5045 North Harlem Avenue

Chicago, Illinois 60656-3501

 

File Number: M.R. 21236, 06 CH 21

 Mr. Antonopoulos, who was licensed in 1988, was censured. He engaged in a conflict of interest when he represented an elderly seller in a real estate transaction but took direction in the representation from the seller’s son. At no time did he take any steps to ascertain if the actions he was taking on the seller’s behalf accurately reflected his client’s desires. As a result, the seller’s son financially benefited to the detriment of his father.

In re JULIE M. BALDWIN, Attorney Number 6212024
Post Office Box 259
Henderson, Illinois 61439-0259

File Information: M R. 21132, 05 SH 46 

Ms. Baldwin, who was licensed in 1993, was suspended for two years and until further order of the Court. She neglected six appeals in parental rights cases, neglected two divorce matters, failed to adequately communicate with clients, failed to withdraw from a case after being discharged by her client, and did not return an unearned fee. 

 In re JAMES JOHN BENTIVOGLIO, Attorne Number 6228831
103 West Vandalia, Suite 100
Edwardsville, Illinois 62025-1935

File Information: M.R. 21135, 06 SH 12

Mr. Bentivoglio, who was licensed in 1995, was suspended for thirty days. He neglected a civil case, failed to communicate with his client, and made misrepresentations about the status of the case to a supervising partner at the law firm where he was employed. The suspension is effective on December 8, 2006.

In re THOMAS R. CARNES, Attorney Number 6220672
5201 Hampton Avenue
St. Louis, Missouri 63109-3102

File Information: M.R. 21129, 06 RC 1513

Mr. Carnes was licensed in Missouri in 1993 and in Illinois in 1994. He was reprimanded in Missouri for failing to cooperate with the disciplinary authority concerning a client grievance alleging neglect. The Illinois Supreme Court imposed reciprocal discipline and reprimanded him.

 In re DAVID DRENK, Attorney Number 6185289
622 Laurel Avenue
Highland Park, Illinois 60035-3502

File Information: M.R. 21183, 05 CH 96

Mr. Drenk, who was licensed in 1983, was suspended for two years and until further order of the Court with the suspension stayed in its entirety by a three-year period of probation subject to conditions. On two occasions, he was convicted of possessing crack cocaine. He established that he has taken substantial steps towards being rehabilitated from substance abuse.  

In re BURGESS FRANCIS ERVIN, Attorney Number 6185349
155 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 500
Chicago, Illinois 60601-7511

File information: M.R. 21195, 05 CH 92

Mr. Ervin, who was licensed in 1983, was suspended for two years and until further order of the Court.  He neglected several matters for a client, failed to return unearned fees and did not cooperate in the disciplinary proceeding. He has been suspended since September 27, 2004 for unrelated misconduct.

In re JAMES HAROLD FIFE, III, Attorney Number 6199501
4201 Indianapolis Boulevard
East Chicago, Indiana  46312-2527

File Information: M.R. 21190, 06 CH 31

Mr. Fife, who was licensed in 1988, was disbarred on consent.  He was convicted of making false statements on federal income tax returns for the years 1998 through and including 2001. He was sentenced to a forty-six month prison term followed by one year of supervised release and was ordered to make restitution to the Internal Revenue Service in the amount of $384,840.00. 

In re LEON MARTIN HAMILTON, Attorney Number 6216193
7841 South Crandon
Chicago, Illinois 60649-5020

File Information: M.R. 21170, 05 CH 119

 Mr. Hamilton, who was licensed in 1993, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court and until he makes certain restitrution. He neglected a real estate matter, failed to return unearned fees, and engaged in the unauthorized practice of law after being removed from the Master Roll of Attorneys authorized to practice law in Illinois. He failed to participate in the disciplinary proceedings. 

 In re KEVIN GERARD KATSIS, Attorney Number 3125301
173 Scottswood Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546-2221

File Information: M.R. 21211, 05 CH 64

Mr. Katsis, who was licensed in 1979, was suspended for two years and until further order of the Court, with the suspension stayed after one year by a two-year period of probation with conditions. He converted escrow funds in two different real estate transactions, neglected four civil matters, and made misrepresentations to several clients. The suspension is effective on December 8, 2006.  

