In re Temple
299 Ga. 854
Ga.2016Background
- Joanna Temple, admitted to the Georgia Bar in 1990, pleaded guilty in New York to attempted criminal usury (a misdemeanor) based on her role counseling and assisting payday-lending clients to intentionally violate New York usury laws over several years.
- She received a conditional one-year discharge and 250 hours community service; she admitted violations of Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct 1.2(d) and 8.4(a)(3) (maximum sanction: disbarment).
- Temple previously filed a petition for voluntary discipline seeking a one-year suspension; the Georgia Supreme Court rejected that petition and now rejects her second petition seeking a four-year suspension with conditions.
- The Court emphasized that Temple used her position as an attorney to instruct clients to commit criminal and fraudulent conduct, which aggravates discipline beyond cases involving lawyers’ personal crimes unconnected to legal practice.
- The State Bar neither opposed nor expressly recommended acceptance of the second petition; Tennessee suspended Temple for four years retroactive to April 28, 2016.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whether the Court should accept Temple's petition for voluntary discipline (four-year suspension with conditions) | Temple: four-year retroactive suspension with conditions is adequate given misdemeanor nature, cooperation, no prior discipline, and cessation of practice | Court/State Bar: conduct of counseling and assisting clients to commit crimes warrants greater sanction; petition should be rejected | Court rejected the petition; voluntary surrender not accepted |
| Proper sanction for violating Rule 1.2(d) (counseling/assisting client in criminal or fraudulent conduct) | Temple: misdemeanor-level offense supports suspension rather than disbarment; four years is appropriate | Court: using lawyer’s role to facilitate client crime undermines public confidence and warrants harsher sanction than sought | Court concluded misconduct supports greater sanction than Temple requested; rejected voluntary discipline |
| Whether precedents cited by Temple/State Bar justify acceptance of voluntary suspension | Temple: analogizes to cases imposing one-year to thirty-month suspensions | Court: distinguishes those authorities because they did not involve using lawyer role to assist client criminality | Court found distinctions persuasive and declined to follow the more lenient outcomes |
| Whether Tennessee’s four-year voluntary surrender should guide Georgia | Temple: Tennessee accepted four-year suspension (cited) | Court: will not follow Tennessee precedent; Georgia standards and case law require stricter treatment for lawyer-assisted client fraud | Court refused to accept Tennessee’s approach in this case |
Key Cases Cited
- In the Matter of Temple, 299 Ga. 140 (Georgia 2016) (prior Georgia opinion rejecting Temple’s earlier petition for voluntary discipline)
- In the Matter of Gardner, 286 Ga. 623 (Georgia 2010) (accepted voluntary surrender where attorney facilitated and concealed mortgage fraud)
- In the Matter of Vickers, 291 Ga. 354 (Georgia 2012) (disbarment for attorney convicted of mortgage fraud arising from practice of law)
- In the Matter of Suttle, 288 Ga. 14 (Georgia 2010) (two-year suspension imposed on co-defendant under facts warranting leniency)
- In the Matter of Davis, 292 Ga. 897 (Georgia 2013) (thirty-month suspension for attorney who entered first-offender plea to possession of methamphetamine)
- In the Matter of Schrader, 271 Ga. 601 (Georgia 1999) (one-year suspension for practicing without pro hac vice admission in New York)
- North Carolina v. Alford, 400 U.S. 25 (U.S. 1970) (discusses guilty pleas under Alford doctrine; referenced in comparing plea contexts)
- Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Bd. v. Engelmann, 840 N.W.2d 156 (Iowa 2013) (license revocation where attorney assisted execution of fraudulent real estate contract)
- State ex rel. Okla. Bar Assn. v. Golden, 201 P.3d 862 (Okla. 2008) (disbarment for participation in client’s health-care fraud cover-up)
- In re Petition for Disciplinary Action Against Houge, 764 N.W.2d 328 (Minn. 2009) (indefinite suspension for assisting client in creating sham employment agreement)