Atlanta lawyer Nathan Harwick IV's criminal trial has been continued until Sept. 24 because he has fallen ill.

Federal prosecutors have alleged that Hardwick embezzled almost $21 million from his now-bankrupt firm, Morris Hardwick Schneider. Jury selection concluded Tuesday and there was no court on Wednesday in observance of Yom Kippur.

Opening statements were scheduled to start Thursday at 9:30 a.m., but Hardwick has come down with a severe and “highly contagious” respiratory illness, his lawyers said in a motion filed Wednesday afternoon before Judge Eleanor Ross of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. They also submitted a doctor's note.

Hardwick began to feel ill on Monday, the first day of trial, and by Tuesday night his condition had worsened to chills, high fever, sweats and a deep chest cough, according to the motion from his attorneys, led by Edward Garland of Garland, Samuel & Loeb.

Dr. James Roth of Piedmont Physicians Group diagnosed Hardwick with a severe respiratory illness on Wednesday and cautioned that he is “highly contagious” for at least another 48 hours, the defense motion said. “Mr. Hardwick is presently leaving the doctor's office to return home to bed.”

Ross ordered the case continued until Monday at 9:30 a.m.

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