On Monday, August 21, 2023, the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board recommended the disbarment of Attorney Donovan Kenneth Hudson for multiple violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
The case is titled ‘In Re: Donovan Kenneth Hudson,’ with case no. 23-DB-013.
Attorney Hudson is accused of violating the following Rules of Professional Conduct: 1.3 (lack of reasonable diligence), 1.4 (lack of reasonable communication), 1.5(1) (failure to refund a clearly unearned fee), 8.1(c) (failure to cooperate with an ODC investigation), and 8.4(a) (b) (c) (d) (violating or attempting to violate the Rules of Professional Conduct).
The Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct can be found here.
The charges involve four counts of professional misconduct.
In the first count, Attorney Hudson allegedly generated two bogus court orders, using fabricated docket numbers, and forged the signatures of judges for which Criminal charges were filed against him.
In the second count, Attorney Hudson was hired by a client to assist with securing a financing agreement but failed to fulfill the commitment. Respondent refused to return original documents and did not refund the unearned fee. Attorney Hudson ignored the complaint.
In the third count, Attorney Hudson was arrested for charges including resisting an officer and careless operation of a motor vehicle. Mr. Hudson failed to report the arrest to the ODC.
The fourth count involves a case that Attorney Hudson allowed to prescribe by not filing it on time. After all attempts to discuss the matter with Attorney Hudson failed, a legal malpractice suit was filed against him.
Regrettably, in all of the cases, Attorney Hudson failed to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation and failed to appear and comply with the orders of the Office of the Disciplinary Counsel (ODC). He failed to honor subpoenas and has never provided any explanation for his conduct. He failed to obey orders of the court in the legal malpractice action, eventually resulting in his being held in contempt of court.
Due to the failure of Mr. Hudson to respond, the Office of the Disciplinary Counsel filed a motion on May 15, 2023, to deem the factual allegations admitted which was granted on May 18, 2023.
Having adopted all the pieces of evidence and having seen only aggravating factors and not a single mitigating factor, the committee reached a disbarment recommendation for Attorney Donovan Kenneth Hudson.
The recommendation reads:
“It is the conclusion of this committee that respondent, Donovan K. Hudson be disbarred from the practice of law in Louisiana, retroactive to the date of his interim suspension. Further, this committee recommends that he be ordered to pay restitution to the LSBA Client AssistanceFund in the amount of $3,000 plus legal interest and to pay all costs associated with these processes.”
Attorney Donovan Kenneth Hudson obtained his law degree from the Southern University Law Center in 1989 and was licensed to practice law in Louisiana in 1991. For more info on Attorney Hudson’s bio, please click here.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
