Former Congresswoman, DeKalb Judge Disbarred

Former U.S. Rep. Denise Majette, who was once a state court judge in DeKalb County, was disbarred by the Georgia Supreme Court Friday for overbilling a client and misrepresenting her hours and fees to a court.

In a 4-2 decision, the justices acknowledged Majette’s “distinguished” career as a one-term congresswoman and judge in DeKalb County for nine years, reports the Atlanta Business Chronicle. She has lived in Stone Mountain since 1983.

However, the court concluded that Majette committed multiple violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct during a period when she was experiencing financial difficulties. 

While working on a trust case in 2009 and 2010, Majette was found to have overstated her billing rate in a motion seeking legal costs on behalf of her client and overbilled the client, who filed a grievance against her with the state bar. 

A bar review panel suggested that Majette’s law license be suspended for three years, but the Supreme Court overrruled that in favor of disbarring her. The business publication reports that the court’s majority opinion said Majette showed no remorse for her actions.

In a dissent, Justice Harold Melton said that Majette served the bench and bar for more than 30 years with no disciplinary problems and suggested a suspension would be more appropriate.

According to Wikipedia, Majette was born in Brooklyn, attended Yale University and earned her law degree at Duke University in 1979. She was appointed to the State Court of DeKalb County in 1993.

She resigned from the judgeship in 2002 to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District, which is based in DeKalb County. Majette defeated incumbent Cynthia McKinney and served one term in Congress before she decided to run for a vacant U.S. Senate seat. In the general election Majette lost to Republican Congressman Johnny Isakson.