Two lawyers disciplined

• By ALLEN M. JOHNSON JR.
• Advocate New Orleans bureau
• Published: Nov 18, 2008 - Page: 7A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Supreme Court has disciplined two lawyers in separate and unrelated cases — both with story lines to needy children.

One now-disbarred lawyer is in prison for stealing a $90,000 settlement from three children he once represented. The other disciplined lawyer once won an award for quietly helping a kids’ sports club, records show.

The high court issued rulings in both disciplinary cases late Friday.

William Ken Hawkins, of Ponchatoula, received a one-year suspension from the court after a bar investigation into allegations that he mishandled client and third-party funds, records show.

However, the court immediately deferred the suspension, subject to his completion of a one-year period of unsupervised probation.

The disciplinary action was the result of a joint agreement between the attorney and the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which investigates allegations of lawyer misconduct.

Terms of Hawkins’ probation were not available Monday. Chief disciplinary counsel Charles “Chuck” Plattsmier could not be reached late Monday.

Hawkins, who represented himself during the disciplinary proceedings, also could not be reached. A message was left at his law firm.

A graduate of Loyola University in New Orleans, Hawkins was admitted to the practice of law in Louisiana on Oct. 7, 1988.

In 2003, Hawkins won the Louisiana State Bar Association’s Crystal Gavel award for community service.

As a “silent corporate sponsor,” Hawkins donated $10,000 and purchased new uniforms for a youth athletic club (ages 11-12) in LaPlace, where he worked as a lawyer at the time, according to a tribute posted on the bar association Web site (http://www.lsba.org).

“Hawkins’ generosity has enabled the club to prosper and fulfill its mission that every child deserves the opportunity to play sports regardless of their economic or racial background,” the tribute states.

In the second case, the Supreme Court disbarred Keith J. Labat, a suspended lawyer serving eight years at hard labor in a state prison facility. In 2006, Labat pleaded guilty before a state judge in Lafourche Parish to more than 40 counts of felony theft, forgery and issuing worthless checks totaling $111,170, court records show. That amount included a $90,000 settlement owed his clients — three young children.