In the Matter of Morris P. Fair Jr.

The Supreme Court rejected an attorney's petition for voluntary discipline in which he sought a Review Panel reprimand to resolve a disciplinary matter involving his representation of a client in a habeas corpus case.

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This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the petition for voluntary discipline filed by Respondent Morris P. Fair, Jr. State Bar No. 581019, pursuant to Bar Rule 4 227 b 2, in which he again seeks to resolve a pending disciplinary matter involving his representation of a client in a habeas corpus case. Fair filed a prior petition for voluntary discipline with regard to the same underlying matter, and this Court denied his petition, see In the Matter of Fair, 297 Ga. 869 778 SE2d 794 2015. In this petition, Fair admits that his conduct in the habeas case violated Rules 1.3 and 1.4 of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, see Bar Rule 4 102 d. The maximum sanction for a violation of Rule 1.3 is disbarment, and the maximum sanction for a violation of Rule 1.4 is a public reprimand.

Fair, who has been a member of the Bar since 2000, acknowledges that he failed to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in his representation of the habeas petitioner, for whom he states that he had filed a petition, secured a date for a hearing on the petition, and subsequently requested that the hearing be continued due to his scheduling conflicts. Fair acknowledges that he did not always promptly return the client’s phone calls, but states that he did speak to the client at least once every other week, visited the client on three or four occasions while the petition was pending, and spoke occasionally to the petitioner’s mother. At the hearing on the petition, Fair requested 30 days in which to file a brief, which he failed to file timely; Fair states that he did explain to the client his failure to timely file the brief, but failed to do so promptly.

In the Matter of Morris P. Fair Jr.

The Supreme Court rejected an attorney's petition for voluntary discipline in which he sought a Review Panel reprimand to resolve a disciplinary matter involving his representation of a client in a habeas corpus case.

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