NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana Record) — New Orleans attorney Sally Harrison Longmire Hingel faces possible disbarment following a Sept. 13 Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board (LADB) recommendation to the Louisiana Supreme Court regarding allegations she solicited and purchased prescription medication from a client.
Hingel "has failed to take responsibility for her actions" and there is "no indication that she has gotten treatment for her drug use," the LADB's 13-page recommendation said. "Moreover, this case involves additional misconduct other than that involving the bartering for or purchasing of drugs from a client."
Hingel allegedly neglected her client's case, failed to properly communicate and misled the client about the status of her case. Hingel also allegedly failed to cooperate with the office of disciplinary counsel in the proceedings against her.
"Given this, and considering the applicable ABA guidelines and case law cited above, disbarment is an appropriate sanction in this matter," the recommendation said.
The LADB also recommended Hingel pay $500 in restitution to her former client, in addition to all costs and expenses of the disciplinary proceedings against her.
The LADB's recommendation follows a hearing committee's legal conclusions and its own recommendation filed in October 2018. The hearing committee also recommended Hingel be disbarred. The same month the office of disciplinary counsel filed its notice of no objection to the hearing committee report.
In December 2018, Hingel filed a motion to continue that month's oral argument hearing but her motion was denied, according to the LADB's recommendation. Hingel has not filed an answer to the charges against her, which were deemed admitted in July, according to the LADB's recommendation.
Hingel was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on Oct. 18, 2002, according to her profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website. Hingel had no prior record of discipline, according to the LADB's recommendation.
Allegations against Hingel stem her purchase of Xanax, a class IV narcotic, in late 2016 from a client she was representing in a divorce case. Hingel also allegedly attempted to purchase codeine, Vicodin and Percocet from the client, offering cash or discounted legal services.
Hingel allegedly performed no legal services for the client, who fired her in December 2016.