Opinion
S23Y1064
11-07-2023
In the MATTER OF Carl Lawrence COLLINS.
James Stephen Lewis, Assistant General Counsel, Paula J. Frederick, General Counsel, Jenny K. Mittelman, William Dallas NeSmith, III, Deputy General Counsel, State Bar of Georgia, 104 Marietta Street, N.W., Suite 100, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-2934, for Appellant. Carl Lawrence Collins, Law Office of Carl Collins III, 20756 Greenfield Road, Suite 1100, Southfield, Michigan 48075, for Appellee. Michael J, Blakely, Jr., The Blakely Firm, P.O. Box 3314, Decatur, Georgia 30031, for Other Party.
State Bar of Georgia
James Stephen Lewis, Assistant General Counsel, Paula J. Frederick, General Counsel, Jenny K. Mittelman, William Dallas NeSmith, III, Deputy General Counsel, State Bar of Georgia, 104 Marietta Street, N.W., Suite 100, Atlanta, Georgia 30303-2934, for Appellant.
Carl Lawrence Collins, Law Office of Carl Collins III, 20756 Greenfield Road, Suite 1100, Southfield, Michigan 48075, for Appellee.
Michael J, Blakely, Jr., The Blakely Firm, P.O. Box 3314, Decatur, Georgia 30031, for Other Party.
Per Curiam.
This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the petition filed by Carl Lawrence Collins (State Bar No. 110769) seeking the voluntary suspension of his license to practice law pending the outcome of an appeal of his criminal convictions. Collins, who has been a member of the State Bar of Georgia since 2014, admits that, on November 16, 2022, he was found guilty, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, of five counts of making a false tax return, in violation of 26 USC § 7206 (1). Collins further acknowledges that his convictions constitute violations of Rule 8.4 (a) (2) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, found in Bar Rule 4-102 (d). The maximum penalty for a violation of Rule 8.4 (a) (2) is disbarment. The Bar did not file a response to Collins’s petition, and Special Master Michael Joseph Blakely, Jr. filed a report and recommendation suggesting that this Court accept Collins's petition.
Having reviewed Collins’s petition and the special master’s report, we agree that the petition should be accepted. See In the Matter of Rachel, 297 Ga. 279, 773 S.E.2d 246 (2015) (accepting petition seeking voluntary suspension of license pending outcome of appeal of criminal conviction). See also In the Matter of Swank, 288 Ga. 479, 704 S.E.2d 807 (2011) (accepting petition for interim suspension during pendency of criminal charges). Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that Carl Lawrence Collins be suspended from the practice of law in this State pending the outcome of his direct appeal and until further order of this Court. Collins is ordered to notify the State Bar’s Office of General Counsel in writing within 10 days of the final disposition of his direct appeal, and he is further ordered to comply with the notification and other requirements of Bar Rule 4-219 (b).
Petition for interim suspension accepted. Suspended until further order of this Court.
All the Justices concur.