NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana Record) — Suspended Deridder attorney Mitchel M. Evans II has been permanently disbarred following a Dec. 10 Louisiana Supreme Court attorney disciplinary proceeding over allegations stemming from five client matters.
Evans "knowingly and intentionally violated duties owed to his clients, the legal system and the legal profession, causing significant actual harm," the court noted in its 15-page attorney disciplinary proceeding.
Evans was alleged to have neglected legal matters and failed to provide competent representation and refund unearned fees, according to the disciplinary proceeding. In one matter Evans allegedly dismissed a client's lawsuit without her knowledge or consent and in another he allegedly failed to timely file a client's petition.
In yet another client matter, Evans' "grossly incompetent legal services in a serious criminal matter" resulted in his client receiving a prison sentence 20 years longer than he would have received had the client pleaded guilty, the proceeding said.
Evans did not file a response in the proceedings and the allegations were deemed admitted.
Evans was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on April 28, 1989, according to his profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website.
Evans' disciplinary history dates to 1997 when he was admonished for allegedly taking a recorded statement from a criminal defendant after it had been prohibited by the defendant's attorney, according to the disciplinary proceeding.
In 2016, the state Supreme Court suspended Evans for three years, with two years deferred, followed by two years' conditional supervised probation after he "neglected numerous legal matters" and other allegations. In that proceeding Evans also allegedly failed to communicate "with numerous clients," provide competent representation, refund unearned fees, provide accountings, reduce contingency fee agreements to writing, properly supervise non-lawyer assistants and keep one client's information confidential.
In 2018 the court suspended Evans for a year and a day over allegations stemming from a 2015 child custody case in which he allegedly failed to provide competent representation, took action contradictory to the clients' wishes, failed to communicate, failed to refund an unearned fee.
In September, the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board recommended Evans be permanently disbarred over allegedly "knowing and intentional" professional conduct rules violations that included charging unreasonable or unearned fees that in one case totaled more than $40,000.