NEW ORLEANS — Baton Rouge attorney and former judge Richard C. "Ric" Oustalet Jr. faces possible suspension following a recommendation issued March 15 by a Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board (LADB) hearing committee over allegations in delayed a client's pending criminal matter.
Oustalet is alleged to have violated professional conduct rules, including those regarding diligence, expediting litigation, communication, improper termination of representation and misrepresentation, according to the 12-page recommendation issued by LADB hearing committee No. 62.
"In doing so, [Oustalet] caused harm to his clients, the profession, the public and the legal system," the recommendation said. "For this reason the committee recommends the sanction of a two-year suspension with [Oustalet] cast with all costs and expenses."
Oustalet did not file an answer to the office of disciplinary counsel's formal charges and in December the factual allegations were deemed admitted, according to the recommendation. The office of disciplinary counsel filed its submission for sanction last month.
The recommendation was signed March 14 by committee chair Kenneth P. Mathews and was issued the following day. Attorney member Amanda B. Massey and public member Paul F. Delaup concurred in the recommendation.
Oustalet was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on Oct. 5, 2001, according to his profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association’s website.
Hearing committee No. 62's recommendation was the second in less than five months by an LADB hearing committee against Oustalet. In late October, another hearing committee recommended a suspension of at least a year-and-a-day regarding alleged professional conduct rules violations that were not part of No. 62's findings. The prior recommendation stemmed from two separate client complaints.
Oustalet, who became an administrative law judge for the state's division of administrative law in December 2015, following 17 years as a trial lawyer and more than three years as a Calcasieu Parish prosecutor, currently works as a paralegal.