The Georgia Supreme Court has suspended a former Atlanta city attorney's law license for six months.
Clifford E. Hardwick IV had already admitted to violating the code of professional conduct and agreed to be disciplined for it, the court said Monday. In 2005, Hardwick was retained for $5,000 by a couple who wanted him to represent their son who had been sued for downloading music. But Hardwick did not file timely court motions in the case, resulting in a judgment to be issued against his clients. Hardwick also never informed his clients the judgment had been entered, the court said.
The opinion noted that Hardwick, in mitigation, said he refunded the $5,000 to his clients and asserted the case had no financial impact on them. He also said that he was "working through various personal issues" at that time, the opinion said. The State Bar of Georgia countered that Hardwick did not return his retainer until a formal complaint was lodged against him and that his personal issues did not excuse his repeated failure to comply with court orders.
Hardwick, who had already received confidential letters of admonition in 1994 and 2008, could not be reached for comment Monday. Hardwick oversaw the city's law department in the mid-1990s under former Mayor Bill Campbell and resigned in 1998 to enter private practice. In July 2008, a man walked into an Atlanta Starbucks and opened fire on Hardwick and another man, both of whom survived.
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