NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana Record) – Baton Rouge attorney Felix Anthony DeJean IV was suspended and Abita Springs attorney Ella Cortland Goodyear was voluntarily suspended in separate Louisiana Supreme Court attorney disciplinary proceedings.
DeJean was suspended for a year and a day following the Supreme Court's Jan. 30 attorney disciplinary proceeding and his conviction for allegedly "chest bumping" a district attorney while leaving a judge's chambers in 2015.
"Of the aggravating factors, we must place particular emphasis on the fact that this matter is respondent's third disciplinary proceeding since 2006 which involves overly aggressive or physically abusive behavior," the disciplinary proceeding said. "These are not isolated incidents."
The Supreme Court's action follows recommendations by a Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board hearing committee and by the LADB that DeJean be suspended.
In March 2015, as DeJean allegedly exchanged words with and twice chest bumped Concordia Parish District Attorney Bradley Burget while leaving the chambers of Cambodia Parish District Court Judge Kathy Johnson following a conference. In July 2016, DeJean was found guilty of misdemeanor simple battery and received a six-month suspended sentence and 18 months of supervised probation, was fined and ordered to complete an anger management program.
DeJean later told the Louisiana Record that he'd been the victim in the incident.
DeJean was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on Oct. 10, 1997, according to his profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website.
In 2006, DeJean consented to a two years of probation over "physical altercations and behaviors" caused by "his bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and prior use of marijuana and alcohol," the attorney disciplinary proceeding said. In 2013, he publicly reprimanded respondent after he allegedly "acted in an abusive and threatening manner towards the opposing party during a settlement conference," the attorney disciplinary proceeding said.
In a separate attorney disciplinary proceeding, the state Supreme Court suspended Goodyear for a year and a day following her arrest on a DUI charge. The court accepted the joint petition for consent discipline that Goodyear reached with the office of disciplinary counsel before suspending Goodyear.
Goodyear was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on Oct 7, 1994, according to her profile at the state bar's website.