Will Contractor Board show resolve of Auctioneer Board and sever ties with attorney Larry Bankston?


Former LALB Attorney and Convicted Felon Larry S. Bankston

 

On Monday, May 8, 2017, the Louisiana Auctioneer Licensing Board (LALB) stunned many observers when it severed ties with its five-year attorney, convicted felon Larry S. Bankston:


LALB meeting of 5/8/17, during which it declined to renew the legal contract of Larry S. Bankston.

During the public comment section of the preceding video, Sound Off Louisiana founder Robert Burns referenced Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry’s staunch opposition to Larry Bankston serving as attorney for any board or commission.

Also, Burns stated that, “if you want to enhance the perception that you’re protecting the consumer, Mr. Bankston is not the route to go.”  As a perfect example of Burns’ contention, consider the following 90-second video of an administrative hearing entailing notoriously-problematic auctioneer Ken Buhler:


LALB meeting of 5/20/13, during which Bankston essentially serves as a de facto second defense attorney for
Ken Buhler (in addition to Buhler’s own attorney, Joseph “Beaver” Brantley) rather than assuming his proper role as a prosecuting attorney for the LALB.

As is blatantly obvious from the preceding video, Bankston was far more interested in grilling Burns about his attendance at a Buhler Federal civil trial and essentially creating a perception that it was Burns, not Buhler, who is the evil one entailing the episode.  Despite the fact that the trial was in mid 2011 and despite Bankston’s steadfast resolve to grill Burns about his attendance, Bankston had no interest in the fact that the result of the trial in question is that Buhler was assessed over $200,000 in judgments for the “fraudulent use of interstate commerce instrumentalities.”

To say that Bankston’s tenure as attorney for the LALB was tumultuous and clouded in repeated episodes of questionable ethics and outright efforts to fight consumers’ complaints (particularly Betty Jo Story, an 83-year-old widow, and Judy Fasola) notwithstanding his presumed role to assist with protecting the consumer is an understatement.  Perhaps the episode depicted in the first video above entailing Rep. Mark Meadows simply became more than either Gov. Edwards or his board members, at least those on the Auctioneer’s Licensing Board, could endure.

The big question now:  Will the Louisiana State Board of Contractors follow the LALB and vote to deny the reappointment of Larry Bankston?  Flood victims, and Attorney General Jeff Landry, will likely be watching any upcoming actions entailing Bankston very closely, especially in light of the content of the first video depicted above!   

If you would like to be added to our Sound Off Louisiana email list to be notified of future Sound Off posts, simply scroll to the very bottom of this page (mobile devices) or to the end of the right-hand column (desktops) and supply your email address within the subscribe box.  You’ll then receive an automated email from Word Press, and all you have to do is click on the blue “confirm follow” bar contained within that email, and you’ll begin receiving great posts such as the preceding one above. 

2 thoughts on “Will Contractor Board show resolve of Auctioneer Board and sever ties with attorney Larry Bankston?”

  1. perhaps other State agencies and Municipalities should rethink whom they have retained as legal counsel (e.g. Rusty Stutes and Samuel Gabb)

    For an example this attached article speaks for itself. My belief is these individuals are covering up what has become an immediate threat to life which is the flooding in Louisiana in similar circumstances could be what has happened in Flint.

    https://www.soundoffla.com/?p=630

  2. It’s time for Bankston to go away and stop bilking the citizens of Louisiana. His actions with the contractor board are just one more example of how the Louisiana Bar got it wrong in restating his license.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.