NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana Record) — Baton Rouge attorney Gregory Cook awaits the outcome of a recommendation issued by a Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board (LADB) hearing committee in February over conflict of interest allegations.
Cook was alleged to have represented clients in conflict with each other and negligently provided counsel to clients against another client in the same matter, according to the six-page report issued by LADB Hearing Committee No. 30.
The hearing committee recommended Cook receive a suspended six month-suspension, be required to take the state bar ethics school and to pay restitution to one former client and all costs in the proceedings, according to the committee's report. The report was signed Jan. 8 by Manard M. Lagasse Jr., an attorney and committee member, and was issued Feb. 5.
"Based upon testimony and the evidence presented, the hearing committee does not find that there was any intentional violation or evil intent," LADB Hearing Committee No. 30 said in its report. However there was clearly a negligent violation of the rules."
No additional updates in the matter, LADB recommendations or a decision by the state Supreme Court, have been posted the LADB website.
Cook was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on April 26, 2012, according to his profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website.
Cook was alleged to have represented a client and his siblings in the succession of their mother, who died intestate in February 2016, and the client later filed a complaint, according to the hearing committee's report. "The hearing committee finds [Cook] was negligent in not asking or ascertaining the relationship between the complaint and the decedent, especially in view of a portion of the fee being paid on behalf of the complainant," the hearing committee's report said.
"Similarly, upon the filing of the petition to annul judgment of possession and for damages, [Cook] should have immediately realized that if he represented any of the parties, he would be in violation of rule 1.7."
The hearing committee found that Cook violated professional conduct rules that cover conflict of interest and duties to a former client in a negligent manner.