In re Carter

Attorney suspended for one year for admittedly converting his client's settlement proceeds to his own use after he told her he would pay the funds to a health care provider as reimbursement for her medical bills.

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This disciplinary matter is before the Court on Respondent Ronald D. Carter’s Petition for Voluntary Discipline in which he seeks a one-year suspension from the practice of law for his admitted violations of Standards 4 a lawyer shall not engage in professional conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or willful misrepresentation and 65 A a lawyer shall not commingle his client’s funds with his own, and shall not fail to account for trust property, including money and interest paid on the client’s money, if any, held in any fiduciary capacity of Bar Rule 4-102 d, both of which are punishable by disbarment. As a condition of reinstatement, Carter agrees to remain suspended from practice until such time as the Lawyer Assistance Program certifies to the Office of the General Counsel that he is fit to resume the practice of law and poses no threat of substantial harm to his clients or the public. Carter filed his petition pursuant to Bar Rule 4-227 b prior to the State Bar’s issuance of a Formal Complaint. The State Bar recommends that this Court accept Carter’s petition. We agree.

In his petition, Carter, who was admitted to practice law in Georgia in 1994, states that in 1995, he agreed to handle a personal injury case on behalf of a client. After settling the case in November 1996, Carter received the settlement funds in a fiduciary capacity; paid the client her portion of the settlement funds; and told the client that he would pay $1,200 on her behalf to Humana/Employers Health as reimbursement for medical bills. However, Carter failed to pay Humana/Employers Health in a timely fashion and converted the funds to his own use. Carter admits that by his conduct in this matter, he violated Standards 4 and 65 A of Bar Rule 4-102 d.

In re Carter

Attorney suspended for one year for admittedly converting his client's settlement proceeds to his own use after he told her he would pay the funds to a health care provider as reimbursement for her medical bills.

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