Baton Rouge lawyer disbarred, ordered to reimburse clients
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana Supreme Court has permanently disbarred a Baton Rouge attorney for professional misconduct.
The state's high court also ordered J. Renee Martin to pay nearly $27,000 in restitution to 10 clients, The Advocate reported.
Martin, 39, was admitted to the Louisiana bar in 2005. She practiced family law, divorce, estate, power of attorney and personal injury cases.
A hearing committee said her offenses were so bad that it recommended the justices permanently disbar her.
The court agreed.
“(Martin) has failed to account for or refund approximately $27,000 in client funds. In one instance, she settled a personal injury claim without her client's consent," the justices said in their order. Detailing other problems with Martin, the judges said she had also failed to give money from a settlement to a client and took a fee from the settlement that she was not entitled to.
In their ruling the court also pointed out that Martin had been put on an interim suspension in February 2017 but despite that suspension she'd continued practicing law.