NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana Record) — Alabama attorney Evelyn Shahan Adams has been voluntarily suspended following an Oct. 1 Louisiana Supreme Court attorney disciplinary proceeding, her DUI arrest and other allegations.
"[Adams] failed to promptly refund an unearned fee to a client and was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol," the court said in its single-page disciplinary proceeding. "Following the filing of formal charges, [Adams] and the office of disciplinary counsel submitted a joint petition for consent discipline."
The high court accepted the petition and suspended Adams for 18 months, with all but six months deferred, retroactive to her interim suspension handed down May 1. The active portion of Adams suspension is to be followed by five years' unsupervised probation, according to the court's disciplinary proceeding.
"The probationary period shall commence from the date respondent and the office of disciplinary counsel execute a formal probation plan," the disciplinary proceeding said. "Any failure of respondent to comply with the conditions of probation, or any misconduct during the probationary period, may be grounds for making the deferred portion of the suspension executory, or imposing additional discipline, as appropriate."
The court also ordered Adams to pay all costs and expenses, plus interest.
Adams, also known as Martha Evelyn Shahan Adams, whose legal address is listed in Grove Hill, Alabama, was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on April 20, 2001, according to her profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website.
Adams was reinstated and indefinitely suspended in May, following a state Supreme Court order and more than six years on disability inactive status. Adams' conditional reinstatement required she comply with terms of her May 2018 recovery agreement with the state bar's judges and lawyers assistance program.
Adams had been inactive since July 2012.
Adams had been transferred to disability inactive status following an October 2012 state Supreme Court order, with the condition that all disciplinary proceedings against her were deferred until she resumed active status.