NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Two personal-injury lawyers whose firm is known for ads that urge clients to “Get The E Guarantee” were disbarred Tuesday by the Louisiana Supreme Court.
E. Eric Guirard and Associates, a firm with offices in Baton Rouge and New Orleans, was accused of compensating its case managers with an impermissible fee-sharing arrangement.
The Supreme Court’s ruling says Guirard and law partner Thomas Pittenger employed a “business first” model for the firm in which they delegated handling of clients’ cases to non-lawyer staff members.
The court said the partners motivated case managers to quickly settle clients’ claims to collect a paycheck. One of the firm’s case managers was paid about $81,492 in commissions for her work on around 261 settled cases, the court noted.
“The non-lawyer case manager is being paid on a successful settlement of a claim; if the file is turned over to litigation, the case manager receives nothing, or, at most, a discretionary percentage,” the justices wrote.
Guirard and Pittenger, in a statement later Tuesday, said they were “extremely disappointed” but “accepted the Louisiana Supreme Court’s decision.”
“We have prepared for this scenario and are confident that our team of attorneys and employees, under the direction of Chad Dudley, Steven DeBosier and James Peltier, will continue to build on the founding principles that have made our firm so successful,” the statement said.
Guirard and Pittenger ceased the compensation plan in January 2001, after investigators warned them that it appeared to violate lawyers’ rules of professional conduct, according to the court.
