In re Bone
In re Bone
Opinion of the Court
This disciplinary matter is before the Court on James H. Bone’s petition for voluntary discipline in which he admitted conduct that violated Rule 3.3 (a) (1) (“A lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of material fact or law to a tribunal”) and Rule 3.4 (f) (“A lawyer shall not. . . request a person other than a client to refrain from voluntarily giving relevant information to another party...”) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct. The State Bar states it has no objection to the petition.
The record shows that Bone was the Standing Chapter 13 Trustee for the U. S. Bankruptcy Court of the Northern District of Georgia and in that role he conducted a settlement conference and made a tape recording of that conference with the knowledge of the participants. During the conference he agreed to contact the creditors
The maximum sanction for a violation of Rules 3.3 and 3.4 is disbarment. However, several mitigating factors are present: Bone has no prior disciplinary history; Bone admitted his conduct upon inquiry by the United States Trustee’s Office; Bone corrected the misrepresentation to the court; and Bone did not obtain any financial or other gain by his misconduct. Therefore, we accept the petition for voluntary discipline and hereby direct that Bone be suspended from the practice of law for a period of three months from the date of this opinion. Bone is reminded of his duties pursuant to Bar Rule 4-219 (c).
Three-month suspension.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- IN THE MATTER OF JAMES H. BONE
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published