Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston (right) with state Rep. Trey Rhodes, R-Union Point (Photo: John Disney/ ALM)

The woman behind a pending bar complaint against Georgia House Speaker David Ralston rebutted claims this week by the speaker's counsel that she is being exploited by a “cabal” of Ralston's political enemies.

Amanda Mosher's grievance “is not part of any subversive political conspiracy,” said her attorney, Atlanta legal malpractice and personal injury lawyer Linley Jones, in a June 21 letter to bar investigators.

Jones said Mosher refiled a complaint she previously brought against Ralston after learning from news reports earlier this year that others like her may have been harmed by Ralston's liberal use of legislative leave to postpone—sometimes for years—the resolution of cases pending against his clients. Ralston is an attorney in Blue Ridge.

Jones said Mosher was advised by the State Bar of Georgia that her decision to dismiss the earlier complaint did not prevent her from filing a new one.

Legislative leave allows lawmakers to postpone court hearings, trials or other actions that might interfere with their legislative schedules. Although the General Assembly meets for about three months a year, Ralston has claimed his duties as House speaker can create conflicts year-round.

Jones said Thursday that her letter was intended to rebut a June 3 letter penned by Ralston attorney James Balli urging bar investigators to dismiss Mosher's complaint, in part, because “a small, disingenuous cabal” was attempting to exploit her circumstances and use bar disciplinary rules as a “procedural weapon” to “cause political harm” to Ralston.

“There is no cabal for Ms. Mosher. I am the cabal,” said Jones, who has represented Mosher since a 2005 accident that killed Mosher's husband and her 4-year-old child. “My representation of her is not at all politically motivated,” she continued. “To the contrary, I did not relish at all the idea of the lawyer who committed this misconduct being a prominent political figure.”

But, she added, “We do believe that the misconduct is worthy of discipline, and we just want to be given fair consideration.”

On Thursday, Balli again called Mosher's grievance “a political attack disguised as a bar complaint.” Balli also claimed Mosher “is the one who said there was a group helping prepare these complaints.”

Ralston's lawyer also contended that Jones' rebuttal was a “regurgitation of the same errors” contained in the original complaint. Balli said he anticipates the complaint will be dismissed because “the state bar knows this is simply a political attack.”

Jones' rebuttal said Ralston “engaged in a course of conduct gaming the system” with his use of legislative leave. She contended that on several occasions, although Ralston invoked legislative leave, his campaign finance disclosures revealed he was campaigning or fundraising rather than engaged in legislative business.

Jones said Mosher's complaint is one of three currently pending against Ralston. The other two complaints allege similar abuses, she said.

Jones said that Mosher's grievance “is not an attack on legislative leave law” but, instead, “addresses more broadly an attorney's use of a statutory vehicle to undermine the administration of justice.”

When Ralston began representing Walter Layson, Layson was charged with vehicular homicide in the deaths of Mosher's husband and child. They were killed in 2005 after Layson's SUV rear-ended and ran over the family's compact car. Mosher's complaint contends that Ralston delayed final adjudication of the case for 5 ½ years, securing delays by invoking legislative leave 13 times, Jones said. The case was not resolved until 8 ½ years after the accident when Layson pleaded guilty while continuing to maintain his innocence, according to her rebuttal letter.

Jones took issue with Balli's description of the accident in his dismissal letter and with suggestions that the blame rested with Amanda Mosher. Balli's letter stated that the State Patrol had determined it was “merely a tragic accident caused, in part, by Ms. Mosher choosing to leave a parking lot and drive an unsafe and malfunctioning vehicle at less than 25 mph on a highway with a 65 mph speed limit.”

“This is just not true,” Jones said. “The [Georgia State Patrol] found 'no contributing factors' on the part of Mrs. Mosher.” Instead, she said that, after a “lengthy investigation,” accident investigators determined the collision was “a result of Mr. Layson failing to safely assess and provide an adequate amount of room between his vehicle” and Mosher's.

Jones said the cause of the wreck has no bearing on whether Ralston violated bar rules.

Jones' letter accused Ralston of at least eight rule violations stemming from Layson's case, including:

  • Failing to act “with reasonable diligence and promptness” in his legal representation;
  • Putting his own interests and legislative duties above the interests of his client;
  • Conducting a defense or securing a delay intended “to harass or maliciously injure another;
  • Failing to make reasonable efforts to expedite litigation;
  • Employing a “lack of candor” with the court in invoking legislative leave;
  • Invoking legislative leave to obstruct or assist another in obstructing a party's access to evidence;
  • Using legislative leave as “an obstructive tactic” to case the case “to grow stale;”
  • Making a false statement of material fact;
  • Using legislative leave as “a litigation tactic” that had no purpose “other than to embarrass, delay, or burden a third person.”

Additional Reading: 

House Speaker David Ralston Claims Anonymous 'Cabal' Is Behind 2 Bar Complaints Against Him

House Speaker Appoints Own Defense Lawyer in Bar Complaint to Judicial Watchdog Agency

House Speaker David Ralston to Receive Reprimand at Annual Conference

Georgia High Court Reprimands House Speaker Ralston for Bar Rule Violations

House Speaker Could Receive Reprimand to Resolve Bar Complaint