Guirard, Pittenger disbarment before Supreme Court

Lawyers for Baton Rouge attorneys E. Eric Guirard and Thomas Pittenger are arguing before the Louisiana Supreme Court today that the pair didn’t knowingly violate ethics rules when they used case managers to settle cases. Rick Stanley of New Orleans, who is representing Pittenger, told the court he is not there to contend there were no violations, “but to argue what is the appropriate sanction, given the rules that existed in the year 2000. These violations were negligent and were not intentional violations.” The Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board wants Guirard, known for his “E Guarantee,” and Pittenger disbarred for allegedly letting non-lawyer personnel do the work of attorneys and paying case managers commissions “consisting of a percentage of the firm’s gross legal fees collected on the individual settled cases that the case manager worked on.” One of the board’s committees, however, had recommended only suspensions after finding Guirard and Pittenger thought they were following the rules. Guirard and Pittenger have since changed their practices, and note the investigation is marked by “no client complaints, involving no client funds and during which no specific client harm has ever been identified.” Attorneys for Guirard and Pittenger are seeking a suspension of one year and one day, because the pair immediately rectified the situation. But Fred Ours, an attorney for the disciplinary board, argued that permanent disbarment is appropriate because there were more than 900 instances of unauthorized practice of law and conflict of interest in settling cases. When asked by one of the justices whether any clients had complained about their cases, Ours said there were not, “but evidence of clients harmed? Yes.”—Penny Brown Font