A New Iberia attorney running for Iberia Parish Tax Assessor says allegations made against him are a calculated political move by his opponents.

Attorney David Groner, who is running for Iberia Parish Tax Assessor, said a lawsuit against him of theft and breach of trust allegations filed last week amounts to nothing more than political mudslinging by his opponents.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Iberia Parish on Monday, Sept. 16, alleges that Groner deposited $5,000 that the family was not aware of. It also claims there were billable hour issues.

Groner disagrees with the claims laid out in the lawsuit, questioning the motivation in bringing such a suit forward right before the November election.

“It’s a disgusting attempt at a political attack on me and my character by a lady I’ve never met, a law firm that I don’t know who is affiliated with a local lawyer who is a big proponent of one of my political opponents,” Groner said.

“These are false allegations, they will easily be thrown out in court, but the problem is I won’t be able to get to court until after the election to have them thrown out. I will intend on filing a countersuit once it’s thrown out against the people involved for the false and defamatory allegations that they’re making against me.”

Groner believes the timing of the “phony” lawsuit benefits the incumbent in the assessor’s race, Iberia Parish Assessor Ashlie Spiker. He called the lawsuit “disgusting.”

Spiker said the lawsuit against Groner was a total surprise and denied any knowledge of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

“I have no intention of doing that,” Spiker said regarding alleged political motivation behind the lawsuit. “That was never part of our strategy and it won’t be. This election is about who is the most qualified to protect your property’s value, period. It’s unfortunate that the other two are less qualified so they resort to personal attacks.”

Spiker added that her campaign strategy has always been to highlight her achievements and qualifications instead of publishing attacks on her opponent’s character.

The lawsuit was filed by The Gaudin Law Group, representing Lisa Pitarra, who is related to the late Jaqueline Landry.

The lawsuit is a Petition for Trustee Accounting and Damages for Breach of Trust, and claims Groner failed to keep records as required by law and charged an “unreasonable and excessive” amount for the work performed and acted against the sole interest of Landry’s beneficiaries.

Gaudin Law Group’s lawsuit says while Groner was working as a trustee of the Abele Irrevocable Trust and attorney for the deceased, he allegedly misrepresented his billable hours and deposited a nearly-$5,000 check after the trust was already believed to be closed.

The lawsuit expands on claims made regarding Groner’s alleged excessive legal fees, claiming that, if Groner’s own testimony is correct, his 272.78 billable hours would have to have occurred between May 2, 2023 and May 12, 2023, a timeframe that only has 240 hours available.

Groner says these claims are missing crucial context, as it took him over two-and-a-half years of legal work, not two weeks.

“It’s a mischaracterization of the evidence, that’s what it is,” said Groner. “This is a case involving two and a half years of legal work involving looking for assets all over the United States for an engineer who worked for various companies … that took many hours of work with a very difficult client. It’s a total mischaracterization of the case. The client was extremely pleased, she thanked me profusely for the work that I did and for the recovery that I made for her and she happily signed off on payments that were made.”

During the last interview by the Daily Iberian with Groner, he said he had yet to be served with the lawsuit, so he is prohibited from being able to respond through legal channels.

“I don’t have a chance to respond legally because it hasn’t even been served to me. It’s pretty outrageous that this would be a news story,” he said.

The case has already attracted attention from all sides of the political spectrum in Iberia Parish, even before it was officially filed last week. Photos of the lawsuit circulated days before the suit was filed, raising questions into not only Groner’s legal ethics, but also the political landscape in the Teche Area.

The Daily Iberian obtained a copy of the lawsuit from the Iberia Parish Clerk of Court as it is a public document.

Groner is concerned he won’t have a chance to fully address the allegations until after the Nov. 5 election.

“We have a hearing set for October 11, which may gut most of their case,” he said. “The court should be throwing her off the case because she never belonged on it to begin with. They want it delayed until after the election and I’ve objected to continuances. I want it heard on the 11th because they filed false pleadings.”