In re TRACY HENSLER KRIZMAN, Attorney Number 6225381
1901 West Division Street
Chicago, Illinois  60622-3713

File Information: M.R. 21196, 06 CH 35

Ms. Krizman, who was licensed in 1994, was censured. She neglected two personal injury claims and misrepresented the status of one of those matters to her client.

In re Timothy Robert Wiley Lavender, Attorney Number 6197693
333 west wacker drive, suite 2600
Chicago, Illinois 60606-1227

File information: M.R. 21118, 03 CH 101

Mr. Lavender, who was licensed in 1988, was censured. While a partner at a Chicago law firm, he represented two men who were trying to develop a restaurant. He did not disclose to the two men the risks that were inherent in the common representation and when the men came to a disagreement over their relative interests in the restaurant business, he continued to work on behalf of one of the men, contrary to the interests of the other client.

 In re Lisa Anne Leitter, Attorney Number 6226914
Post Office Box 319
Rockton, Illinois 61072-0319

File information: M.R. 21148, 05 CH 117

In re ROBERT K. LEYSHON, Attorney Number 6225456
224 18^th Street, Suite 400
Rock Island, Illinois 61201-8719

File Information: M.R. 21133, 06 SH 5

Mr. Leyshon, who was licensed in 1994, was suspended for one year, with the suspension stayed entirely by a two-year period of probation with conditions. He purchased and used cocaine. He established that he has taken substantial steps towards being rehabilitated from substance abuse.

 In re STEVEN ANDREW MAPLES, Attorney Number 6229775
4940 North Lincoln Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60625-2610

File information: M.R. 21210, 06 CH 13

Mr. Maples, who was licensed in 1995, was disbarred on consent. As a loan processor, he forged documents in two loan transactions. He was previously disciplined for unrelated misconduct.

In re CARL RICHARD MATTES, Attorney Number 6186729
234 North Plum Grove Road, Suite 100
Palatine, Illinois 60067-5271

File Information: M.R. 21193, 04 CH 56

Mr. Mattes, who was licensed in 1984, was suspended for three years with all but the first five months of the suspension stayed by a two-year period of probation with conditions. He improperly retained at least $100 from ninety-eight different real estate transactions where he was acting as a title insurance agent for various title insurance companies. The suspension is effective on December 8, 2006.

In re MARY TERESA McDONAGH, Attorney Number 6276272
3457 North Pacific Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60634-2958

File Information: M.R. 21160, 05 CH 83

Ms. McDonagh, who was licensed in 2001, was suspended for one year, with the suspension stayed after sixty days, pending completion of a one-year period of probation with conditions. She neglected three different civil law matters and initially failed to cooperate with the disciplinary investigations. The suspension is effective on December 8, 2006.

In re SAM V. MENEGAS, Attorney Number 6196467
15 Salt Creek Lane, Number 110B
Hinsdale, Illinois 60521-2926

File Information: M.R. 21124, 03 CH 106

Mr. Menegas, who was licensed in 1987, was disbarred. He misappropriated $400,000 in escrow funds that he was to hold in trust as the attorney for the seller of commercial real estate.  He also engaged in a conflict of interest in subsequently representing the buyer in the transaction, without disclosing his interest as owner of a finance company that held a mortgage on the property, and in representing the buyer in litigation filed by the seller, his former client, for specific performance.

In re JOHN PHILLIP MEYER, Attorney Number 1896741
Post Office Box 774
Danville, Illinois 61834-0774

File Information: M.R. 21134, 06 SH 08

Mr. Meyer, who was licensed in 1947, was censured. He misdated two deeds and engaged in a conflict of interest when he failed to advise certain clients that their interest in terminating a trust might be adverse to the duty that he owed to a former client who had created the trust.

 In re JOSEPH R. MITCHELL, Attorney Number 1931989
3501 East 106^th Street, Suite 205
Chicago, Illinois 60617-6625

File information: M.R. 21191, 05 CH 88

 Mr. Mitchell, who was licensed in 1977, was suspended for one year, with the suspension stayed after the first sixty days by probation with conditions. He mismanaged $1,000 in funds related to a client’s real estate transaction and engaged in the unauthorized practice of law because he had not registered. The suspension is effective on December 8, 2006.

In re john alexander naughton, Attorney Number 2020572
6514 West Cermak Road
Berwyn, Illinois  60402

File information: M.R. 21230, 06 CH 11

Mr. Naughton, who was licensed in 1977, was censured. He neglected two different decedent estates.  

