In the Supreme Court of Georgia
Decided: August 10, 2021
S21Y1070. IN THE MATTER OF MATTHEW A. BRYAN.
PER CURIAM.
This reciprocal discipline matter is before the Court on the
State Disciplinary Review Board’s April 23, 2021 report and
recommendation that this Court disbar Matthew Alexander Bryan
(State Bar No. 314060) from the practice of law in Georgia. See
Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 9.4 (b). The reciprocal
proceeding arises from Bryan’s disbarment from the practice of law
in Montana. The State Bar of Georgia attempted to have Bryan
served personally with the notice of reciprocal discipline at the
address shown on the records of the State Bar’s Membership
Department, but the sheriff was unable to locate him. The State Bar
then served Bryan by publication pursuant to Bar Rule 4-203.1 (b)
(3) (ii), and Bryan submitted an acknowledgement of service. Bryan did not file any objections to the notice of discipline, see Georgia
Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 9.4 (b) (2), and has not filed
exceptions to the Review Board’s report in this Court, see Bar Rule
4-218.
Bryan has been a member of the State Bar of Georgia since
2007 and was admitted to the practice of law in Montana in 2018.
On June 18, 2019, he was disbarred from the practice of law in
Montana by the Supreme Court of Montana. The Montana court
determined that Bryan prepared a revocable trust for a Georgia
resident in 2011 and was named as successor trustee. After the
trust’s settlor died in 2013, one of the trust’s beneficiaries searched,
without success, for Bryan for three years in order to obtain
information about the trust. When the beneficiary finally located
Bryan in 2016 and requested a disbursement from the trust, Bryan
offered nothing but excuses for more than two years as to why the
trust funds were not readily available and why he could not review
and discuss the trust. After the beneficiary submitted a grievance to
Montana’s disciplinary authorities, Montana’s Office of Disciplinary
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Counsel also determined that Bryan’s website falsely claimed that
he was expanding his practice into Wyoming when he was neither
admitted to practice, nor had applied for admission to practice, law
in Wyoming. Bryan did not respond to the disciplinary authorities
in Montana, and the Montana court concluded that he violated
multiple disciplinary rules and that his misconduct in this matter
was egregious and reflected extreme dishonesty and breaches of
duty.
Based on a review of the disciplinary procedures and rules in
Montana and records from the Montana disciplinary proceeding, the
Review Board concluded that the conduct that led to Bryan’s
disbarment in Montana would constitute a violation of Georgia’s
disciplinary rules. It also noted that the records from the Montana
disciplinary proceeding showed that the trust had an approximate
value of $398,000 at the time of the settlor’s death and that Bryan
had never provided an accounting of the funds in the trust.1 The
We note that persons who have suffered financial losses as the result
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of the dishonest conduct of a member of the State Bar of Georgia may seek to
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Review Board concluded that the sanction of disbarment did not
exceed the level of discipline allowed in Georgia for similar
misconduct and that there was no basis for recommending anything
other than substantially similar discipline. See Georgia Rules of
Professional Conduct, Rule 9.4 (b) (3) (i) – (vi). Thus, it recommends
that Bryan be disbarred from the practice of law in Georgia.
Having reviewed the record, we agree with the Review Board
that disbarment is the appropriate sanction in this reciprocal
discipline matter. Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the name of
Matthew Alexander Bryan be removed from the rolls of persons
authorized to practice law in the State of Georgia. Bryan is reminded
of his duties pursuant to Bar Rule 4-219 (b).
Disbarred. All the Justices concur.
recover from Georgia’s Client Security Fund. See Part X of the Rules and Regulations for the Organization and Government of the State Bar of Georgia.
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