Courts, regulators disbar lawyers in four jurisdictions

Courts and legal regulators disbarred several attorneys for misconduct. In Connecticut, Donald McPartland received an additional three-year disbarment after mishandling a client’s injury case, missing court deadlines and failing to cooperate with disciplinary proceedings; he had previously been disbarred for four years over nearly $500,000 in unaccounted client funds. Georgia’s Supreme Court disbarred William T. Payne after he pleaded no contest to a felony tied to illegally soliciting clients using stolen police accident information. In England, barrister Rasib Ghaffar was disbarred after a fraud conviction involving claims against the legal aid fund. Tennessee’s Supreme Court permanently disbarred David James Fulton for abandoning a client, misleading courts and misappropriating more than $54,000 in client funds.