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LOUISIANA RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

LADB backs disbarment for Covington attorney who allegedly created false quitclaim deeds

NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana Record) — Covington attorney William M. Magee, practicing in Louisiana nearly 40 years, faces possible disbarment following a Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board (LADB) recommendation to the state Supreme Court in March over allegations he created improperly executed and notarized false quitclaim deeds.

The LADB adopted a hearing committee's previous findings of fact and its own recommendation, issued in 2016, but not its recommended sanction a fully deferred six-month suspension for Magee. "Given the ABA standards and case law cited above, disbarment, instead of the lesser sanction cited by the committee, is recommended by the board," said the LADB's 24-page recommendation issued March 8. "The board also recommends [Magee] be assessed with all costs and expenses in these proceedings."

The LADB recommendation follows a hearing committee's legal conclusions and its own recommendation filed in June 2016.

The LADB agreed with the committee that the declaratory judgment procedure Magee used to acquire title to the properties did not violate professional conduct rules. The LADB did agree with the committee to "take issue" with Magee's alleged creation of false quitclaim deeds by signing the name of his corporate partner to the so-called deeds "and then having people who worked in his office improperly witness and notarize the acts," the LADB recommendation said.

"The committee further noted that [Magee] then took these quitclaim deeds and recorded them with the clerk of court in the public record in order to complete the transactions," the recommendation said. "The committee also highlighted the fact that the [Magee] admitted under oath on at least three occasions that he created the false quitclaim deeds, on which he affixed someone else's signature, and then had them improperly notarized."

No additional updates in the matter, including a decision by the Louisiana Supreme Court, have been posted to the LADB website. Magee was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on Oct. 6, 1978, according to his profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website. Magee had no prior discipline before the state bar, according to the LADB's recommendation.

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