NEW ORLEANS — Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams has been hired as a private civil attorney by the law firm that just defended him against criminal tax fraud charges.
The law firm of Schonekas, Evans, McGoey & McEachin announced Monday that it was hiring the DA to be a civil litigator while he continues to oversee criminal prosecutions in the city of New Orleans.
Two attorneys at the firm, Billy Gibbens and Ian Atkinson, handled Williams’ successful defense against federal felony charges, representing Williams for most of the last two years after he was indicted by a federal grand jury in June 2020 and through a two-week jury trial last month.
The jury acquitted Williams on all 10 counts he faced, including conspiracy to defraud the IRS, filing false tax returns to exaggerate expenses and failing to report cash payments.
It’s common for district attorneys to have private law practices on the side, in addition to their elected positions as top local prosecutor. Williams, for instance, continued to run a private practice after he took office as DA in 2021, but he stopped handling criminal defense and only took civil cases.
The private legal practices of DAs have caused some controversy over the years. Jefferson Parish DA Paul Connick’s family firm, Connick & Connick, along with two other firms owned by Louisiana district attorneys, once held lucrative contracts with the Louisiana attorney general’s office to pursue civil claims on behalf of the state, even in their home parishes. Connick defended the agreements, but Attorney General Jeff Landry put a stop to the practice when he took office in 2016.
“Jason’s priority will remain with the District Attorney’s Office,” Gibbens said in an email to WWL-TV. “He will continue to spend most of his time at the DA’s office, and we will be able to give him the support he needs on his civil cases.”
Williams still faces more than $200,000 in unpaid federal income taxes and what’s sure to be a hefty legal bill for his criminal defense. He and his wife put their St. Charles Avenue mansion up for sale earlier this month for $2 million.
But Gibbens said in an email to WWL-TV the decision to hire Williams had nothing to with any outstanding legal fees, calling it a “long-term relationship for Jason to develop his civil practice at our firm.”
Managing Partner Kyle Schonekas added in a statement: “Jason Williams is a dynamic litigator, and we believe he will bring a lot of value to high-stakes civil cases in the New Orleans area.”
In the same statement announcing his hiring, Williams said, “In my 20 years of practice, I have been impressed by the quality of their work, and I have experienced firsthand the firm’s dedication to its clients.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of the story incorrectly reported that Williams kept taking criminal defense cases outside Orleans Parish after he took office as as DA. But his office said he stopped all criminal defense work and only handled civil cases at his private law firm after he was sworn in as DA.
