In re ANGAYURKANNI ANNAMALAI, Attorney Number 6215704
11 The Pines Court
Creve Coeur, Missouri 63141-6197

File Information: M.R. 21910, 07 RC 1516

Ms. Annamalai was licensed in Illinois in 1993 and in Missouri the following year. Missouri suspended her with no opportunity for reinstatement for two years because she neglected an immigration matter, lied to her clients about the status of that matter, and then made misrepresentations to the disciplinary authority in order to impede an investigation. Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended her for two years and until she is reinstated in Missouri.

In re HERBERT ARTHUR BATES, Attorney Number 3125964
77 West Washington, Suite 604
Chicago, Illinois 60602-3277

File Information: M.R. 21954, 06 CH 68

Mr. Bates, who was licensed in 1980, was suspended for one year, with the suspension stayed after six months by two years of probation with conditions if he pays a certain outstanding malpractice judgment. He neglected a civil assault matter, a personal injury matter, and a marital dissolution matter.  The suspension is effective on December 11, 2007.

In re JOHN FRANCIS BRENNAN, Attorney Number 6187302
10 South LaSalle Street, Suite 3500
Chicago, Illinois 60603-1025

File Information: M.R. 21857, 07 CH 24

Mr. Brennan, who was licensed in 1984, was suspended for two years and until further order of the Court. He neglected three client matters, practiced law while suspended for prior misconduct, and failed to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation.  He was previously disciplined for neglect.

In re PAUL DOUGLAS BROWN, Attorney Number 6211657
11 The Pines Court
Creve Coeur, Missouri  63141-6197

File information: M.R. 21872, 07 RC 1513

Mr. Brown was admitted in Illinois in 1993 and in Missouri the following year. He was admonished in Missouri for failing to notify a court that there was a reasonable suspicion as to whether certain factual assertions that he had made in a lawsuit against another attorney were true. Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and reprimanded him.

In re MICHAEL L. FIFER, Attorney Number 6224906
20600 Eureka Road, Suite 9BS
Taylor, Michigan 48180-5343

File Information: M.R. 21873, 07 RC 1512

Mr. Fifer was admitted in Illinois in 1994 and in Michigan the following year. His Michigan license was revoked after he misappropriated funds from his law firm and from a local bar association of which he was the treasurer. He also continued to practice law after he had failed to pay his bar membership dues. Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and disbarred him.

In re BARRY MATHEW FISHER, Attorney Number 816108
4201 Lake Cook Road
Northbrook, Illinois  60062-1060

File Information: M.R. 21973, 05 CH 99

and

In re KENNETH HARLEY FISHER, Attorney Number 817759
180 North LaSalle
Chicago, Illinois 60601-2501

File Information: M.R. 21973, 05 CH 98

Barry Mathew Fisher was licensed in 1969 and Kenneth Harley Fisher in 1967. Both were  suspended for thirty days and until certain restitution is made. Between 1996 and 2001, they failed to supervise properly the billing process at their law firm, causing clients to be overcharged for litigation costs. The suspensions are effective on December 11, 2007.

In re ROBERT GERALD FOSTER, Attorney Number 853712
240 North Cambridge Drive
Geneva, Illinois 60134-1077

File information: M.R. 21925, 07 CH 21

Mr. Foster, who was licensed in 1970, was suspended for ninety days. In written responses and in sworn testimony, he provided false information to disciplinary authorities about having borrowed $7,500 in an undocumented loan from a client. The suspension is effective on December 11, 2007.

In re JONATHAN TAYLOR GREEN, Attorney Number 1043641
7817 South Luella
Chicago, Illinois  60649-5008

File Information: M.R. 21911, 06 CH 51

Mr. Green, who was licensed in 1977, was suspended for two years and until further order of the Court. He neglected three client matters and failed to return unearned legal fees. He was previously disciplined for neglecting legal matters. 

In re MICHAEL J. HAGERTY, Attorney Number 6183086
6321 North Avondale, Suite 210
Chicago, Illinois 60631-1960

File Information M.R. 21871, 06 CH 95

Mr. Hagerty, who was licensed in 1982, was suspended for ninety days. He breached a fiduciary duty to five taxpayers for whom he was acting as a qualified intermediary. His misconduct allowed another lawyer, without his knowledge, to misappropriate funds from accounts opened for the benefit of persons who engaged in like-kind transfers of commercial property. The suspension is effective on December 11, 2007.

In re HOPE FREEMAN KEEFE, Attorney Number 3122214
2428 Vermont Street
Blue Island, Illinois  60406-2304

File information: M.R. 21845, 07 DC 1007

Ms. Keefe, who was licensed in 1978, was disbarred on consent. Along with a non-lawyer employee, she misappropriated funds belonging to an estate that she represented. She then made false statements about the money to an attorney representing the bank at which the funds had been held. She also aided a disbarred lawyer in the unauthorized practice of law.

