPITAL, INC. v. EMORY UNIVERSITY
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a certificate of need to operate a general acute care hospital is a private right, not a public one, because it lets an individual owner use property in a specific way.
208 (2) (24 LE 625) (1877) (“Railroads, turnpikes, bridges, ferries, are all things of public concern, and the right to erect them is a pub- lic right.”). The right to enforce compliance with penal law, too, is traditionally understood as vindicating “violations of public rights and duties,” Sons of Confederate Veterans, 315 Ga. at 48 (2) (a) (cit- ing 3...
5 Our precedent before Coleman “[did] not expressly employ this distinc- tion [between public and private rights] with respect to retroactive legislation.” Coleman, 294 Ga. at 180 (2) (a). But we recognized in Coleman that the “settled distinction in American law between public and private rights” is “consistent with Georgia law,” and that “a few of our...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · June 11, 2024
OMSTEAD v. BPG INSPECTION, LLC
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that a home inspection company's contract clause barring lawsuits more than one year after an inspection is enforceable, even against a wrongful death claim that arose after the year ran out.
Omstead argues that the one-year limitation is void because it violates OCGA § 13-8-2 (b), which states, in pertinent part: A covenant, promise, agreement, or understanding [1] in or in connection with or collateral to a contract or agreement relative to the construction, alteration, repair, or maintenance of a building structure, appurtenances, and...
Omstead contends that the one-year limitation is void because it requires Omstead to “indemnify” or “hold [BPG] harmless.”11 We have defined “indemnity” as “the obligation or duty resting on one person to make good any loss or damage another has incurred by acting at his request or for his benefit.” Lanier at McEver, L.P. v. Planners & Engineers...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · September 17, 2024
In THE MATTER OF CORY D. RAINES (Two Cases)
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred attorney Cory D. Raines after he defaulted in two disciplinary cases accusing him of mishandling client settlement funds, including money owed to two minor siblings and a medical clinic.
State Disciplinary Board Docket (“SDBD”) No. 7694 and No. 7695, Raines was served by publication on July 5, 2023. Raines failed to file answers to the formal complaints, and on August 28, the State Bar filed a motion for default in these matters pursuant to Bar Rule 4-212 (a). Raines did not respond to this motion. However, on October 12, Raines...
5 SDBD No. 7694 corresponds to Case No. S24Y0997. siblings’ claims — Raines issued checks from his personal operating account to the siblings for $14,907.72 and $12,930.96; Raines did not disburse the funds to the siblings from his IOLTA account, nor did he satisfy the third-party interests in the settlement funds, as he failed to pay the hospital. Based on...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · March 19, 2024
In the Matter of Joel David Myers
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia granted disbarred attorney Joel David Myers's application for certification of fitness to practice law, allowing him to seek readmission to the State Bar of Georgia.
As part of its investigation, the Fitness Board provided notice to the State Bar of Georgia and to the bar membership and chief judge of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit where Myers practiced, provided newspaper notice to the public in the area where Myers had practiced, and sought confirmation from the Client Security Fund that no restitution was due. See Part...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · May 14, 2024
In the Matter of James W. Davis, III
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred attorney James W. Davis III for knowingly using his trust account to help intercept and steal a $3 million insurance payment meant for a policyholder.
Having reviewed the record and considered the facts deemed admitted by Davis’s default, the State Disciplinary Board found probable cause to believe that Davis violated Rules 1.15 (I), 1.15 (II) (a),6 and 8.4 (a) (4). The maximum sanction for a violation of Rules 6 Based on the underlying facts, it does not appear that Davis violated Rule 1.15 (II) (a),...
3 See In the Matter of Head, 317 Ga. 512, 512 (893 SE2d 706) (2023) (noting that, because the respondent attorney failed to file a Notice of Rejection, the underlying facts were “deemed admitted by [his] default”). 4 The record includes the State Bar’s Notice of Discipline, a memorandum of grievance issued by the State Bar to Davis, and orders filed in a...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · October 15, 2024
Nabors v. State
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld a Fulton County man's murder conviction, rejecting his claims that his lawyer wrongly advised him not to testify and that the case rested only on accomplice testimony.
LAGRUA, Justice. In March 2020, Appellant Brejon Nabors was convicted of malice murder and related charges in connection with the shooting death of Mondavius Milan.1 On appeal, Nabors contends (1) trial counsel was ineffective for advising Nabors not to testify in his own defense, and (2) the State failed to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt because the...
320 Ga. 43 FINAL COPY S24A0610. NABORS v. THE STATE.
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · July 2, 2024
In the Matter of Christopher Michael
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia granted Christopher Michael Howlette's application to be certified fit to practice law again, more than 15 years after he voluntarily surrendered his license following drug-sale charges.
Additionally, in connection with his application, Howlette submitted letters of recommendation from his life coach and two attorneys, one of which is his current supervisor. Each “wholeheartedly” endorses Howlette’s readmission to the Bar. His life coach states that she has witnessed his “remarkable transformation and unwavering commitment to personal...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · July 16, 2024
In the Matter of Christopher Tyson
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia rejected a Louisiana-based former Georgia lawyer's request to accept a six-month suspension for mishandling a client's settlement funds, finding the proposed punishment too lenient and the restitution claims unproven.
PER CURIAM. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the petition for voluntary discipline filed by Respondent Christopher Tyson (State Bar No. 142208) before the issuance of a formal complaint. See Bar Rule 4-227 (b) (2). Tyson admits to conduct in violation of Rules 1.15 (I) (a), 1.15 (I) (b), 1.15 (I) (c), and 1.15 (II) (b) of the Georgia Rules of...
While the State Bar acknowledges that the maximum penalty for violations of the trust account rules is disbarment, it notes that when the totality of the circumstances supports less severe discipline, this Court has imposed suspensions or even reprimands. See, e.g., In the Matter of Coggins, 314 Ga. 813 (879 SE2d 502) (2022) (accepting petition for...
Supreme Court opinion · Supreme Court of Georgia · August 13, 2024
Milliron v. Antonakakis
Summary by Georgia Commons (AI-written): The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that Georgia's Open Records Act covers records a public employee keeps in a separate role as a private contractor, and that requests for those records can go straight to the person holding them, even if the agency has a designated records officer.
The Open Records Act provides that “[a]ll public records shall be open for personal inspection and copying,” OCGA § 50-18-71 (a), and to that end, the Act clearly provides that “[a] request made pursuant to this article may be made to the custodian of a public record orally or in writing.” OCGA § 50-18-71 (b) (1) (B) (emphasis supplied). “When, as here,...
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