GA.Court order
Georgia Supreme Court disbars injury lawyer over felony plea in stolen accident report scheme and unreported conviction
The Supreme Court of Georgia on October 14, 2026 disbarred personal injury lawyer William Taylor Payne for violating Rule 8.4(a)(2), by entering an Alford guilty plea to one felony count under the Georgia RICO Act, and Rule 9.1(a)(2), by failing to notify the State Bar of the conviction. The count alleged Payne and three others used stolen Georgia Electronic Accident Reporting System data to obtain personal injury clients and money. The ABA Journal reported more than 30,000 accesses.
Order (Supreme Court of Georgia) → · ABA Journal
Key points
- The DeKalb County count covered January 1 to August 13, 2015, and data the court said was worth more than $170,000.Supreme Court of Georgia
- Payne entered the Alford plea on September 2, 2025, in State v. Payne, No. 20CR2508, DeKalb County Superior Court.Supreme Court of Georgia
- The ABA Journal reported the data came from a LexisNexis-run state system and was used to solicit clients for William Taylor Payne PC.ABA Journal
- Payne's counsel, Miles Stephen Cowan, described his client, now in his early 80s, as a dedicated lawyer, the ABA Journal reported.ABA Journal