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In re Broome2/26/2002
ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS
This disciplinary proceeding arises from two counts of formal charges filed by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel ("ODC") against respondent, Larry E. Broome, an attorney licensed to practice law in Louisiana.
UNDERLYING FACTS
Around 1993 or 1994, respondent filed a class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on behalf of approximately 1,000 employees of the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff's Office against Charles Foti, in his capacity as Criminal Sheriff of Orleans Parish. This suit, captioned Benjamin Boyd v. Foti, No. CV94-204 (hereinafter referred to as "Foti I"), sought back pay and overtime pay for the employees.
At approximately the same time, an unrelated class action suit instituted by the United Sates Department of Justice was already pending against Sheriff Foti in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. In this suit, captioned United States v. Criminal Sheriff, Parish of Orleans, No. CV90-4930 (hereinafter referred to as "Foti II"), the plaintiffs sought to recover damages for discrimination in the hiring and promoting of female employees of the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff's Office. The defendant stipulated to liability, and the Department of Justice ultimately recommended that 370 individuals receive relief.
In August 1996, counsel for the Department of Justice received telephone calls from persons stating that respondent had contacted them, alleging he was a representative of the United States Department of Justice and offering to represent them in Foti II. Counsel for the Department of Justice notified the district court by letter regarding its concerns that respondent was soliciting prospective employment from claimants, who had already been recommended for judicial relief, and was representing that he was connected with the Department of Justice.
At about the same time, respondent had filed an intervention in Foti II on behalf of approximately one hundred alleged clients. The presiding magistrate judge permitted respondent to intervene on a limited basis; however, the judge also ordered that respondent and his clients appear at a hearing so the clients could be questioned by the court regarding respondent's alleged representation.
Respondent appeared at the hearing, but failed to produce any of his clients. The Department of Justice produced several witnesses, who offered strikingly similar testimony. They each asserted that they had never met respondent before, nor solicited his services. Likewise, they each testified respondent appeared at their respective homes alleging he was working for or on behalf of the Department of Justice in connection with Foti II. The witnesses testified respondent asked them to sign retainer agreements in order to effectuate their monetary settlement prior to the then-approaching holiday season. One of the witnesses, Denise Alexander, admitted respondent had represented her in Foti I. However, she maintained she never authorized respondent to list her as a client in Foti II.
Respondent testified at the hearing and admitted he had approached the individuals who testified against him. However, he claimed he did not intentionally violate the prohibition against direct client solicitation because he had taken their names from his Foti I client list. Respondent denied he advised the prospective clients he worked for the federal government. Rather, he asserted he explained to them he was intervening in the matter on the same side as the Department of Justice. He also disputed Ms. Alexander's testimony that she did not authorize him to represent her
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