NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana Record) — Longtime suspended Metairie attorney Michael Keith LeBlanc has been permanently disbarred following a April 8 Louisiana Supreme Court attorney disciplinary proceeding over allegations he stole nearly $4,000 from his employer and then fled.
"By its very nature, [LeBlanc]'s criminal conduct was intentional," the State Supreme Court said in its seven-page attorney disciplinary proceeding. "In acting as he did, [LeBlanc] violated duties owed to the public and the legal profession, causing actual harm."
The court also ordered LeBlanc to pay all costs in the matter.
LeBlanc was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on April 19, 2002, according to his profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website.
Within five years, LeBlanc faced disciplinary allegations, according to the Supreme Court's disciplinary proceeding. LeBlanc was admonished in 2007 for engaging in a conflict of interest and in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. The following year the office of disciplinary counsel launched an investigation into allegations LeBlanc neglected legal matters, failed to communicate with clients and failed to promptly.
The high court subsequently placed LeBlanc on interim suspension. In 2012 the court accepted a petition for consent discipline reached between the attorney and the ODC and suspended LeBlanc for three years, retroactive to the date of his interim suspension.
"[LeBlanc] has not been reinstated and, thus, remains suspended from the practice of law," the disciplinary proceeding said.
In August 2017, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department in Pascagoula, Mississippi, contacted the ODC about an arrest warrant over embezzlement and forgery allegations that LeBlanc stole almost $4,000 in two checks from his employer in Pascagoula.
LeBlanc later fled to Florida, where he was arrested and extradited back to Mississippi.
The ODC filed formal charges against LeBlanc in March 2018 and a Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board hearing committee the following September recommended LeBlanc be permanently disbarred.
"In their respective reports, the hearing committee and the disciplinary board have concluded [LeBlanc's] offenses are so egregious that he should be permanently prohibited from applying for readmission to the bar," the disciplinary proceeding said. "We agree."