NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana Record) — Proceedings against Gretna attorney Kevin Michael Steel are on their way back to the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board (LADB) following a state Supreme Court order issued earlier this week.
The Supreme Court remanded the disciplinary matter to the LADB for consolidations with another matter, according to its single-page order issued Jan. 14. The high court also ordered the board "to issue a single recommendation of discipline to this court encompassing all disciplinary matters involving [Steel]," the order said.
The court issued its order in response to office of disciplinary counsel motions to stay and remand filed in the proceeding. The court granted the motion to remand and denied the motion to stay as moot.
Steel was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on April 23, 1999, according to his profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website. Steel remains eligible to practice law in Louisiana, according to the profile.
The court's order follows a Nov. 30 LADB recommendation that Steel be suspended for a year and a day, ordered to make full restitution of $1,000 in unearned fees to his client and that he pay all costs and expenses in the matter. The LADB's recommendation followed a hearing committee's legal conclusions and its own recommendations for the same sanction filed in May.
The LADB and hearing committee's recommendations allege Steel violated professional conduct rules, including those regarding diligence, communication and returning an unearned portion of a fixed fee. Steel also was alleged to have knowingly made a false statement of material fact in a disciplinary matter and engaged in dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.
Those allegations stem from Steel's representation of a client in 2015 against her automobile insurance company over a decision to deny coverage in a motor vehicle accident involving the client's son, according to the background portion of the LADB's recommendation.