Attorney Discipline
| Publication year | 2023 |
| Pages | 0051 |
Attorney Discipline Summaries
July 5, 2023, through July 13, 2023
BY LEIGH BURGESS
Disbarments
Richard H. Middleton Jr.
317 E. Liberty St.
P.O. Box 10006
Savannah, GA 31412-0206
Admitted to the Bar 1977
On July 5, 2023, the Court accepted the petition for the voluntary surrender of license from Richard H. Middleton (State Bar No. 504912). In his petition, Middleton admitted that in connection with a single client matter he violated Rules 1.15 (I) (c) and 1.15 (II) (b) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct. The maximum sanction for a violation of these rules is disbarment.
Middleton, who had been a member of the State Bar since 1977, admitted the following facts. Middleton was associated as co-counsel by an attorney licensed in South Carolina to represent a client who was injured in an automobile collision in the Savannah, Georgia, area in November 2016. Middleton filed a lawsuit on behalf of the client in the Chatham County State Court in November 2018. Middleton then settled the lawsuit with the primary insurance carrier for the policy limit of $100,000 in May 2020. The settlement funds were placed in Middleton's IOLTA account at his bank pending the resolution of the client's South Carolina workers' compensation case, in which she was being represented by the South Carolina attorney. In March 2021, the South Carolina attorney resolved the workers' compensation case when the carrier agreed to a lien waiver and, on that same day, notified Middleton that the workers' compensation matter was resolved and that the settlement proceeds from the collision case could be disbursed. However, Middleton refused to disburse the settlement funds to the client or the South Carolina attorney despite numerous requests being made. Middleton admitted that sufficient funds were not available in his IOLTA account, because he incrementally withdrew the settlement proceeds for his personal use after the settlement proceeds were deposited into his IOLTA account.
Based on these admissions, Middleton stated that he violated Rule 1.15 (I) (c), by failing to promptly deliver the settlement proceeds to the South Carolina attorney and the client but asserted that he had since fully reimbursed both parties. In addition, he stated that he violated Rule 1.15 (II) (b), by failing to withdraw only earned fees, and instead, incrementally withdrawing client funds from his IOLTA account for his personal use over a considerable period without providing an accounting. Middleton requested the Court accept his petition for voluntary surrender of his license. The State Bar responded and recommended that the Court accept the petition based on Middleton's admissions.
Keith Chance Hardy
147 Wendell Drive
Columbus, GA 31904 Admitted to Bar 2014
On July 13, 2023, the Court disbarred Keith Chance Hardy (State Bar No. 538509) from the practice of law in Georgia. The disciplinary matter came before the Court on the report and recommendation of the special master who recommended that Hardy, who was admitted to the State Bar in 2014, be disbarred for his admitted violations of Rules 1.1; 1.2 (a); 1.3; 1.4; 1.5 (a) and (c); 1.15 (I) (a), (b), and (c); 1.16 (b) and (d); 8.4 (a) (4); and 9.3 of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct in connection with three client matters. The maximum penalty for a single violation of Rules 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.15 (I), and 8.4 (a) (4) is disbarment, and the maximum penalty for a single violation of Rules 1.4, 1.5, 1.16, and 9.3 is a public reprimand.
As background, the State Bar filed a formal complaint on Sept. 23, 2022, and had it personally served on Hardy on Nov. 20, 2022. Hardy failed to file an answer or request an...
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