NEW ORLEANS (Louisiana Record) — Longtime Hammond attorney Cecelia Farace Abadie, who sued opposing counsel and attacked the integrity of a judge during a family law matter, faces possible suspension following a recent Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board (LADB) hearing committee recommendation.
"Her remorse seemed only to be that she was facing disciplinary charges, not that she had done anything wrong or worthy of disciplinary action," hearing committee No. 27 said in its 13-page recommendation.
The committee recommended that Abadie, 72, be suspended for a year, with about half that period deferred, followed by two years' supervised probation.
The committee also recommended Abadie be ordered to pay all costs and expenses in the disciplinary proceedings.
The recommendation was signed Dec. 4 by committee chair Edythe L. Koonce and was issued seven days later. Attorney member H. Price Mounger and public member James R. Mobley concurred in the recommendation.
Abadie was admitted to the bar in Louisiana on April 27, 1990, according to her profile at the Louisiana State Bar Association's website. Abadie had no prior record of discipline, according to the recommendation.
Dane S. Ciolino, Louisiana legal ethics lawyer and professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, represented Abadie during the disciplinary hearing in May, according to the recommendation.
Abadie is semi-retired and practices law occasionally, according to the recommendation.
Allegations against Abadie stem from a complaint filed in September 2015 by opposing counsel in the family law matter, according to the recommendation.
"During the scope and course of the paternity and child support litigation, there were allegations of incompetency, and attacks made by [Abadie] upon the opposing party and the presiding judge, via pleadings and correspondence," the recommendation said.
Abadie repetitively filed "frivolous and incompetent" pleadings "not supported by procedural or substantive law," sued opposing counsel and testified "about her perception of misconduct" by judges, the juvenile court and others, according to the recommendation.
Abadie did not provide competent representation to her client, filed "a unilateral name change" for the minor child and she "did attack the integrity of a judge and continues to do so," the recommendation said.
During the hearing Abadie testified that she intends to pursue a related federal court case that has since been dismissed, according to the recommendation.