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In re Thompson

Supreme Court of Georgia
Feb 1, 2021
310 Ga. 753 (Ga. 2021)

Summary

rejecting attorney’s voluntary petition for reciprocal suspension for, inter alia, failing to provide documents from his Florida disciplinary proceeding

Summary of this case from In re Allen

Opinion

S21Y0355

02-01-2021

In the MATTER OF William D. THOMPSON, Jr.

William deForest Thompson, Jr., William Deforest Thompson Jr. PA, 2030 McGregor Boulevard, Fort Myers, Florida 33901, Attorneys for the Appellant. Wolanda R. Shelton, 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, Attorneys for the Appellee.


William deForest Thompson, Jr., William Deforest Thompson Jr. PA, 2030 McGregor Boulevard, Fort Myers, Florida 33901, Attorneys for the Appellant.

Wolanda R. Shelton, 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, Attorneys for the Appellee.

Per Curiam. This disciplinary matter is before the Court to consider a petition for voluntary reciprocal discipline filed by William D. Thompson, Jr. (State Bar No. 710152), pursuant to Bar Rule 4-227 and Rule 9.4 of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct found in Bar Rule 4-102 (d). In his petition, Thompson, who has been a Georgia Bar member since 2003 and is currently in inactive status, admits that he was suspended from legal practice in Florida for one year, effective January 8, 2020, to be followed by two years on "probation," for misconduct involving his mismanagement of his trust account. The State Bar filed an untimely response to the petition, recommending that the petition be accepted. Nevertheless, Thompson's petition contains several deficiencies that preclude final resolution of this matter at this time.

First, the petition fails to identify which Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct his conduct violated. See Bar Rule 4-227 (a) (providing that "[a] Petition for Voluntary Discipline shall contain admissions of fact and admissions of conduct in violation of Part IV, Chapter 1 of these Rules sufficient to authorize the imposition of discipline"). The petition also fails to establish that the requested one-year suspension is appropriate discipline under Georgia law. This latter deficiency is particularly salient given that, although Thompson recites that he received a one-year suspension in Florida, he also received a further two-year "probation" period, during which he is restricted in using a trust account and faces additional reporting obligations and fee payments to the Florida Bar. The Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct do not contemplate a comparable "probation" mechanism. See generally Rule 9.4 (b) (3) (noting that, where a reciprocal disciplinary matter proceeds to the State Disciplinary Review Board, that body "shall recommend imposition of substantially similar discipline" to that received in the disciplinary proceeding in the other jurisdiction).

Furthermore, although Thompson references various documents associated with the Florida disciplinary proceeding in this petition, no such documents were attached for our review. Finally, Thompson states that he is in inactive status, but he fails to note that he is not an inactive member in good standing. Rather, he is currently under suspension for failure to pay his license fee. Accordingly, Thompson's petition for voluntary reciprocal discipline is rejected.

Petition for voluntary discipline rejected.

All the Justices concur.


Summaries of

In re Thompson

Supreme Court of Georgia
Feb 1, 2021
310 Ga. 753 (Ga. 2021)

rejecting attorney’s voluntary petition for reciprocal suspension for, inter alia, failing to provide documents from his Florida disciplinary proceeding

Summary of this case from In re Allen

rejecting petition for voluntary reciprocal discipline, even though the State Bar recommended the Court accept the petition, due to several deficiencies in the petition, including that the attorney referenced, but failed to attach, documents associated with his Florida disciplinary proceeding

Summary of this case from In re Allen
Case details for

In re Thompson

Case Details

Full title:IN THE MATTER OF WILLIAM D. THOMPSON, JR.

Court:Supreme Court of Georgia

Date published: Feb 1, 2021

Citations

310 Ga. 753 (Ga. 2021)
310 Ga. 753

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