On Tuesday, August 9, 2022, the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled on the application for certification of fitness to practice law of Dr. Gege Okezuandue Odion.

The case, titled In the matter of Gege Okezuandue Odion, was brought by the Board to Determine Fitness of Bar Applicants. Case #S22Z0316.

According to the filing:

“Dr. Gege Okezuandidue Odion, an optometrist, is a law school graduate who applied to the Board to Determine Fitness of Bar Applicants (the “Board”) for certification of fitness to practice law. The Board considered Odion’s application; found that it demonstrated a lack of “candor, judgment, integrity, diligence, [and]trustworthiness” required of a prospective member of the State Bar of Georgia; and denied the application. The central issue giving rise to the Board’s denial arises out of Odion’s response to the application requirement regarding disclosure of court proceedings filed by an applicant or in which an applicant is a party.”

The filing continues:

“The record shows that Odion applied to take the July 2005 Bar Exam. He submitted an incomplete fitness application in November 2004 and did not move forward with fitness certification or sit for the July 2005 Bar exam.”

The filing additionally notes:

“Odion filed a second fitness application on August 23, 2018. On November 13, 2020, the Board served Odion with a tentative order denying the application, noting a number of reasons for the tentative denial, including “a deficiency in the level of judgment and candor required of all members of the Bar of Georgia, specifically with regard to the number of lawsuits you filed and failed to disclose on your Character and Fitness Application.” Following Odion’s request for a hearing, the Board provided Odion with a list of specifications for the denial of his application, including details regarding a number of lawsuits Odion had failed to disclose. Odion timely answered the specifications by letter.”

The Court appointed a Special Master who presided over a hearing regarding this matter on September 30, 2021. The Special Master determined that Odion indicated in his initial 2005 fitness application that he had been involved in three litigation matters. On August 23, 2018, Odion filed a second application where it listed six lawsuits that Odion had filed pro se. Odion submitted a letter listing 22 additional litigation matters in which he had been involved, in response to the specifications noted by the Board following its tentative denial of the application. He later file a supplement to his response to the Board’s specification, which listed one additional lawsuit.

The Special Master determined that Odin failed to disclose 20 additional litigation matters in any of his applications, amendment, or supplement. The Special Master concluded that “Odion has not met his burden to show that he has the requisite character and fitness to become a member of the Georgia Bar” and recommended that the Board deny Odin’s application for a certificate of fitness.

The Board later denied Odion’s application for which Odion appealed arguing that he was under the impression that he needed to disclose only those litigation matters that occurred within the five years preceding his application. Odion further argued that he had been involved in only a few “main” lawsuits and that the undisclosed litigation matters were related to those “main” cases.

Accordingly, in affirming the Board’s decision, the Supreme Court of Georgia, stated among others:

“Odion repeatedly failed to disclose numerous litigation matters to which he was a party, even after the Board gave him an opportunity to respond to the specifications for tentative denial and supplement his application. The Board was also authorized to determine thatOdion’s proffered justifications for his lack of disclosure were inadequate or misleading. Such behavior on the part Bar applicant, especially in light of the Board’s efforts to allow Odion to amend and supplement his application on multiple occasions, “shows a complete lack of diligence and judgment, which goes to his fitness, and, at worst, a lack of candor, which goes to his character.”

The dispositive portion of the Opinion reads:

“The Board properly denied Odion’s application for certification of fitness to practice law, and we affirm that decision.

Decision affirmed. All the Justices concur.”

Dr. Gege Odion maintains his practice in Decatur, Georgia, and works at Optiworld Vision. His info can be found on LinkedIn.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.