In a Nov. 14 demand letter, the couple’s attorney, Daniel Becnel, wrote that they’d been patient with Smith but “it is clear now that you had no intention of completing the work on their condominium and have stolen their money.”
Becnel warned in the letter that he was filing suit and would help the Loomises meet with Lopinto to pursue a criminal case.
Smith claims the Loomises, who live in Metairie, were clients since 2010, grew to be close friends, and paid on time before they fired him last July after he delivered another invoice, for $35,600.
“Sometimes you have to stand up to bullying,” said Randy Smith, who declined further comment on the suit, which includes a defamation claim against the Loomises.
Randy Smith also represented former Saints owner Tom Benson’s daughter, Renee Benson, and her children, Rita and Ryan LeBlanc, in a bruising family battle over the late billionaire’s succession.
Becnel, the attorney for the Loomises, declined to comment on Wednesday. A spokesman for Lopinto’s office did not respond to questions about Shaun Smith’s arrest.
A spokesman for Jefferson Parish District Attorney Paul Connick’s office said the DA’s office is still screening the theft case against Smith, who remains free on his own recognizance.
Smith faced a similar lawsuit in 2020 for breach of contract in Orleans Parish. A couple accused him of failing to deliver on a similar project, refusing to refund them money, and then ghosting them. That lawsuit, which appears resolved, indicated that there were others who felt victimized.
Based in Harvey, Shaun Smith Home, Inc. had a storefront on Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans that has closed, replaced by a piercing studio.
If the DA accepts the theft charge, Smith faces a prison term of up to 20 years upon a conviction.
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