The Supreme Court of Illinois on Friday January 12, 2007 announced the filing of disciplinary orders involving a number of licensed lawyers. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.

The attached list contains the name of each disciplined lawyer, the address at which the lawyer last practiced, and a brief summary of the misconduct that led to the sanction. The announcement of the orders may be reviewed at the Supreme Court of Illinois website: www.state.il.us/court.

The Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), an Illinois Supreme Court agency, investigates alleged wrongdoing by Illinois attorneys, holds hearings on specific charges, and recommends discipline where warranted. The Supreme Court is, however, the only authority that can discipline lawyers for misconduct. The Supreme Court generally announces lawyer sanction orders during each formal term of Court. The Court convenes in term every January, March, May, September and November.

There are over 83,000 attorneys in Illinois. Yearly fees are imposed on most Illinois lawyers to fund the ARDC. There are no tax dollars used to support the disciplinary system.

The ARDC is composed of seven members, three of whom are non-lawyers.  Attorney Benedict Schwarz II is the Commission Chairman.  The ARDC Administrator is Mary Robinson.

For additional information concerning these disciplinary orders contact: 

James J. Grogan, Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, Chicago.

312-565-2600 or 1-800-826-8625

 

In re BRADLEY JOHN BEREZNAK,
ATTORNEY NUMBER 6202466
800 W El Camino Real, Number 180
Mountain View, California 94040-2586

File information: M.R. 21352, 06 RC 1514

Mr. Bereznak was licensed in California in 1988 and admitted in Illinois the following year. He was censured and placed on probation for one year in California after he was convicted of spousal battery. The Illinois Supreme Court imposed reciprocal discipline, censured him, and placed him on probation for one year, subject to the same conditions imposed in California.

In re LOUIS L. BERTRAND, Attorney Number 6187917
Post Office Box 161
Utica, Illinois 61373-0161

File Information: M.R. 21281, 06 SH 22

Mr. Bertrand, who was admitted in 1984, was suspended for nine months and ordered to make certain restitution. He converted $11,200 in fees from his former law firm and neglected three different client matters. The suspension is effective on February 2, 2007.

In re ANDREW MARK COHEN,
Attorney Number 6217194
5115 West Church, Suite 109
Skokie, Illinois 60077

File Information: M.R. 21332, 06 CH 10

Mr. Cohen, who was admitted in 1993, was disbarred. He neglected seven client matters, failed to communicate with clients, did not refund unearned fees, engaged in dishonest conduct, and failed to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation or participate in the formal disciplinary proceeding. He was previously disciplined for similar misconduct.

In re G. MICHAEL COOPER III, Attorney Number 513164
307 Allison Street N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20011-7307

File Information: M.R. 21194, 05 CH 82

Mr. Cooper, who was admitted in 1971, was disbarred. He misappropriated $47,692 from a client and practiced law in a jurisdiction where he was not authorized to practice.

In re NEIL L. GERSHON, Attorney Number 6187272
914 Woodward Avenue
Deerfield, Illinois 60015

File Information: M.R. 21295, 06 CH 14

Mr. Gershon, who was admitted in 1984, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court for neglecting a client matter and failing to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation or participate in the formal disciplinary proceeding. He was previously disciplined for similar misconduct.

In re JOHN LAROSE HARSHMAN,
Attorney Number 1141767
Post Office Box 264
Pittsfield, Illinois 62363-0264

File Information: M.R. 21232, 05 SH 93

Mr. Harshman, who was admitted in 1975, was disbarred. He neglected a family law matter, represented clients with conflicting interests, contacted a defendant who was already represented by counsel, and failed to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation or participate in the formal disciplinary proceeding. He was previously disciplined for unrelated misconduct.

In re JOHN T. HUNTINGTON, Attorney Number 1289047
210 West 22nd Street
Oak Brook, Illinois 60523-1544

File Information: M.R. 21297, 06 CH 16

 Mr. Huntington, who was admitted in 1975, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court, with the suspension stayed in its entirety pending completion of a two-year term of probation with conditions. He pled no contest to operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and did not report that conviction to the ARDC within thirty days. He is currently abstinent and in counseling for alcohol dependency.

