Click here to view the LADB Board Members recognized in 30th Anniversary

On April 1, 2020, the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board celebrated its 30th anniversary by remembering and honoring its board members, including Taylor Porter Partner Mike Walsh, who previously served as LADB chairman.

In 1990, the Supreme Court of Louisiana established the LADB to administer the lawyer discipline and disability system. The agency was the first attorney disciplinary system in the nation to incorporate the American Bar Association’s Model Rules for Lawyer Disciplinary Enforcement, the hallmark of which is the use of non-lawyers in the disciplinary process. The primary purpose of the discipline and disability system is to protect the public. Toward that end, it is the responsibility of the agency to investigate complaints of lawyer ethical misconduct and make recommendations to the Court when discipline is warranted. The agency also makes recommendations to the Court concerning other lawyer regulatory matters. The LADB consists of a statewide board, hearing committees, disciplinary counsel and administrative staff. All board and hearing committee members volunteer their time to the system.

"Over those 30 years, the discipline system has grown, matured and adapted to the demands of a changing profession and Court asserting its authority to address lawyer misconduct," said Charles B. Plattsmier, LADB Chief Disciplinary Counsel. "Instrumental to the function of the agency are the men and women, lawyers and laymen, who have given selflessly to an often-thankless calling. We honor each and every one for their commitment."

Walsh represents lawyers, law firms, and judges in disciplinary proceedings, malpractice matters, professional liability claims and ethics violations, and he is a frequent lecturer on ethics, professionalism, and litigation skills, instructing prosecutors, defenders and federal investigators on professional liability and ethics, both internationally (Austria, Canada), and nationally (Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, California). Walsh is an adjunct professor of law at Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center, where he teaches a course on Professional Responsibility and Ethics.

Practice Group Leader of Taylor Porter's Criminal Defense and Domestic Relations Law practices, Walsh has more than 35 years of experience representing individual and corporate clients in complex criminal and civil litigation and enforcement cases throughout the country. His practice, which includes a variety of grand jury and trial matters, involves public corruption, antitrust, healthcare, False Claims Act, Lacey Act, environmental matters, and alcoholic beverage licensing and related enforcement issues. Walsh has been selected by his peers in Best Lawyers in America® as the "Criminal Defense: General Practice Lawyer of the Year" in both 2016 and 2020, and he has been selected by his peers among Louisiana Super Lawyers in Criminal Defense Law.