A jury shouldn’t have heard evidence of a lawyer-defendant’s wealth before issuing a $700,000 verdict against him, the Georgia Supreme Court decided Tuesday.
The unanimous ruling answered a question posed by the federal judge who presided over the case of a Georgia bar member sued by a former client. After the verdict, the trial judge asked for the state Supreme Court’s help in resolving a post-trial motion over whether the jury should have heard evidence of the lawyer’s wealth, saying Georgia law was uncertain.
