Extract from David Horrigan’s article “E-Discovery Law Update: Georgia Lawyer Disbarred After Putting Fake Email Into Evidence”
Andrea Jo Anne David-Vega was, by most accounts, a hard-working lawyer. In addition to her own private practice, David-Vega served as a special assistant attorney general, representing the state of Georgia’s Department of Family and Child Services in Gwinnett County with a caseload of 200 cases. She later acquired an additional 150 cases from a neighboring county while still managing her own law practice.
However, that overwhelming schedule became overwhelming for David-Vega. After she missed filing suit before the expiration of a statute of limitations in a client’s personal injury matter, David-Vega created a fake email, purportedly from her client, terminating her representation before the statute of limitations deadline.
For her violation of a number of state bar rules, Georgia’s State Disciplinary Review Board and a special master recommended a suspension of at least two years. In In re David-Vega, the Georgia Supreme Court agreed that serious discipline was warranted, but the state’s high court went a step further.
Instead of suspending David-Vega for two years, the Georgia Supreme Court disbarred her.
