NEW ORLEANS — Just in time for Thanksgiving, suspended Madisonville attorney Scott Robert Hymel was allowed to permanently resign from practicing law in Louisiana following allegations that he stole from his grandmother's estate.
Hymel was allowed to permanently resign in lieu of discipline, according to the single-page order issued Nov. 20, by the Louisiana Supreme Court.
"Scott Robert Hymel shall be permanently prohibited from practicing law in Louisiana or in any other jurisdiction in which he is admitted to the practice of law; shall be permanently prohibited from seeking readmission to the practice of law in this state or in any other jurisdiction in which he is admitted; and shall be permanently prohibited from seeking admission to the practice of law in any jurisdiction," the order said.
The office of disciplinary counsel, which previously filed formal charges against Hymel, concurred with his petition for permanent resignation, according to the order.
Hymel allegedly stole the money after he failed in April 2012 to file appropriate paper work in the estate, according to the recommendation.
The Supreme Court's order came a little more than a month after an Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board hearing committee recommended Hymel be permanently disbarred. Allegations against Hymel stemmed from two matters, including the handling of his grandmother's estate, from which "he effectively stole $225,000" that "he converted to his own use and to the prejudice of the legatees and heirs under the will," the hearing committee said in its seven-page recommendation issued Oct. 15.
"This misrepresentation is evidence of a breach of his fiduciary duties as executor and, moreover, his obligation as attorney of the estate," the recommendation said.
At the time of the committee's recommendation, Hymel was awaiting trial on felony theft charges in St. Tammany Parish but he had absconded to Ohio with the money from his grandmother's estate.
Hymel "acknowledged he 'mismanaged' the funds from his grandmother's estate," the recommendation said.