On February 3, 2026, the Georgia Supreme Court accepted the voluntary surrender of a law license by a lawyer who forged a court order. The case first came to the Georgia Supreme Court on a petition for a three-year suspension, a suspension the court rejected and remanded. On remand, the attorney petitioned to voluntarily surrender his law license.
Here is the description of the facts:
In early 2020, York represented a client who was arrested and charged with misdemeanor family violence against her husband. She was released on bond on the condition that she not contact her husband, but she was arrested a second time based on an allegation that she had violated the no-contact condition. Thereafter, she was again released on bond with the added conditions that she wear an electronic monitoring device on her ankle and pay a monthly monitoring fee of $347.52.
York forged the signatures of a judge and an assistant district attorney on a court order dated March 4, 2020 that purportedly authorized the removal of the monitoring device from the client’s ankle. As a result, he was charged with felony forgery, and he entered into a 36-month Pretrial Diversion Agreement (“PDA”) with the district attorney’s office to OCGA § 15-18-80, requiring him, for the duration of the PDA, to (1) refrain from drug and alcohol use; (2) submit to random drug tests; (3) continue counseling with a psychologist until released; (4) continue counseling with a substance abuse counselor until released; (5) attend at least one weekly drug/alcohol support group meeting; (6) attend monthly legal mentoring sessions; (7) follow the Bar’s recommendations; and (8) “not practice law until reinstated by the State Bar of Georgia.”
Comment: Good grief.
S25Y0932. IN THE MATTER OF PAUL JASON YORK.