NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana Record) — New Orleans attorney Hilliard Charles Fazande III faces possible suspension following a Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board (LADB) recommendation to the state Supreme Court over a complaint filed against him by a former client.
The LADB recommended Fazande be suspended for two years and that he be ordered to pay restitution to one client and all costs and expenses of the proceedings, according to the LADB's 14-page recommendation issued June 28. The office of disciplinary counsel alleges Fazande is in violation of professional conduct rules, including those regarding unearned fees, communication with clients, dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation and depositing advanced costs into client trust account, cooperating with an investigation.
"As aggravating factors, the committee noted the respondent's prior discipline and his indifference to making restitution," the recommendation said. "No mitigating factors were found."
The LADB's recommendation follows a hearing committee's legal conclusions and its own recommendations filed in July 2017..
Fazande was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on April 20, 2000, according to his profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website.
Fazande currently is ineligible to practice law for unpaid bar and disciplinary dues and noncompliance with trust account registration and continuing legal education requirements, according to the LADB recommendation and information on his state bar profile.
In July 2017, an LADB hearing committee recommended Fazande be suspended for two years over allegations he mishandled funds and failed to satisfy and discharge a judgment against him for having retained an unearned fee.
In one of several a previous disciplines, in May 2013 the Louisiana Supreme Court handed down a fully deferred six months' suspension against Fazande and placed him on two years of conditional probation after Fazande and the office of disciplinary counsel reached a consent judgment, which the high court approved.
The consent judgment was reached after the office of disciplinary counsel began an investigation into allegations that Fazande mishandled his client trust account by allowing it to become overdrawn.