Coomer Settles Malpractice Lawsuit With Cartersville Client

CARTERSVILLE, GA — A lawsuit alleging fraud and malpractice against Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Christian Coomer was settled, then dismissed Tuesday in Bartow County Superior Court.

Coomer, former majority whip in the Georgia House of Representatives, was sued by a Cartersville man who said that Coomer took advantage of him when he suffered diminished mental capacity. Coomer’s attorneys maintained otherwise.

The fraud and malpractice alleged in the lawsuit took place in 2018, before Coomer was a judge.

The exact terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Wright Gammon, an attorney for Jim Filhart of Cartersville, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution “I’m thankful I was able to get my client all of his money back.”

Attorneys for Filhart, 78, filed the suit in March. In the suit, they alleged that in 2018 Coomer arranged for Filhart to loan money to a holding company Coomer controlled, with the loan to be paid off when Filhart was 106 years old.

Also, the suit alleged, a promissory note filled out by Coomer for the loan listed Filhart’s property — not Coomer’s property — as security if the debt wasn’t paid off.

At the same time, the suit alleged, Coomer prepared a will for Filhart that would have given Coomer access to almost all of Filhart’s estate.

All of this happened while Coomer was an attorney in Cartersville and Majority Whip in the state House of Representatives. Gov. Nathan Deal appointed Coomer to the state bench in October of 2018.

“The lawsuit is pretty outrageous,” Coomer said in March to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I completely and utterly deny the allegations of fraud.”

A criminal investigation by the GBI is still in progress, according to the Atlanta newspaper. Georgia’s Judicial Qualifications Commission also is investigating.