On Tuesday, November 19, 2024, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that former Georgia legislator and appeals court judge Christian Coomer had his law license suspended for two years, effective August 16, 2023.
Coomer had been kicked off the bench 15 months earlier for taking advantage of an elderly client and misusing campaign funds. The Georgia Supreme Court accepted Coomer’s voluntary suspension, stating that the record supported the admitted violations and the proposed discipline fell within the range previously imposed for similar rule violations.
Coomer, an attorney in Georgia since 1999, had served in the state House of Representatives for eight years before being appointed to the Georgia Court of Appeals in 2018. However, he was found to have misused campaign funds both as a lawmaker and a judge.
In December 2021, while suspended from the Court of Appeals, Coomer agreed to pay a $25,000 fine to settle accusations by the state ethics commission that he violated campaign finance laws. This included using contributions to prop up his private law practice and pay for trips.
Coomer’s subsequent removal as a judge was also based on his misuse of campaign funds, as well as his work as an attorney for a wealthy elderly client. He was found to have taken advantage of the client, in part by making himself and his wife beneficiaries of the client’s will.
During his trial before the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission in October 2022, Coomer admitted that his actions regarding the client’s will violated state professional conduct rules. He expressed remorse and said he had stopped practicing law when he was ousted as a judge.
The Georgia Supreme Court stated that Coomer would be allowed to practice law again after his two-year suspension ends on August 16, 2025.
Source: The Atlanta Journal Constitution
