NEW ORLEANS — Springhill attorney Ronald David Harvey faces possible suspension after a recommendation was issued Jan. 29 by a Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board (LADB) hearing committee following allegations in a child custody matter and an undisclosed 2012 DUI arrest.
In its ten-page recommendation, LADB Hearing Committee No. 35 recommended that Harvey be suspended for a year and a day over formal charges filed against him in June. Harvey enrolled as counsel on his own behalf in the matter but never filed an answer to the formal charges filed against him, and in August 2018 the factual allegations were deemed admitted, according to the recommendation.
The recommendation was signed Jan. 28 by committee Chair Pamela A. Stewart and was issued the following day. Attorney member Tyler G. Storms and public member C. Bennett Humphries concurred in the recommendation.
Harvey was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on Oct. 25, 2012, according to his profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website. Harvey had no prior disciplinary history before the state bar, according to the hearing committee’s report.
Part of the allegations against Harvey stem from a child custody matter for which he was hired in August 2016, according to the recommendation. Harvey made only one court appearance on behalf of his client, after which he did not respond to his client's phone calls. When members of the client's family went to Harvey's office unannounced, they found it locked.
During its investigation, the office of disciplinary counsel discovered that Harvey had been arrested the summer prior to being admitted to the bar on driving under the influence and traffic offenses. Fifteen days before being admitted to the bar, Harvey pled guilty in Shreveport City Court to an amended charge of reckless operation. Harvey didn't report the arrest prior to receiving his license to practice law, according to the recommendation.