House Speaker David Ralston's two-year battle with the State Bar of Georgia is now over as the state Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously approved a settlement agreement between the two.
The court’s action means the Blue Ridge Republican will face a public reprimand in front of a State Bar review panel.
Ralston and the Bar reached the agreement in early November, but the high court is charged with imposing punishment on attorneys in Georgia.
Ralston agreed to admit that he inadvertently violated two State Bar rules while the Bar agreed to drop more serious charges that Ralston misused client funds and intermingled clients’ money with his own.
“From the first day this matter was reported, we said this was nothing more than an honest mistake made while helping a client’s family pay for medicine and other necessities,” Ralston attorney James Balli of Marietta said Thursday. “While somewhat biased, I believe anyone who engaged in furthering such rumormongering owes my client an apology.”
Ralston, Balli said, “will put this matter behind him and continue to focus on moving our state forward. I do know he is very grateful to his family and friends for their unwavering support throughout this ordeal.”
Ralston was accused of violating nine State Bar rules and of allowing his duties as a legislator "to adversely affect his representation" of his client.
In the settlement, Ralston admits he loaned a client money for living expenses and that he was tardy in moving payment from a previous case out of his firm’s escrow account and into his personal account.
Ralston faced a range of outcomes from a dismissal of the complaint to public reprimand to disbarment. In a Petition for Voluntary Discipline, filed in June 2015, Balli said the speaker should face no more than “formal admonition,” the lowest level of punishment, or a public reprimand. The review panel reprimand is considered more serious than an admonitition, but less serious than a public reprimand.
The Bar originally disagreed, but over the past year apparently came to accept Ralston's explanation.
The complaint against Ralston stems from 2006, when Paul E. Chernak hired Ralston’s law firm after he was injured in a car accident. Chernak was not at fault.
According to Chernak’s complaint with the State Bar, Ralston became involved in the case in 2008. Chernak filed a lawsuit in 2008 claiming injury and damages from the accident. Chernak accused Ralston of dragging his feet on his lawsuit.
About the Author