In re RORY ALLEN O’BRIAN, Attorney Number 6212067
1500 West El Camino Ave. Suite 384
Sacramento, California   95833-1945

File Information: M.R. 21179, 97 CH 51

Mr. O’Brian, who was licensed in 1993, was disbarred. He was convicted in California of theft or embezzlement from an elderly person and of the fraudulent misappropriation of $10,000 in escrow funds. 

In re FRANK MATTHEW PICL, Attorney Number 2203561
Post Office Box 418
Peoria, Illinois 61651-0418

File Information: M.R. 21151, 06 DC 1009

Mr. Picl, who was licensed in 1977, was disbarred on consent. He pled guilty but mentally ill to three counts of financial exploitation of an elderly person and three counts of theft after he withdrew $278,200 from various accounts owned by an elderly client for whom he had a power of attorney.

In re PATRICK JOSEPH RALEIGH, Attorney Number 6200155
12820 South Ridgeland
Palos Heights, IL  60463-2388

File Information:  M.R. 21163, 05 CH 127

Mr. Raleigh, who was licensed to practice in 1989, was suspended for two years and until further order of the Court. He neglected a divorce matter and failed to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation or appear at the disciplinary hearing. He was previously disciplined for unrelated misconduct

In re ROBERT LOUIS RASCIA, Attorney Number 6184470
61 West Superior Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610-4857

File Information: M.R. 21229, 04 CH 35

Mr. Rascia, who was licensed in 1983, was suspended for three months. He neglected three criminal appeals and, while he was a partner at a law firm, failed to supervise a law firm associate in connection with those appeals. The suspension is effective on December 8, 2006.

 In re MERRICK SCOTT RAYLE, Attorney Number 2293587
212 Wood Street
Pacific Grove, CA   93950-3227

File Information:  M.R. 21117, 04 CH 21

Mr. Rayle, who was licensed in 1975, was suspended for one year. He fraudulently transferred assets to avoid creditors after the entry of two malpractice judgments against him in California. He also liquidated several retirement accounts after a citation to discover assets had been served upon him by one of his creditors, and he gave false testimony during a deposition about the existence of those accounts. The suspension is effective on December 8, 2006.

 In re ANTHONY MICHAEL ROCCO, Attorney Number 2358751
Post Office Box 5441
River Forest, Illinois 60305-5441

File Information: M.R. 21159, 05 CH 63

Mr. Rocco, who was licensed in 1963, was suspended for thirty days. He represented clients with adverse interests in a trust matter and failed to explain to the clients the implications of his common representation. The suspension is effective on December 8, 2006.

In re RICHARD BARRY TAYLOR, Attorney Number 6204988
63 West Jefferson Street, Suite 100
Joliet, Illinois 60432-4337

File Information: M.R. 21171, 05 CH 11

 Mr. Taylor, who was licensed in 1990, was suspended for one year, with the suspension stayed after the first sixty days by a one-year period of probation with conditions. He neglected a client’s two workers’ compensation cases and failed to file the same client’s medical malpractice case. After the malpractice case became time-barred, he then filed it as a workers’ compensation case. He also advanced approximately $30,000 in cash to the same client. The suspension is effective on December 8, 2006.

 

The Following Disciplinary Orders were entered by the Court before the November 2006 Term but were not included in any

Previous Information Release

 

In re Eric Phillip Ferleger, Attorney Number 795291
29 South LaSalle, Suite 300
Chicago, Illinois 60603-1502

File Information: M.R. 19711, 03 CH 4

(Order entered on September 26, 2006)

 Mr. Ferleger, who was licensed in 1977, was suspended for seven months after violating the terms of a previously ordered probation. On December 8, 2004, he was suspended for nine months with all but the first sixty days stayed by a two-year period of probation. He violated the terms of his disciplinary probation when he was convicted on two felony counts of driving on a suspended license and one felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol while his license was suspended.

 In re WILLIAM EDWARD LEVIN, Attorney Number 1636928
6840 North Sacramento Avenue, Suite 320
Chicago, Illinois  60645-2775

File Information: M.R. 21178, 06 IA 2001

(Order entered on October 2, 2006)

Mr. Levin, who was licensed in 1966, was transferred to inactive disability status because he suffers from a mental disorder and is presently incapacitated from continuing to practice law by reason of that disorder.