Certificate Of Reinstatement Granted But Petitioner Must Pass Bar Examination

The Georgia Supreme Court has granted a reinstatement of an attorney who had voluntarily surrendered his license in 2002

in his petition to surrender his license, Clarke admitted that while serving as the administrator of an estate, he withdrew $90,000 from the estate account for his own  personal use (later paying it back), appropriated for his own personal use an automobile that was property of the estate, falsely told the heirs he had sold the vehicle and deposited the proceeds into the estate account, and failed to file proper income tax returns on behalf of the estate between 1996 and 1999.

Evidence of rehabilitation

On August 28, 2019, Clarke filed his Application for Certification of Fitness, which reflects that following his disbarment, Clarke attended Columbia Theological Seminary and graduated with a Master’s Degree in Divinity in May 2007. Clarke then began serving as a pastor, and currently serves as a senior pastor at a Presbyterian church in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where he has been employed since January 2010. In his statement of rehabilitation, Clarke admits that he violated his responsibilities and mishandled the office of executor and states that he has since paid full restitution to the estate and has reconciled with the heirs. He further states that in his current role as a senior pastor, he oversees youth education programs, a care center for senior adults, and the budget at his church, and engages in regular service to the community, including at local refugee centers and hospitals and by providing marriage counseling to couples. In addition to the statement of rehabilitation, Clarke provided several letters of support from his colleagues and members of his congregation, which commend his honesty, integrity, and service to and support of members of his community. An heir to the estate that Clarke mishandled provided a letter of support, stating that she feels “deeply convinced that [Clarke] has turned his life around and has earned reinstatement of his attorney’s license.”

He must pass the bar exam

this Court grants Clarke’s application for certification of fitness and orders that, upon satisfaction of all the requirements of Part B of the Bar Admissions Rules, including taking and passing the Georgia Bar Examination, Clarke may be readmitted as an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Georgia.

(Mike Frisch)