Attorney Discipline
| Jurisdiction | Georgia,United States |
| Citation | Vol. 23 No. 7 Pg. 0053 |
| Pages | 0053 |
| Publication year | 2018 |
Attorney Discipline Summaries (March 3, 2018 through May 7, 2018)
JESSICA OGLESBY, J.
Disbarments Gregory Reece Barton
P.O. Box 2077
Douglasville, GA 30133
On April 16, 2018, the Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred attorney Gregory Reece Barton (State Bar No. 040717) in two underlying cases. The facts were admitted by virtue of the default.
In Supreme Court Docket No. S18Y0601, Barton was appointed in November 2015 to represent a defendant on charges of theft by taking, but he failed to communicate with the client or to take any action on the client’s behalf. After both the client and the client’s grandmother contacted the judge overseeing the client’s case to complain about Barton’s failure to communicate or take action on the case, the court scheduled a hearing to address the matter. Barton contacted the judge’s assistant to say that he would be unable to attend because he was ill, but was told that his appearance would nonetheless be required. Barton failed to appear and was removed from the client’s case.
In Supreme Court Docket No. S18Y0602, Barton represented a different criminal defendant, but he failed to appear at two separate calendar calls and did not notify either his client or the court that he would be absent. Barton did later appear at a status hearing ordered by the court and resolved the client’s case with the prosecutor. In both matters, Barton admits that he is unable to remember the events in question because of his abuse of alcohol. Barton violated Rules 1.3, 1.4, and 3.2 of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct. The special master also noted that Rule 4-104 provides that “want of a sound mind” and “habitual intoxication” may constitute grounds for removing an attorney from the practice of law.
In mitigation, the special master noted Barton lacked prior disciplinary history. In aggravation, the special master noted Barton’s failure to respond to the disciplinary proceedings; the special master further noted that Barton’s failure to respond to the disciplinary proceedings deprived the special master of any additional evidence in mitigation of discipline.
Ronald John Doeve
1473 Bristolwood Court
Lilburn, GA 30047
On May 7, 2018, the Supreme Court of Georgia disbarred attorney Ronald John Doeve (State Bar No. 224735) for financial misconduct and misrepresentations made in the Bar disciplinary proceedings, in three underlying cases: State Disciplinary Board (SDB) Docket Numbers 6851, 6853 and 6854. All three matters are related to Doeve’s representation of Vivify Holdings Inc. and Jason Herring, a Vivify corporate officer.
In SBD No. 6851, Doeve agreed to act as escrow agent for a $100,000 investment that an investor wished to make in Vivify. Doeve agreed not to disburse the funds without the investor’s approval. However, he disbursed the funds to Vivify the same day the funds were wired to his trust account. Doeve failed to communicate with the investor to confirm receipt of the funds or disbursement of the funds and failed to respond to the investor’s inquiries and to provide an accounting.
In SBD No. 6853, Doeve agreed to represent a former client in obtaining funds owed by Herring. He also agreed to assist the former client’s husband, the husband’s company and the former client’s lawyer in obtaining funds owed by Herring. Doeve and Herring falsely represented to these individuals that Herring had $2,000,000 in available funds and that he had deposited $460,000 into Doeve’s Chase Private Client account, which was not a...
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