NEW ORLEANS – Franklin attorney Erich Webb Bailey has been reinstated and Metairie attorney Michael David Roche has been indefinitely suspended by separate, recent Louisiana Supreme Court orders.
Bailey, placed on reciprocal interim suspension in December 2017, was reinstated to active status from reciprocal disability inactive status, according to a single sentence Supreme Court order issued Aug. 28.
Bailey's reinstatement followed a petition for transfer to active status filed by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, according to the order.
Bailey was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on April 29, 2010, according to his profile at the Louisiana State Bar's website. He has been licensed in Tennessee since 2014, according to his profile at the Tennessee Supreme Court's Board of Professional Responsibility website.
Bailey voluntarily surrendered his license in Tennessee this past July, according to his profile in that state.
In July 2017, Bailey was suspended pending further order following a Tennessee Supreme Court order. The Supreme Court in that state also issued an order placing Bailey on disability inactive status. The Tennessee Supreme Court's order at the time said Bailey may return to practice "upon showing of clear and convincing evidence that the disability has been removed and he is fit to resume the practice of law," Tennessee Bar Association announcement about Bailey's discipline said.
Bailey did not respond when proceedings for reciprocal discipline began in Louisiana and the Louisiana high court subsequently handed down the same discipline.
The Louisiana Supreme Court placed Bailey on disability inactive status in February of last year after the Tennessee Supreme Court transferred Bailey to disability inactive status "because his medical records show he is 'currently incapacitated from continuing the practice of law'."
In an unrelated matter, Roche has been indefinitely suspended following an Aug. 22 Louisiana Supreme Court order over alleged "threat of harm."
Roche's interim suspension was effective immediately, according to the high court's single-page order that gave no reasons for the suspension but did say the Office of Disciplinary Counsel may appoint a trustee to protect the interests of Roche's clients.
Roche was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on Oct. 2, 2001, according to his profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website. No prior discipline was listed on his state bar profile or in a search of Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board's online database.