IN THE MATTER OF TED HOLDER REED
Supreme Court Disciplinary No. 457
Supreme Court of Georgia
258 Ga. 271;
368 S.E.2d 499;
1988 Ga. LEXIS 230
June 1, 1988, Decided
PRIOR HISTORY:
[***1]
Reinstatement.
COUNSEL:
William P. Smith III, General Counsel State Bar, Joe David Jackson, Assistant
General Counsel State Bar, for State Bar of Georgia.
Richard E. Johnson, for Reed.
JUDGES: Per curiam. All the Justices concur.
OPINIONBY: PER CURIAM
OPINION:
[*271]
[**499] This is a petition for
reinstatement to
membership in the Bar of this State.
[**500] Reed was
licensed to practice law on June 14, 1976. Following his admission to the State Bar, he was
employed as a
probation officer with the Department of Corrections/Offender
Rehabilitation. While employed as a
probation officer he was arrested and indicted for the offense of
bribery. Reed pled guilty to this offense on February 4, 1977. He was given a
three-year probationary
sentence under the
First Offender Act and fined $ 3,000. Reed has successfully completed all aspects of his
sentence concerning the aforesaid charge of
bribery and was discharged without court adjudication of guilt under the provisions of
the
First Offender Act.
In 1978, the State Bar filed a formal complaint against Reed seeking his
disbarment. Thereafter, Reed admitted the incident described above and tendered his
resignation from the State Bar of Georgia. The State Disciplinary
Board
[***2]
recommended the acceptance of his
resignation from the State Bar. On October 31, 1979, this court approved the
recommendation and struck Reed's name from
membership
[*272] in the State Bar.
In the
Matter of Reed, 244 Ga. 612 (261 S.E.2d 398) (1979).
Reed first filed for
reinstatement to the Bar in July 1980. On August 21, 1981, the State Disciplinary Board
recommended that his application for
reinstatement be denied. On January 7, 1982, this court upheld the State Disciplinary
Board's denial of respondent's application for
reinstatement.
In the
Matter of Reed, 248 Ga. 748 (285 S.E.2d 726) (1982).
On June 6, 1985, Reed again filed a petition for
reinstatement. This court appointed a Special Master, who, following a hearing, concluded
that Reed had shown
rehabilitation by clear and convincing evidence which was
unrebutted by the State Bar. The Special Master further concluded
that the continuing evidence of remorse,
rehabilitation, moral character and integrity which [Reed] has shown since his
disbarment strongly suggest that the seriousness of [his] conviction of
bribery has been offset by a sufficiently long
[***3] term of
rehabilitation such that he is a person again worthy of the title
"attorney."
The Special Master
recommended that Reed be
reinstated as a member of the Georgia Bar.
On December 18, 1987, the Review Panel of the State Disciplinary Board approved
and adopted the findings of fact and the conclusions of law of the Special
Master, and
recommended that Reed be
reinstated as a member of the State Bar.
We have carefully reviewed the record and hereby approve the
recommendation of the State Disciplinary Board. We therefore order that the petitioner be
reinstated as an attorney
licensed to practice law in the State of Georgia, conditioned upon his taking and passing the
Multistate Code of Professional Responsibility portion of the Bar Examination.
Rule 4-305 of the Rules and Regulations for the Organization and Government of the
State Bar of Georgia (as provided when the petitioner made application for
reinstatement).
