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LOUISIANA RECORD

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Baton Rouge attorney receives official suspension following negligent injuring plea

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NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana Record) – Baton Rouge attorney Gerald Joseph Asay received an official suspension and longtime Houston attorney Bernadette Lockett Thomas is on voluntary inactive status following separate Louisiana Supreme Court filings.

The Supreme Court's three-year suspension of Asay was made retroactive to his July 2015 interim suspension, according to the single-page attorney disciplinary proceeding handed down Jan. 18. The high court also ordered Asay to pay all costs and expenses in the matter.

The attorney disciplinary proceeding followed Asay's plea to one count of negligent injuring and the joint petition for consent discipline that Asay reached with the office of disciplinary counsel. The attorney disciplinary proceeding mentions no details about Asay's plea.

Asay was booked into Ascension Parish Prison in October 2014 on charges of attempted first degree murder, negligent injuring and reckless operation following a road rage incident in which he is alleged to have repeatedly rammed his SUV into his estranged wife's vehicle.

The incident caused a three-vehicle crash at U.S. 61 and Louisiana 929 that injured six, including Asay who had his infant son in the back seat of his SUV, according to news reports at the time.

In July of the following year, the state Supreme Court accepted the joint petition for interim suspension Asay reached with the office of disciplinary counsel,

Asay was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on Oct. 23, 2008, according to his profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website. No prior discipline was listed on his state bar profile or in a search of Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board's online database. In June 2016, Asay was listed on his profile as ineligible for noncompliance with continuing legal education requirements.

In a separate and unrelated order, Thomas was transferred to disability inactive status following a single page state Supreme Court order and her petition for transfer to that status. The order was effective immediately.

The high court also denied Thomas' motion to seal as moot.

Thomas was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on Oct. 7, 1983, according to her profile at the state bar website. No prior history of discipline was listed on her state bar profile or in a search of Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board's online database.

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