Ex-Trump Lawyer Retires Rather Than Face Disbarment

Lin Wood tells Bar he realizes that's the end of his legal career
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 5, 2023 6:25 PM CDT
Ex-Trump Lawyer Retires Rather Than Face Disbarment
FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2020 file photo, Attorney Lin Wood, member of President Donald Trump's legal team, gestures while speaking during a rally in Alpharetta, Ga. Wood has asked officials in his home state of Georgia to retire his law license, a move that comes as multiple states have sought to discipline...   (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)

A lawyer who repeatedly went to court to challenge the 2020 presidential election results on behalf of Donald Trump has put in for retirement in the face of legal actions against him—including possible disbarment. Lin Wood wrote to the State Bar of Georgia on Tuesday asking to be granted retired status, Rolling Stone reports. Wood said he realizes that he needs the bar's permission because "there are two disciplinary proceedings pending against me." He acknowledged that it's the end of his legal career. In retirement, Wood wrote, he'd be "prohibited from practicing law in this State and in any other state or jurisdiction and that I may not apply for readmission."

The Georgia bar's website on Wednesday showed Wood as retired, listing no disciplinary infractions on his record. A Bar spokeswoman said the two complaints against Wood had been dismissed, per the AP. With Wood no longer able to practice law in the state, the Office of General Counsel said in a court filing that it "has achieved the goals of disciplinary action." Those goals, the filing said, include protecting the public and the integrity of the judiciary. Other states are considering disciplinary actions against Wood for making false claims about the election, as well.

Trump praised Wood in the aftermath of the election, but his organization has, at times, not embraced the lawyer's work, per the AP. Suits seeking to overturn the election results went nowhere in the courts. Wood was sanctioned by a Michigan judge along with other Trump lawyers in 2021, and a Michigan watchdog agency filed a complaint asking that Wood and others be disciplined for misconduct. Wood did not immediately respond to an AP request for comment on his retirement. (More Election 2020 stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X