By KEVIN CHIRI

Publisher

LAPLACE — A St. John Parish assistant district attorney has been put on probation for one year after an inquiry by the state Supreme Court ruled there were ethics violations dating back to a 1998 case he handled.

Barry Landry, a practicing attorney for 28 years, agreed to the sanctions for a case going back eight years ago, when he made disbursements to a client who sought money in a case that was expected to be settled.

While those disbursements are legal according to state law, Landry admitted he advanced money for some requests which did not fall under state guidelines. Additionally, he later made a legal mortgage with the client to cover the loan, which was also allowed by the state bar association. However in that situation he did not get the paperwork reviewed by another attorney, which is required.

The ruling by the state Supreme Court suspended his license for a period of six months, but deferred it in lieu of probation, since it was a case where no wrongdoing was found against the client, no selfish motive was determined, and no dishonesty was found in the case. For that matter, the situation arose from no complaint from the clients, but as a matter of a review of other paperwork in another case.

Landry apparently had loaned the client the money due to various requests for financial assistance the client had made to him.

&#8220It is not unusual to advance money to clients when you have a case you expect to settle,” he said. &#8220And I felt sure this was a case where there would be a fair settlement coming. I was trying to help the people out, but the law says the advanced money has to be for specific reasons, and the court ruled those reasons did not apply in this case.”

It is common for lawyers to advance money to clients in such cases, and the Supreme Court ruling concurred that Landry had no intent to do anything against the law. However the law for lawyers to follow is rigid when it comes to disbursing funds, and Landry agreed that he did not follow them as he should have.

&#8220Even though all necessary disbursements were made from the operating account, and most of them were permissible under the rules, it is now clear that some of them were not,” he added.

Landry has been an assistant district attorney since 1998 in St. John Parish and does not expect any change in that status, nor in his private law business.

&#8220It was just a rule violation, but the rules are still there and I didn’t follow them exactly right,” he said. &#8220The state rules are to be followed precisely and I didn’t do that.”

&#8220I was fully cooperative and forthcoming throughout this long inquiry. Going forward as a lawyer, I will improve on that record and strive for perfect adherence to all professional laws,” Landry said. &#8220Beyond that, I’ll survive this.”