This matter is before the Court on the Review Panel report in which it recommends that Respondent Coatsey Ellison be disbarred for his violations of Rules 1.3, 1.4, and 8.4 a 4 of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, see Bar Rule 4-102 d, arising out of three separate State Disciplinary Board docket numbers. Although the special master recommended that Ellison be suspended for two years with conditions for reinstatement, under the facts of these cases and Ellison’s past disciplinary history, and after consideration of the State Bar’s exceptions to the special master’s report and the Review Panel’s report, we agree that disbarment is the appropriate sanction. The facts as found by the Review Panel show that in SDB docket # 4849 a client hired Ellison to represent her in a modification of child custody action in February 2002, which he did not file until May 2002. In July 2002 Ellison received discovery requests but failed to tell the client about them, even when he attended a mediation with her in August 2002. On September 26, 2002 the client received a letter from Ellison stating that it was his third request for her to complete discovery and that he would withdraw if she did not respond on that day. The client went to Ellison’s office on that day and completed the discovery but, even though the responses already were late, Ellison did not serve them on opposing counsel until October 31, 2002. The case was tried in April 2003 and the court ordered the parties to submit any briefs within ten days. Ellison did not submit a brief he stated this was because the briefs were optional but told his client that he filed the brief. The trial court ruled against the client and in June 2003 Ellison told her he filed a notice of appeal on her behalf but his client states she did not know the trial court ruled against her until she reviewed her file at the courthouse in October 2003. Ellison did not return his client’s calls and she terminated their relationship in October 2003. The client believed Ellison had perfected her appeal as she paid the costs of transmitting the record but in fact he had taken no further action and the Court of Appeals dismissed her appeal in January 2004. Ellison violated Rule 1.4 in this matter because although he communicated to his client that he filed a notice of appeal, informing her of that fact does not fulfill a lawyer’s obligation of explaining to a client that her suit was unsuccessful and also explaining the status of her case.
In SDB docket # 4953, Ellison filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case on behalf of his clients on May 30, 2003. When the U. S. Trustee moved to dismiss the case, Ellison filed a motion to convert it to a Chapter 13 case and forged his clients’ names on the verification, then notarized the forged signatures and attested to their authenticity. Ellison filed a Chapter 13 plan but the U. S. Trustee objected to it and Ellison moved to re-convert the case back to a Chapter 7, again forging the clients’ names without their authorization. The clients became so frustrated by their inability to reach Ellison that they informed the U.S. Trustee that he had forged their signatures. The clients retained other counsel who completed their Chapter 7 case and the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia suspended Ellison from filing any new cases for 180 days. We find that Ellison violated Rules 1.4 and 8.4 a 4 in this matter.
