Court disbars Atlanta lawyer

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday disbarred Atlanta lawyer Ralph Joseph Hiers from practicing law for abandoning a client.

Hiers, a Georgia lawyer since 1996, previously received a reprimand in June 2012, the court noted. In the present case, Hiers was retained by a woman in a 2011 divorce case but, after initial discussions, never contacted her again, the opinion said. After she filed a complaint, Hiers told a State Bar panel he had been experiencing serious health issues and acknowledged he owed the client a refund, but he failed to follow up on that, the court said.