An ethics trial began Monday for a suspended Georgia Court of Appeals judge accused of taking advantage of an older client during his time as an attorney, a state lawmaker, a judicial candidate and a judge.
Judge Christian Coomer is charged with 36 ethics violations, most of them allegedly committed when he was a practicing attorney in Cartersville and a state House representative.
Coomer denied bilking his wealthy former client, telling the three-member panel overseeing the quasi-trial that he paid off the nearly $370,000 in loans given to him by the man. But he admitted under oath that he would have waited much longer to pay off those loans had his client, Jim Filhart, not gotten upset and sued him in 2020.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Chuck Boring, the director of the Judicial Qualifications Commission, said Coomer took advantage of Filhart’s trust, eventually using the loan money to pay off the mortgage on his own home. Boring also accused the judge of using campaign contributions to finance vacations for his family, including trips to Hawaii and Israel.
In addition to taking out large loans with terms unfavorable to Filhart, Coomer named himself the executor, trustee and beneficiary of his client’s estate, said Boring, who is prosecuting the case. After being appointed to the Court of Appeals, Coomer made his wife, Heidi, the trustee and executor of Filhart’s estate and gave her power of attorney, Coomer admitted.
“The judicial system can only function if the public is able to place its trust in judicial officials,” Boring said in his opening remarks. Boring chose to call Coomer as his first witness, which he is allowed to do during this civil proceeding.
From the stand, Coomer admitted to violating the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct by drafting a will in which he was a beneficiary.
Coomer’s attorney, Johannes Kingma, described the former lawmaker and Filhart as good friends. What had began as an attorney-client relationship between the pair eventually developed into a close friendship, he said.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
But Filhart started questioning Coomer in 2019 when he received an $11,000 tax bill after liquidating stocks the previous year, the judge’s attorney said.
“This proceeding arose because of Judge Coomer’s friend getting angry about paying taxes,” Kingma said.
The appeals judge is accused of improperly drafting wills for Filhart that greatly benefited himself and his family. He convinced Filhart to give his holding company two loans totaling $289,000 with terms extremely unfavorable to Filhart. One of those loans, for $159,000, was to be paid off in 30 years when Filhart, now 80 years old, would have been 106.
Boring, a former Cobb County prosecutor, called the judge’s conduct “unethical and dishonest.”
“This isn’t a case of two buddies doing a business deal,” he said, noting that Filhart completely trusted Coomer and thought he “walked on water.”
From the stand, Coomer denied taking advantage of his client, saying he spoke with Filhart regularly and tried his best to carry out the man’s wishes.
“I drafted the will the way Jim Filhart wanted it drafted,” Coomer said under oath. “I didn’t have any objection to him changing whatever he wanted to change.”
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Coomer also defended his decision to use campaign funds to supplement his family’s trips overseas, saying he met with local leaders during his 2017 visit to the Middle East and conducted some official business while there.
“I did some official function every day of the trip except for the day I arrived,” Coomer said, adding that he tried to use different cards to pay for himself, his kids and wife, and that he made sure his children’s trip was not being paid for by the campaign.
Boring remained skeptical while questioning him from the lectern.
“You think you got it right and the (Campaign Finance Commission) got it wrong?” he asked.
“If I had to do it over again I’d have done it differently. That’s for sure,” Coomer responded. “I made some errors and I was willing to admit that.”
After its conclusion, the three-judge panel will decide whether Coomer violated the code of judicial conduct and, if so, what punishment he should receive. The judges’ recommendation will then be submitted to the state Supreme Court, which has the final word.
Coomer was elected to the Legislature in 2010. He was House majority whip in 2018 when then-Gov. Nathan Deal appointed him to the Appeals Court.
After being formally charged in December 2020, Coomer voluntarily suspended himself, with pay, from the 15-judge appeals court until the JQC case against him is resolved. Appeals court judges are paid about $190,000 a year.
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Last December, Coomer agreed to pay a $25,000 fine to settle accusations that he violated the state’s campaign laws. The state ethics commission had accused the judge of, among other things, illegally using contributions to prop up his private law practice and to pay for the trips to Israel and Hawaii.
— Staff writer Bill Rankin contributed to this article.
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