Georgia Firm’s Debt Collection Practices Aren’t Governed by Consumer Protection Law

Dividing 4-3, the Georgia Supreme Court June 7 ruled that the state’s consumer protection act does not give the law’s administrator the authority to probe how a law firm collects debts on behalf of its clients (State ex rel. Doyle v. Frederick J. Hanna & Associates PC).

Writing for the majority, Justice George Carley reasoned that the Fair Business Practices Act implicates only the commercial or entrepreneurial aspects of the practice of law and does not allow executive-branch officials to regulate the attorney-client relationship.

The dissenters argued that lawyers should not be allowed to shield themselves from investigation ...