On September 6, 2022, the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board, in a Report of Hearing Committee decided for the suspension of New Orleans attorney David Band, Jr. for violation of Rules of Professional Conduct. 

The case is styled “In the Matter of David Band Jr” which was brought by the Office of the Disciplinary Council with Case #21-DB-062.

The charges cited Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 4.2 and 8.1(a) which state:

Unauthorized communication with a person represented by counsel.

Knowingly making a false statement of material fact in connection with a disciplinary matter.

The rules of professional conduct can be found here.

The following are as alleged and summarized from the filing:

On November 10, 2020, the ODC received a formal complaint from Complainant Christine Bowers. The complainant explained that she was involved in civil litigation against a defendant named Mortimer Bishop. Mr. Bishop was represented by the Respondent in the matter. The complainant advised that she was represented as well, first by attorney Eric Person and then by attorney F. Evans Schmidt. The complainant said that she had never met Respondent prior to the civil litigation. During the process of the litigation, Respondent contacted the complainant multiple times without the authorization of the complainant’s attorney. The various contacts were via social media and electronic mail. Respondent also contacted Complainant via telephone.

Respondent, in his written response to the complaint, refuted the complainant’s allegations by suggesting that he had contacted her during time periods when he believed that she was unrepresented by counsel.

The filing states:

“Ms. Bowers identified several email messages 3 that the Respondent sent to her while she was represented by counsel. In these messages, the Respondent discussed the merits of the proceedings. He also requested that Ms. Bowers assist Mr. Marty in finding a place to live, which was a disputed issue because the proceedings involved Ms. Bowers’ request to evict Mr. Marty from her property. The email messages included a vulgar misspelling of the word “usufruct” and suggested that she “wear something low cut” when the Respondent requested that Ms. Bowers assist his client. Ms. Bowers testified that the request “made her feel like a piece of trash . . . because when somebody says this kind of stuff to a female, that you know, wear a low cut shirt, you’re insinuating something sexual.” She also observed that she had “to deal with this her whole life” and is not “something that feels good.”

The filing continues:

“In his sworn statement to the ODC, the Respondent explained that he communicated directly with Ms. Bowers even though she was represented by Mr. Schmidt because he was having trouble contacting Mr. Schmidt. But at the hearing, he agreed that this rationale is not a justification for the contact.”

The filing further alleges:

‘The above discussion of the testimony and exhibits establishes that the ODC proved by clear and convincing evidence that the Respondent directly communicated with Ms. Bowers about the ongoing litigation between his client and Ms. Bowers by sending her email messages, Facebook messages, and a Facebook friend request and by telephoning her directly when he knew that she was represented by another lawyer in the ongoing litigation between his client and Ms. Bowers.

Based on the testimony presented and documentary evidence admitted, the Committee finds the Respondent’s actions violated the Rules of Professional Conduct.” 

The Disposition states that:

“The Committee finds the Respondent’s actions violated Rules 4.2 (unauthorized communication with a person represented by counsel) and 8.1(a) ( knowingly making a false statement of material fact in connection with a disciplinary matter) and recommends that David Band, Jr. be suspended for a period of six months.”

Prior to the Decision, Mr. Band is listed on the website of law firm, David Band A Professional Law Corporation as a practicing attorney.  He attended Tulane University of Louisiana, LL.M, graduating in 1980. Band practices in New Orleans, Louisiana witch license #02718. His info can be found at Martindale.com online.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.