Henry L. Klein v. Louisiana Office of Disciplinary Counsel

After FNBC Bank was closed by regulators at a $1 Billion loss, FDIC sold the bank’s loans in a secondary market at deep discounts. Girod LoanCo, created solely to purchase the loans, acquired $600,000 in debt owed by Regina Heisler, Petitioner’s client. In defense, Petitioner exposed GIROD as part of a $108 billion vulture-conglomerate in the Cayman Islands. In retaliation, GIROD combined with Louisiana’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel to accuse Petitioner of filing “...overly-zealous pleadings...” on his client’s behalf. ODC allowed a single deputy to assume the roles of (i) complainant, (ii) investigator, (iii) prosecutor, (vi) adjudicator, and (v) appellate counsel and a single agency to prosecute Petitioner. In lawyer-discipline cases, Louisiana’s scheme of review is sui generis. Q-l. Did Louisiana ODC violate Axon Enterprise v. FTC and SEC v. Cochran principles by having a single deputy assume all prosecutorial and adjudicatory roles in a single administrative agency? Q-2. In lawyer-conduct cases, does the Louisiana administrative scheme provide “...a meaningful judicial review...” of proceedings by two panels of nonArticle III adjudicators? Q-3. Given that after Axon/Cochran, the only question left was “...to decide where [the constitutional challenges] may be heard...”, is this Court the one and only tribunal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1257(a)?