## Facts

- Peggy Uselton retained attorney James W. Lewis to pursue a personal-injury claim against DeKalb County under a 40% contingent-fee contract drafted by Lewis.
- The contract purported to grant Lewis broad authority to settle or compromise the claim and to execute documents necessary to dispose of the matter, including endorsing settlement checks.
- Lewis accepted a settlement of the claim for $22,500 without informing Uselton of the specific offer before settling.
- Uselton repudiated the settlement, discharged Lewis, and filed a disciplinary complaint with the State Bar of Georgia.
- In the disciplinary proceeding, a special master found violations of Bar Rule 4-102(d) Standards 45(f) (settling without authority) and 31(c) (improper proprietary interest); the review panel found only a Standard 45(f) violation and recommended an 18-month suspension consecutive to Lewis’s existing suspension.

## Issues

1. Whether an attorney violates Bar Rule 4-102(d) Standard 45(f) by settling a client’s claim without consulting the client about a specific settlement offer, despite contract language purporting to authorize the attorney to settle as he deems proper.
2. Whether the attorney also violated Bar Rule 4-102(d) Standard 31(c) by construing the contingent-fee contract as granting a proprietary interest in the client’s cause of action.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Georgia accepted the review panel’s recommendation.
- The Court found Lewis violated Standard 45(f) by settling the client’s claim without proper authority because he did not consult the client about the specific settlement offer.
- The Court did not adopt a violation of Standard 31(c).
- The Court suspended Lewis from the practice of law for 18 months, consecutive to his existing suspension.

## Legal Principles

- A lawyer may not settle a client’s claim without the client’s informed authorization as to the specific settlement offer; broad contractual settlement language does not excuse failure to consult the client.
- Disciplinary sanctions may be imposed for settling a case without proper client authority under Bar Rule 4-102(d) Standard 45(f).
- Where the disciplinary authority recommends findings and sanctions, the court may accept the recommendation while limiting discipline to the rule violation supported by the record.

## Conclusion

The court imposed an 18-month consecutive suspension because Lewis settled his client’s claim without consulting her about the specific settlement offer, concluding this violated Standard 45(f) notwithstanding contract provisions purporting to grant broad settlement authority.


Matter of Lewis, 463 S.E.2d 862 (Ga. 1995)