In re VINCENT R. KAMINSKI, Attorney Number 6211265
1120 North Lake Shore, Suite 12A
Chicago, Illinois 60611-1353

File Information: M.R. 21298, 06 CH 1

Mr. Kaminski, who was admitted in 1992, was suspended for one year. He endorsed his client’s name to settlement checks without authority and converted $6,258.79. He also did not put a contingent fee agreement in writing. The suspension is effective on February 2, 2007.

In re JAMES LARRY KARRAKER,
Attorney Number 1407368
200 Forest Street
Anna, Illinois 62906-1721

File Information: M.R. 21231, 05 SH 41

Mr. Karraker, who was admitted in 1973, was suspended for six months with the suspension entirely stayed by a two-year period of probation with conditions. He pled guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct. He struck his wife with a wooden bat and threatened her. He also scuffled with a police officer who responded to her call for help. His misconduct occurred while he was abusing alcohol. He is currently abstinent and engaged in a recovery program.

 In re MANOS KAVVADIAS, Attorney Number 6186816
1555 Bond Street, Suite 103
Naperville, Illinois 60563-0138

File Information: M.R. 21301, 06 CH 28

Mr. Kavvadias, who was admitted in 1984, was censured. He neglected a client matter and initially failed to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation.

 In re JAMES FRANCIS KIRK, Attorney Number 1472364
9261 Arquilla
Mokena, Illinois 60448-8887

File information: M.R. 21351, 04 CH 23

Mr. Kirk, who was admitted in 1969, was suspended for ninety days. He engaged in a conflict of interest when he prepared a trust document that named himself and his then-wife as residuary beneficiaries of his elderly client's estate and when he purchased waterfront vacation property in Wisconsin from the same client. The suspension is effective on February 2, 2007.

In re THOMAS GREGORY PATRICK LEAVY,
Attorney Number 1601598
16919 Old Pond Drive
Dallas, Texas 75248-1525

File information: M.R. 21260, 04 CH 16

Mr. Leavy, who was admitted in 1978, was suspended for three months and until further order of the Court. He failed to provide a client with a billing statement until four years after concluding his representation. He also threatened to reveal, and did reveal, client confidences to coerce his clients to pay his fee, and he refused to return his clients’ sensitive documents despite their multiple requests for them.

In re MARC ERWIN LEVINE, Attorney Number 6180990
3149 Dundee Road
PMB 278
Northbrook, Illinois 60062-2402

File Information: M.R. 21333, 06 CH 24

Mr. Levine, who was admitted in 1981, was disbarred on consent. He misappropriated $65,000 from settlement proceeds received on behalf of a client. He has been suspended on an interim basis since August 23, 2006.

In re PETER ANGELO LOUTOS,
Attorney Number 1695835
1410 West Higgins, Suite 204
Park Ridge, Illinois 60068-5769

File Information: M.R. 21360, 04 CH 3

Mr. Loutos, who was admitted in Illinois in 1964, was disbarred on consent. He was convicted of making a misrepresentation to a bank in furtherance of an investment fraud scheme. The disbarment was made retroactive to February 5, 2004, the date of his interim suspension.  

In re ROBERT J. PAPE Jr., Attorney Number 3126318
999 Franklin Avenue, Suite 100
Garden City, New York 11530-2913

File Information: M.R. 21356, 06 RC 1515

Mr. Pape was admitted in Illinois in 1980 and in New York the following year. He was disbarred in New York for misappropriating approximately $184,000 from his law firm over a five-year period. The Illinois Supreme Court imposed reciprocal discipline and disbarred him.

In re ANGELA E. PETERS, Attorney Number 6191439
3325 North Arlington Heights Road, Suite 1500
Arlington Heights, Illinois 60004-1584

File Information: M.R. 21252, 04 CH 127

Ms. Peters, who was admitted in 1985, was reprimanded. She caused her divorce client to communicate directly with the client’s spouse, who was represented by counsel, to secure modifications to a draft settlement agreement. Those modifications had been rejected by the wife’s attorney and Ms. Peters had been denied permission to talk to the client’s spouse about the proposed modifications.

In re KARL MALCOLM ROBERTSON,
Attorney Number 2353857
8041 Octavia
Niles, Illinois 60714-2928

File Information: M.R. 21296, 05 CH 6

Mr. Robertson, who was admitted in 1976, was censured, ordered to make certain restitution, and must complete the professionalism seminar of the Illinois Professional Responsibility Institute. During a real estate closing in which he represented the sellers of a house, Mr. Robertson signed a personal guarantee, which he did not honor, to reimburse the buyers for the costs of repairs required of his clients.

