NEW ORLEANS — Disbarred Mamou attorney Timmy James Fontenot faces possible permanent disbarment after a July 13 Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board (LADB) recommendation to the state Supreme Court following a hearing committee's conclusions last fall.
Fontenot also should be ordered to pay restitution, according to the LADB's 17-page unanimous recommendation.
The LADB's recommendation follows a hearing committee's legal conclusions and its recommendations filed in October, in which the hearing committee found Fontenot had not accounted for $75,000 of approximately $275,200 in settlement funds that he had received for his client. Formal charges filed by the office of disciplinary counsel against Fontenot included professional conduct rule violations regarding diligence; keeping a client reasonably informed; false statement of material fact; cooperating in an investigation; committing a criminal act; and conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.
Fontenot was disbarred in November following prior allegations that included forgery, settling his clients' legal matter without their consent, and delaying payment of a settlement in a personal injury case.
Fontenot was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on Oct. 6, 1995, according to his profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website.
Fontenot's disbarment was initially recommended by an LADB hearing committee in March 2017 after finding Fontenot in violation of several rule violations stemming for a personal injury case unrelated to the LADB's most recent recommendation. In September, the LADB also recommended disbarment over alleged professional conduct rules violations that included diligence; communication; and dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation in the personal injury case.
The following month, another state bar hearing committee recommended Fontenot be permanently disbarred over the allegations considered in the LADB's most recent recommendation. The hearing committee found that Fontenot allegedly forged a client's settlement check, converted client funds, and failed to act on his client's behalf with reasonable diligence and promptness.
In a previous discipline, Fontenot received a fully deferred suspension and was placed on two years of probation following a June 2011 state Supreme Court order over allegations he neglected a legal matter, failed to communicate with a client, charged an excessive fee, and made misrepresentations.