Assistant District Attorney resigns

The Evangeline Parish District Attorney’s Office will be one man down for a litte while with the resignation of Assistant District Attorney Timmy Fontenot on Thursday.
His resignation came just one day after Fontenot faced the Louisiana Disciplinary Board for a hearing that was being held to address possible misconduct on the part of Fontenot while handling a case through his private practice.
According to the formal charges, “On February 19, 2014, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel (“ODC”) recieved a complaint from Ian McDonald,” who represented the defendants Calvin Guillory and Progressive Security Insurance Company.
McDonald filed a complaint after receiving word from another attorney that “the settlement proceeds were not disbursed to the” plantiffs “until five years after the settlement” was reached in April of 2008.
In the lawsuit, Fontenot represented Francis and Ellen Ortego, who were involved in a motor vehicle accident on June 26, 2006.
As their counsel, Fontenot “negotiated a settlement with Progressive and Mr. Guillory in the amount of $52,500.00,” and on April 24, 2008 all settlement proceeds, along with a release of all claims and order for dismissal, were sent to Fontenot. The documents were returned with the necessary signatures of Fontenot and his clients, and the suit was dismissed on November 3, 2008. However, the Ortegos were unable to confirm their signature on the release.
In a separate complaint made by the Ortegos on December 10, 2014, they alleged the same misconduct that McDonald complained about.
According to the Ortegos, the agreement they had with their attorney was that he would earn one-third of any settlement over $51,000.00. However, this agreement was not put in writing.
In March of 2013, Fontenot informed the Ortegos “that Progressive was willing to settle the matter for $100,000.00, but wanted to pay the settlement over a period of time in four payments.” This information was false, “as Progressive had indicated it was only willing to pay $52,000.00.”
On December 20, 2013, Fontenot issued a check in the amount of $33,333.33 to the Ortegos and wrote “Full and Final Settlement” on the check.
Accordng to the Ortegos, they “were not aware that their matter settled in 2008 for $52,500.00, they did not sign the release forms sent to Mr. McDonald,” and they were not aware that their attorney “dismissed the lawsuit, as he did so without their consent.”
After a review of all of the information gathered, the ODC determined that Fontenot should be charged with acting in violation of seven different rules for attorneys. Those include failing to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client, failing to keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the matter, failing to have a contingency fee in writing, writing and negotiating trust account checks made payable to “cash,” committing actions that negatively reflect adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects, engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation, and violating or attempting to violate the Rules of Professional Conduct.
On Friday, the District Attorney Trent Brignac addressed this matter by stating, “A copy of the proceedings in question was first provided to me on Thursday, January 26, 2017.”
After discussing this issue with his former ADA, who Brignac said “acknowledged the proceedings and confirmed there was a hearing the day before regarding the same,” the district attorney made the decision to accept Fontenot’s resignation on Thursday afternoon.
Brignac closed out his statement by explaining, “Although the charges in the proceedings are only allegations at this time and although formal findings and a final disposition of the case may not be known for several months, the decision was made to accept Timmy Fontenot’s resignation immediately that same day which became effective Thursday afternoon, January 26, 2017.”