In re JOHN FRANCIS SCANLAN,
Attorney Number 6209032
8700 Waukegan Road, Suite 100
Morton Grove, Illinois 60053-2104

File Information: M.R. 21357, 06 RC 1516

Mr. Scanlan was admitted in Illinois in 1992 and in Wisconsin in 1997. He was suspended for six months in Wisconsin for neglecting matters, failing to provide competent representation, converting funds, commingling funds, withdrawing from a case without returning the client’s property and without refunding fees that had not been earned, and failing to cooperate in a disciplinary investigation. The Illinois Supreme Court imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended him for six months and until he is reinstated in Wisconsin. The suspension is effective on February 2, 2007.

In re VANESSA LYNN SMITH, Attorney Number 6207695
350 North LaSalle, Suite 1122
Chicago, Illinois 60610-4726

File Information: M.R. 21240, 04 CH 64

Ms. Smith, who was admitted in 1991, was suspended for thirty days. In a federal class action case, she filed pleadings that omitted and misrepresented information regarding her intent to collect contingent fees from her clients, in addition to collecting court-awarded fees. The first suspension is effective on February 2, 2007.

In re JACQUELINE EATON THOMAS,
Attorney Number 6197708
8800 South Cottage Grove
Chicago, Illinois 60619-6914

File information: M.R. 21294, 02 CH 117 &
M.R. 21334, 05 CH 85

In re MICHAEL JOHN THOREN,
Attorney Number 6240032
734 Asbury Avenue
Evanston, Illinois 60202-2158

File Information: M.R. 21299, 05 CH 33

Mr. Thoren, who was admitted in 1997, was suspended for sixty days and until he makes certain restitution. He neglected three different immigration matters. The suspension is effective on February 2, 2007.

In re DANIEL J. WELTER, Attorney Number 6207833
100 West Monroe Street, Suite 310
Chicago, Illinois 60603-1970

File information: M.R. 21300, 05 CH 60

Mr. Welter, who was admitted in 1991, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court. He neglected three client matters. He was also convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol and driving while his license was suspended. He has not engaged in any treatment for his alcohol dependency.

 

The Following Orders Were Entered

By The Court Before The January 2007 Term But Were Not Included In Any Previous Information Release

In re RICHARD Q. HOLLOWAY,
Attorney Number 6225184
17450 South Halsted, Suite 260
Homewood, Illinois  60430-2041

File Information: M.R. 19699, 04 CH 4

(Order entered on December 18, 2006) 

Mr. Holloway, who was admitted in 1994, was suspended for eighteen months in 2004 with the suspension stayed after five months by a period of probation with conditions. He neglected six client matters and failed to communicate with clients. In October 2005, his probation was revoked and the suspension was extended for thirteen months because he failed to comply with the terms of probation. His suspension has again been extended until he reimburses the Client Protection Program Trust Fund for client protection payments in the amount of $850 and until further of the Court.

In re VINCENT J. KROCKA, Attorney Number 6198080
2172 Tamarron Terrace
Palm Harbor, Florida 34683-4937

File Information: M.R. 21199, 06 CH 73

(Order entered on December 14, 2006)

Mr. Krocka, who was admitted in 1988, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the Court. He was found guilty in Florida of child neglect and criminal mischief and was sentenced to a term of five years imprisonment on each charge, with the sentences to run consecutively and with a credit on each charge for time incarcerated before imposition of the sentence.

In re JOHN ALAN ROTH, Attorney Number 6188865
607 North Front Street
McHenry, Illinois 60050-5538

File Information: M.R. 21192, 06 CH 72

(Order entered on December 20, 2006).

Mr. Roth, who was admitted in 1984, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the Court. He pled guilty to three counts of possession of child pornography, Class 3 felonies.  

In re DONALD G. WEILAND, Attorney Number 3126481
390 East 135th Street
Plainfield, Illinois 60544-4808

File Information: M.R. 20431, 02 CH 108

(Order entered November 22, 2006)

Mr. Weiland, who was licensed in 1980, was suspended until he complies with the requirements of Illinois Supreme Court Rule 764 and until further order of the Court. In 2005, he was suspended for eighteen months, with the last six months stayed by probation with conditions, for misapplying client funds and for obtaining loans from clients without appropriate warnings. After he was suspended, he failed to file with the Court a list of the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and file numbers relating to all his clients.