NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana Record) — Dallas attorney Richard Joseph Deaguero has been reciprocally suspended following an April 22 Louisiana Supreme Court attorney disciplinary proceeding over discipline imposed against him in three separate Texas proceedings.
In its five-page attorney disciplinary proceeding, the Louisiana high court handed down three separate suspensions, most of it deferred, and placed Deaguero on probation.
"It is further ordered that any violation of the terms of probation may result in the deferred portion of these suspensions becoming executory, or the imposition of different discipline, as appropriate," the disciplinary proceeding said.
Deaguero did not show any "infirmities" in the Texas proceedings against him, according to the disciplinary proceeding.
"Furthermore, we find there is no reason to deviate from the sanctions imposed in Texas as only under extraordinary circumstances should there be a significant variance from the sanction imposed by the other jurisdiction," the disciplinary proceeding said.
Deaguero was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on April 10, 1987, according to his profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website. He was listed as inactive in July 2000, according to his profile.
The Louisiana Supreme Court handed down a fully deferred 18-month suspension against Deaguero and placed him on probation with conditions as set forth in one Texas judgment against him. The Louisiana court also handed down a fully deferred three-year suspension in another Texas judgment and a two-year suspension with all but three month deferred in a third Texas judgment.
One Texas judgment stemmed from Deaguero's representation of a client in a 2015 criminal matter, in which Deaguero allegedly neglected the legal matter and failed to refund the unearned fee upon termination of his representation, according to the disciplinary proceeding. Deaguero was ordered to pay his former client $1,500 in restitution.
The second Texas judgment stemmed from Deaguero's alleged offer to pay money to a criminal client for references made to prospective clients.
The third Texas judgment stemmed from Deaguero's 2017 representation of a client in a lawsuit against her employers. In that matter, Deaguero allegedly failed to keep the fee in a separate trust account and failed to withdraw from the representation when he was fired. In that matter, Deaguero was ordered to pay $1,500 in restitution to his former client.