Technical Violations Merit No Sanction

The Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board has dismissed charges as demonstrating minor misconduct not warranting discipline

This is a disciplinary matter based upon the filing of formal charges by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel (“ODC”) against Brad Allen Guillory (“Respondent”), Louisiana Bar Roll Number 30253. The charges, which consist of one count, allege violations of Rules of Professional Conduct 1.15(a) & (b). The Hearing Committee assigned to this matter concluded that Respondent technically violated the Rules as charged. However, the Committee concluded that the violations did not warrant a sanction and recommended that the formal charges be dismissed.

For the following reasons, the Board adopts the factual findings, legal conclusions, and recommendation of the Committee. Accordingly, the Board dismisses the formal charges.

Reasoning

the Board further finds that theses violations were minor and do not rise to the level of sanctionable misconduct. Respondent’s conduct was the result of mere negligence and did not result in actual harm to clients or third parties. Furthermore, there appears to be little potential for harm given the nominal nature of most of the offending transactions and the fact that Respondent sought professional accounting assistance even before ODC became involved in this matter. Respondent hired Katherine Michelle Lee at the end of 2016 to address his accounting software and client ledger issues. After ODC became involved, Respondent hired Angela Willis to regularly review his trust account reconciliations. He has had no issues with his trust account after the January 2017 overdraft. See Exhibits R-9A and R-9B. Finally, Respondent does not have a disciplinary record.

(Mike Frisch)