Notices

• Publication year: 2010
• Pages: 0102

Notices No. Vol. 16 No. 1 Pg. 102 Georgia Bar Journal August, 2010

UPL Advisory Opinion No. 2010-1

Issued by the Standing Committee on the Unlicensed Practice of Law on June 4, 2010.

Note: This opinion is only an interpretation of the law, and does not constitute final action by the Supreme Court of Georgia. Unless the Court grants review under Bar Rule 14-9.1(g), this opinion shall be binding only on the Standing Committee on the Unlicensed Practice of Law, the State Bar of Georgia, and the petitioner, and not on the Supreme Court of Georgia, which shall treat the opinion as persuasive authority only.

QUESTION PRESENTED

Assuming no traverse has been filed by any party in a garnishment action, is the completion, execution and filing of an answer in the garnishment action by a nonattorney employee of the garnishee considered the unlicensed practice of law?

SUMMARY ANSWER

A nonlawyer who answers for a garnishee other than himself in a legal proceeding pending with a Georgia court of record is engaged in the unlicensed practice of law.

"OPINION

"The summons of garnishment shall be directed to the garnishee, commanding him to file an answer stating what money or other property is subject to garnishment." O.C.G.A. §18-4-62(a). The "answer must be filed with the court issuing the summons," and "if the garnishee fails to answer the summons, a judgment by default will be entered against the garnishee for the amount claimed by plaintiff against the defendant." Id.

The summons of garnishment form set out in O.C.G.A. §18-4-66(2) states that the garnishee is to file an "answer in writing with the clerk of this court...." The garnishee is warned that "[s]hould you fail to answer this summons, a judgment will be rendered against you for the amount the plaintiff claims due by the defendant." Id. O.C.G.A. §18-4-82 refers to the document prepared by the garnishee as an "answer," as does O.C.G.A. §18-4-97(a): "The garnishee shall be entitled to his actual reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, in making a true answer of garnishment."

Notice of and Opportunity for Comment on Amendments to the Rules of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

A properly served garnishee is bound to file an answer with the appropriate court. If the answer is not filed, the garnishee faces a default judgment. The inescapable conclusion is that a garnishment action is a legal proceeding. That being the case, the Committee examines...