On Monday, July 10, 2023, the Supreme Court of Maryland suspended attorney George L. Farmer for committing multiple acts of misconduct.
The case is entitled “Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland v. George L. Farmer” with case no. 41
The charges cited Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct 1.4, 1.5, 1.7, 1.16(a)(1), 3.1, 5.5(a), and 8.4(a).
According to the filing, Farmer was involved in the unauthorized practice of law, representing clients with conflicting interests, overcharging and billing for unreasonable fees, and initiating a frivolous lawsuit.
The filing states:
“On June 12, Mr. Farmer filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland against Mr. Kent, Mr. Kent’s law partner, and their law firm, alleging tortious interference with contract, tortious interference with economic relationship, legal malpractice, and “willful and malicious acts, ” all based on his relationship and agreement with Ms. Marsh. Mr. Kent and the other defendants moved to dismiss the complaint. On February 23, 2021, the court dismissed the complaint with prejudice. he court held that because Mr. Farmer was not licensed to practice law in Maryland, his retainer agreement with Ms. Marsh was invalid and against public policy. Additionally, the court found that Mr. Farmer’s claim that Mr. Kent was engaged in willful and malicious acts was “not grounded in any cognizable common law tort under Maryland law”
The filing continues:
“Mr. Farmer also criticizes Bar Counsel. He contends that Bar Counsel had unclean hands by pressing charges against him while ignoring the alleged misdeeds of Mr. Kent. Mr. Farmer also contends that Bar Counsel pursued this matter as retaliation for the ethics complaint he filed against Mr. Kent. Further, Mr. Farmer contends that he was denied due process because he was not allowed to elicit testimony from Bar Counsel about its relationship to Mr. Kent and its motivation in investigating him. We summarily overrule these baseless objections as well.”
The filing further states:
“The hearing judge correctly concluded that Mr. Farmer violated this Rule by charging $158,589.18, representing 416.3 hours of “legal services” provided over a three-month period, plus $569.18 in expenses for travel, copying, postage, and flash drives. For the period of April 18, 2020, through May 20, 2020, alone, Mr. Farmer billed Ms. Marsh $105,258.88 for 262.4 hours”
After carefully considering the aforementioned facts, the Supreme Court of Maryland has made the decision to suspend the respondent from practicing law.
The Disposition states:
“Having considered the facts and circumstances and having applied the governing principles of law, we conclude that an indefinite suspension is an appropriate sanction for Mr. Farmer’s misconduct.”
Mr. Farmer is a lawyer from New Jersey. His info can be found on FindLaw.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
