In the Matter of Mary E. Franklin

The Supreme Court accepted an attorney's petition for voluntary discipline and imposed a 3-month suspension after the attorney, seemingly unknowingly, allowed her husband, whose license to practice law had been suspended, to have interactions with a client in their law office.

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

Respondent Mary Ellen Franklin State Bar No. 273720 filed this petition for voluntary discipline before the issuance of a formal complaint, see Bar Rule 4-227 b, in which she admits a single violation of Rule 5.3 d of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct. See Bar Rule 4-102 d.1 Although Franklin requests a Review Panel reprimand, she agrees to accept a suspension of up to six months. The State Bar has responded, indicating that it does not oppose Franklin’s petition, but believes that a six-month suspension is the appropriate discipline. Given the mitigating circumstances present in this case, we believe that a three-month suspension is sufficient discipline.

In her petition, Franklin, who has been a member of the Bar since 1987, asserts that she worked most of her career as an in-house bank lawyer, but resigned in 2005 to care for her children, one of whom has serious health issues. Afterward, she occasionally did some part-time legal work from home, operating her law practice under the name “The Law Offices of Mary Ellen Franklin” and primarily negotiating loan modifications. In January 2009, this Court ordered that Franklin’s now-deceased husband, Bradley J. Taylor, who was also an attorney, receive a Review Panel Reprimand and a six-month suspension for various violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct arising from his 2005 misappropriation of a client’s funds to his own use, see In the Matter of Taylor, 284 Ga. 867 672 SE2d 653 2009. Franklin asserts that Taylor told her that he had been reinstated to practice law in July 2009, but she admits that she never checked the status of his license for herself. In the fall of 2009, Taylor and Franklin decided to share office space and Taylor registered the Franklin Taylor Law Group with the Georgia Secretary of State.

In the Matter of Mary E. Franklin

The Supreme Court accepted an attorney's petition for voluntary discipline and imposed a 3-month suspension after the attorney, seemingly unknowingly, allowed her husband, whose license to practice law had been suspended, to have interactions with a client in their law office.

Share with Email

Thank you for sharing!

Trending Stories

More From ALM

Subscribe to Daily Report