05-03-2025
Georgia Supreme Court suspends law license of Columbus Attorney Chris Breault
COLUMBUS, Ga. () — The Georgia Supreme Court has suspended the law license of a Columbus attorney for his actions in a 2017 case in U.S. District Court, Southern Division.
The court asserted that Chris Breault acted improperly and against Georgia Bar Association Rules of Professional Conduct and suspended his license for six months beginning March 4.
Here is the March 4, 2025, order from the state Supreme Court.
This matter has been under investigation by Special Masters assigned by the Georgia Bar Association for more than five years. Late last year, the Special Master assigned to the case recommended a one-month suspension. The Supreme Court rejected that and asked for additional information. The Supreme Court said the Special Master 'failed to adequately analyze Breault's conduct under the framework found in the American Bar Association Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions.'
Breault was accused of violating a rule that prohibited making public privileged information.
The new Special Master recommended a one-year suspension, but the final decision rested with the state's highest court, which went with six months.
Breault, a high-profile civil litigation lawyer, has to cease practice during the suspension.
In late November, Breault was the lead attorney in a case that received a $42 million jury award in Muscogee County Superior Court. His client was severely injured in a motorcycle crash at Warm Springs and Miller roads.
Breault sent the following statement when WRBL contacted him about the suspension:
'I have never once in my entire career been in trouble with the State Bar of Georgia. If you look at my record since I finished law school at the University of Georgia in 2012, twelve (12) years ago, I have zero Bar complaints or Bar discipline. It is odd that it is 2025, weeks after I get a $42 million jury verdict–the largest jury verdict in Georgia history in a motorcycle wreck–and I'm being said to have violated Bar rules from a case in 2017.
I did excellent work for this client and because of my work, the client became a millionaire. This all took place back in June of 2017, one month before trial. I was hired by the client's original lawyer to come and try the case in court as lead trial counsel. The client in the case was rear-ended by a tractor trailer and sent off a large bridge, falling nearly 200 feet. I came onto the case, proved he had a brain injury, and then the case settled for seven-figures and the client was really happy. Because of my work, the client took home more than double what they were going to get from the other lawyers they had had for 2 years before me.
I stand by my work in this case. I'm the first lawyer in Georgia history that they've ever accused of breaking these rules like this. I was part of a team of four (4) lawyers and I'm the only one they say violated some rule. For years, they wanted me to take some slap-on-the-wrist penalty as long as I admitted I did something wrong. I refused, because I stand by my work. I'm sorry that in order to get outstanding results, you have to do things differently than your average Joe Schmoe lawyer out there. It means that you are creative and think outside the box. It doesn't mean you 'broke the rules.'
After reading the Supreme Court's order on this matter, it clear that whoever wrote it—sometimes it's a clerk or an assistant—does not have or understand all the facts. I plan to submit a motion for reconsideration to the court in ten (10) days to have them review it.
As stated by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., 'the arc of the moral universe is long, and it bends towards Justice.' If you are willing to work and seize the opportunities that God provides, then God will take care of you. That has been my experience and I expect that to come in the future.'
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