In the Supreme Court of Georgia

Decided: February 15, 2021

S21Y0468. IN THE MATTER OF PATRICK A. POWELL

. P ER C URIAM
. This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the report and

recom mendation of Special Master LaVonda Rochelle DeWitt, recommending that Patrick A. Powell (State Bar No. 586289) be disbarred for his misconduct in abandoning a client in a cri minal matter in federal court. Powell is currently suspended until further

o rder of this Court because of his failure to respond to the Notice of Investigation issued in this matter. Se e Case No. S20Y0741 (Jan

. 23, 2020). The record before this Court reflects that i n June 2020 the State Bar filed and served the underlying Formal C omplaint by email and served it by mail and by publication in August 2020

. Powell, who was admitted to the Bar in 1998 and was suspended for2

three months in 2011, see In the Matter of Powell , 289 Ga. 215 (710 SE2d 145) (2011) , failed to file an answer to t he Formal C omplaint , and the Special M aster granted the State Bar’s motion for d ef ault. See Bar Rule 4

- 212 (a). The Special M aster found the following facts to be established by Powell’s default , and we agree that the record supports her findings

. In May 2018 Powell was retained by a third party to represent a client in connection with federal criminal charges pending in the U nited States District Court f or the N orthern District of Georgia. The third party paid Powell a $4,000 retainer and made one add itional $1,000 payment towards the $12,000 fee Powell quoted. Although Powell entered an appearance

on the client’s behalf in May 2018, he failed to respond to requests for an update on the case, failed to perform any work on the case, failed to appear at pretrial and status conferences held in August 2018, failed to respond to the district court and prosecutor when they attempted to contact him, and failed to a ppear at a show cause hearing. A grievance was filed in December 2018, and, as noted3

above, Powel l failed to respond to the resulting Notice of Investigation

. By this conduct, the Special M aster determined that Powell violated Rules 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 (a), 1.5 (a), 3.2, and 9.3 of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduc t found in Bar Rule 4

- 102 (d). The

m aximum sanction for a violation of Rules 1.2 and 1.3 is disbarment , and the maximum sanction for a violation of the remainin g rules is a public reprimand. The Special M aster appropriately considered the ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, see In t he Matter of Morse , 266 Ga. 652, 653 (470 SE2d 232 ) (1996), and found that Powell’s actions were intentional and caused injury that affected his client significantly. The Special M aster found numerous aggravating factors 1 and no mitigating factors, and con cluded that disbarment was the appropriate sanction

.

1 We agree with the Special M aster that the following aggravating factors are present: prior disciplinary sanction ; dishonest or selfish motive; a pattern of misconduct; vulnerability of the victim; and substantial expe rience in the practice of law. See ABA Standard 9.22 (a), (b), (c ) , (h), and (i). As4

Having reviewed th e record , we agree with the Special M aster’s recommendation. Powell’s abandonment of his client and his failure to respond for over two years to the disciplinary authori ti es warrants the sanction of disbarment , and this sanction is consistent with prior cases in which we have disbarred attorneys who abandoned clients and failed to respond to the disciplinary authorities. See, e.g., In the Matter of Annis , 306 Ga. 187 (829 SE2d 346) (20 19); In the Matter of Jennings , 305 Ga. 133 (823 SE2d 811) (2019); In the Matter of Miller , 302 Ga. 366 (806 SE2d 596) (2017); In the Matter of Lenoir , 282 Ga. 311 (647 SE2d 572) (2007). Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the name of Patrick A. Powell be removed from the rolls of persons authorized to practic e law in the State of Georgia. Powell is reminded of his duties pursuant to Bar Rule 4

- 219 (b). Disbarred

. All the Justices concur.

mentioned above, in 2011 we suspended Powell for three months for violating Rules 1.3, 1.4, and 3.2

. S ee In the Matter of Powell , 289 Ga. at 21 6.