This matter is before the Court on the Report and Recommendation of the special master, Stephen A. Williams, recommending that Brett Jones Thompson Bar No. 126438 receive a public reprimand for her violation of Bar Rule 8.4 a 3, of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct found in Bar Rule 4-102 d, which arose out of an employment dispute with a former employee that led to her pleading guilty in 2010 under the First Offender Act, OCGA § 42-8-60, et seq., to two misdemeanor violations of OCGA § 16-10-94 tampering with evidence and OCGA § 16-10-24 a obstruction of law enforcement officer. The probation sentences on the convictions have been suspended. Following Thompson’s entry of the guilty pleas the State Bar sought her disbarment. She filed a petition for voluntary discipline in which she detailed the unusual procedural history behind her convictions, admitted she violated Rule 8.4 a 3 by the entry of the two pleas, and sought imposition of a public reprimand, but also stated she would accept a suspension of up to 12 months. The special master prepared thorough findings of fact, which are supported by the record, and which show that the convictions stemmed from events that began in 2006 when a title examiner employed by Thompson informed Thompson she was going to leave her employment and go to work for another real estate attorney in the same town. A dispute arose over a non-compete agreement Thompson sought to enforce. The title examiner denied such an agreement existed and enlisted the help of the district attorney’s office and law enforcement officers. Thompson did not voluntarily provide the non-compete agreement to investigators with the district attorney’s office. When informed that law enforcement officers had a search warrant, she informed them she had given it to her attorney. After Thompson’s attorney confirmed he had the original document, investigators obtained a subpoena directed to the attorney. The attorney filed a motion to quash and explained that he had returned the original document to Thompson’s office. Investigators then searched Thompson’s office and did not find the document.
The State obtained an order requiring the production of the document and holding Thompson in civil contempt and also brought the criminal charges. The title examiner also initiated a civil suit against Thompson. The criminal and civil matters were resolved by entry of the guilty pleas and settlement of the civil suit. Thompson entered her guilty pleas after defense counsel, based upon legal research, including review of Harris v. State , 173 Ga. App. 787, 788 328 SE2d 370 1985 misdemeanor conviction for obstruction of an officer does not involve moral turpitude, and discussing the matter informally with the State Bar, advised her that her plea to the two misdemeanors would not subject her to any action by the State Bar under Rule 8.4 a 3 because they did not involve a client and did not involve matters of moral turpitude. A condition of probation was that Thompson pay substantial restitution to the title examiner, which she paid after she obtained an advance of $55,000 on a line of credit.
