Law Firm Partners Reprimanded for Misleading Information on Website
Five partners at a Louisiana law firm apparently weren’t aware of misleading information posted on their firm’s website, but they were reprimanded Friday for allowing the mistake.
The website suggested that former Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster was a partner at the firm Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson even though he didn’t have a law license, according to 2theAdvocate.com and the Legal Profession Blog. The Louisiana Supreme Court said the five reprimanded partners, all members of the firm’s management committee, failed to supervise a nonlawyer employee who put the information on the website.
Foster is a graduate of the Southern University Law Center but never took the state bar exam, 2theAdvocate.com says. Foster told the newspaper he has worked on projects with the law firm offering his expertise but not his legal advice.
One of the five lawyers reprimanded (PDF) is Foster’s son, Murphy Foster III. All five lawyers consented to the discipline.
Managing partner Scott Hensgens told the newspaper that none of the reprimanded lawyers were aware the information was on the website. He said an anonymous complaint spurred the ethics probe.
