In the Matter of Joel David Myers

899 S.E.2d 691, 318 Ga. 704

• Court: Supreme Court of Georgia
• Decided: March 19, 2024
• Docket: S24Z0598
• Status: Published

Opinion

318 Ga. 704 FINAL COPY

S24Z0598. IN THE MATTER OF JOEL DAVID MYERS.

PER CURIAM.

This matter is before the Court on Joel David Myers’s

Application for Certification of Fitness to Practice Law pursuant to

Part A, Section 10 of the Rules Governing Admission to the Practice

of Law in Georgia (the “Bar Admission Rules”). Myers was originally

admitted to the Bar in 1998 and worked at various iterations of his

own law firm from 1999-2009, with the most recent being Myers &

Associates Intellectual Property Law. In the winter of 2014, Myers

failed to respond to the State Bar’s Notice of Investigation related to

a client grievance, and this Court suspended him from the practice

of law in Georgia “until further order of [the] Court.” See Case No.

S15Y0474 (Dec. 1, 2014). Then, in October 2015, this Court

considered two separate Notices of Discipline, alleging that Myers

had violated Rules 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.8, 1.15 (I), 1.15 (II), 1.16 (d), 3.2,

8.4 (a) (4), and 9.3 of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, see Bar Rule 4-102 (d), in his interactions with two clients in unrelated

matters. Because Myers failed to timely reject the Notices of

Discipline, he was found to be in default as to those matters and the

alleged facts were deemed admitted. See Bar Rule 4-208.1 (b). After

consideration of the record, this Court disbarred Myers. See In the

Matter of Myers, 297 Ga. 783 (778 SE2d 223) (2015).

Asserting that his disbarment was the result of various

significant stressors in his life, which led to a lengthy battle with

untreated depression, and stating that he has taken steps to work

through that depression to the point that he is rehabilitated, Myers

now seeks readmission. Following review of his application and his

appearance at an informal conference, the Board to Determine

Fitness of Bar Applicants (the “Fitness Board”) voted to recommend

granting Myers’s application. The application is now before this

Court for final adjudication. See Bar Admission Rules, Part A, § 10

(e) (“[t]he Supreme Court shall make the final determination

regarding certification of fitness” of attorneys applying for

readmission to the practice of law).

2 In connection with his application for readmission, Myers filed

a statement of rehabilitation in accordance with In re Cason, 249

Ga. 806 (294 SE2d 520) (1982). He explained that, beginning in

2009, he experienced several major upheavals in his life that led to

an “undiagnosed severe depression” for five to six years. He

admitted that, as his depression and life worsened, he engaged in

the behavior which led to his disbarment, and that he “was not

mentally capable of providing a thorough response” to the 2013 and

2014 grievances filed against him. Myers expressed that he “feel[s]

horrible about [his] behavior that hurt so many and led to [his]

disbarment,” and he “take[s] full responsibility for [his] actions.”

According to Myers, he started to overcome his depression in 2015

by focusing on raising his son and rebuilding his life. After working

various jobs to regain financial stability, Myers reached out to one

of the clients involved in the case that led to his disbarment, offering

to pay the former client full restitution, but the client declined that

offer.

3 Myers has also submitted letters of recommendation from his

current boss (and former law partner) and others who know him

through his volunteer work, all of whom attest to Myers’s

professionalism, high moral character, and his ongoing commitment

to his work at their organizations. Notably, Myers’s former partner

describes Myers as a “prompt, diligent, respectful, and skillful”

worker and states his support for Myers’s readmission, noting that

“[p]rior to [the] issues [that led to Myers’s disbarment], he was an

excellent, diligent, and caring attorney and law partner” and that

Myers “is capable of regaining that status.”

As part of its investigation, the Fitness Board provided notice

to the State Bar of Georgia and to the bar membership and chief

judge of the Atlanta Judicial Circuit where Myers practiced,

provided newspaper notice to the public in the area where Myers

had practiced, and sought confirmation from the Client Security

Fund that no restitution was due. See Part A, § 10 (d) (1)-(4) of the

Bar Admission Rules. The Fitness Board received no response from

members of the public or the judiciary, but the State Bar responded

4 that, although there were other grievances filed against Myers

during and after the proceedings resulting in his disbarment, the

Bar had abandoned those matters as moot and had no plans to

pursue them.1 Moreover, none of the matters before the Bar required

Myers to make restitution to the Client Security Fund.

At a conference before the Fitness Board, Myers took full

responsibility for his actions and made no excuses for them. He

expressed remorse for his actions and described his path to recovery.

After considering Myers’s testimony and written submissions, the

Fitness Board concluded that he had, by clear and convincing

evidence, carried his burden of demonstrating rehabilitation and

recommended that he be readmitted to the Bar. See In re Cason, 249

Ga. at 808-809 (explaining that bar admission applicants bear the

burden to establish rehabilitation by clear and convincing evidence,

and “rehabilitation is the reestablishment of the reputation of a

1 The Bar did not specify the nature of the grievances that it dismissed

as moot.

5 person by his or her restoration to a useful and constructive place in

society,” including “[t]he requirement of positive action”).

Upon consideration of the entire record, we defer to the Fitness

Board’s determination that Myers has shown that he is entitled to

be certified as fit to practice law in Georgia. Accordingly, as it

appears that Myers has satisfied all of the requirements for approval

of his application for certification of fitness, see Bar Admission

Rules, Part A, Section 10, this Court hereby grants Myers’s

application for certification of fitness and orders that, upon

satisfaction of all the requirements of Part B of the Bar Admission

Rules, including taking and passing the Georgia Bar Examination,

Myers may be readmitted as an attorney licensed to practice law in

the State of Georgia.

Certification of fitness for readmission granted. All the Justices concur.

6 Decided March 19, 2024.

Certification of fitness to practice law.

John A. Earles, Kevin C. Wilson, for Office of Bar Admissions.

Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General, Russell D. Willard,

Senior Assistant Attorney General, for Board to Determine Fitness

of Bar Applicants.

Akin & Tate, S. Lester Tate III, for Myers.