In re STEVEN SAM KOUKIOS, Attorney Number 6193923
Post Office Box 39
Arlington Heights, Illinois 60006-0039

File Information: M.R. 21888, 05 CH 37

Mr. Koukios, who was licensed in 1986, was censured. He delegated representation of a client to another lawyer not in his firm without his client’s permission.  

In re THOMAS JOEL MANNING, Attorney Number 6212036
6130 Gentry Woods Drive
Dayton, Ohio  45459-1157

File Information: M.R. 21895, 07 RC 1515

Mr. Manning was admitted in Ohio in 1992 and in Illinois the following year. He was suspended in Ohio for two years with conditions. He failed to file a medical malpractice claim on behalf of his clients and made several false statements to them about the status of the case. Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended him for two years with conditions. The suspension is effective on December 11, 2007.

 

In re ROBERT LEE MERRIWETHER, Jr.
Attorney Number 3122434
345 Missouri
East St. Louis, Illinois 62202-0397

File Information: M.R. 21879, 07 SH 8

Mr. Merriwether, who was licensed in 1978, was suspended for two years and until certain restitution is made. He converted funds he was holding to pay a client’s medical liens in connection with a personal injury matter. The suspension is effective on December 11, 2007.

In re BRADLEY EDWARD PRENDERGAST
Attorney Number 3127612
350 North LaSalle Street, Suite 900
Chicago, Illinois 60610-4736

File Information: M.R. 21926, 06 CH 59

Mr. Prendergast, who was licensed in 1980, was suspended for one year, with the suspension stayed after ninety days by a one-year period of probation subject to conditions. He mishandled client funds that he was holding to pay a client’s lienholders, failed to distribute promptly to a client certain payments that he had received on the client’s behalf, and neglected a personal injury case. The suspension is effective on December 11, 2007.

In re G. M. ROBERTS, Attorney Number 6256584
Post Office Box 213
Waterloo, Illinois 62298-0213

File Information: M.R. 21851, 06 SH 87

Mr. Roberts, who was licensed in 1998, was disbarred. He neglected client cases, made misrepresentations to clients, failed to return unearned fees, and practiced law after he failed to pay his annual registration fee. He did not participate in the disciplinary proceedings.

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

File Information: M.R. 21878, 06 CH 72

Mr. Roth, who was licensed in 1984, was suspended for thirty months and until further order of the Court.  He pled guilty to three counts of felony possession of child pornography and was sentenced to twelve months of periodic imprisonment, stayed pending compliance with thirty months of probation with conditions. 

In re MICHAEL AARON TEPPER, Attorney Number 6191490
321 Stone Road
Villa Park, Illinois  60181-1521

File Information: M.R. 21852, 05 CH 105

Mr. Tepper, who was licensed in 1985, was suspended for six months, with the suspension stayed after the first sixty days by a one-year period of probation subject to conditions. He failed to preserve the identity of funds belonging to two clients and a lienholder. The suspension is effective on December 11, 2007.

The Following Orders Were Entered By The Court in Disciplinary Cases Before The November 2007 Term But Were Not Included In Any Previous Information Release

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

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

(Order entered on November 2, 2007)

Mr. Bertrand was admitted in 1984. Effective February 2, 2007, he was suspended for nine months and ordered to make certain restitution for converting fees from his former law firm and neglecting three different client matters. Because he did not pay restitution prior to the expiration of his suspension, the Supreme Court extended the suspension until he makes that restitution and until further order of the Court.

In re ROBERT SCOTT HACKETT, Attorney Number 6239447
Post Office Box 3514
Grand Rapids, Michigan  49501-3514

File Information: M.R. 21774, 07 CH 65

(Order entered on September 21, 2007)

Mr. Hackett, who was licensed in 1997, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the Court.  He was convicted of conversion of public monies after he submitted false travel reimbursement requests to his employer, the Office of the Federal Public Defender.

In re JAMES WILLIAM HOLMAN, Attorney Number 6185420
1330 Chestnut Ridge Drive
Naperville, Illinois 60540-4012

File Information: M.R. 21822, 05 CH 123

(Order entered on October 2, 2007)

Mr. Holman, who was licensed in 1983, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the Court. A hearing panel earlier recommended that he be suspended for three years and until further order of the Court for not providing competent representation in seven different matters, failing to consult with clients prior to voluntarily dismissing a lawsuit, not keeping clients reasonably informed about the status of matters and failing to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation.