In re JAMES F. BABA,
Attorney Number 6228790
1448 East Grand
Carbondale, Illinois 62902
File Information:
M.R. 22324, 07 SH 74
Mr. Baba,
who was licensed in 1995, was disbarred on
consent. While employed as an Assistant
Coles County State’s Attorney, he withdrew
three bags of cannabis from an evidence
locker maintained by the Coles County
Sheriff’s Department. He represented that he
needed the items for court purposes. No
court cases involving the items were,
however, pending at the time and he never
returned the items to the evidence
custodian.
In re STEVEN ROSS
BELCHER, Attorney Number 6277108
42 Harmon Drive
Lebanon, Illinois 62254-1115
Mr. Conger, who was licensed in 1985,
was suspended for six months and until
further order of the Court. He neglected a
domestic battery matter, failed to cooperate
with the ARDC investigation, and did not
appear for the hearing in his disciplinary
case.
In re
SANDRA KAY COPLIEN, Attorney Number
6182584
22 West Monroe, Suite 1800
Chicago, Illinois 60603-2517
File Number: M.R. 22301, 07 CH 45
Ms.
Coplien, who was licensed in Illinois in
1982, was suspended for six months
and until further order of the Court. She
neglected a domestic relations matter, failed to cooperate with the
ARDC investigation, and did not appear for
the hearing in her disciplinary case.
In re ERIC PHILLIP
FERLEGER, Attorney Number 795291
1771 C Dewes Street
Glenview, Illinois 60025
File Information: M.R. 22356, 05 CH 103 and
07 CH 84
Mr. Ferleger, who was licensed in 1977, was
disbarred on consent. He practiced law while
he was suspended for professional
misconduct, drove an automobile under the
influence of alcohol, operated a motor
vehicle with a suspended license, threatened
criminal prosecution to gain advantage in a
civil matter, and misappropriated $42,500
which he had agreed to hold in escrow in
connection with a real estate transaction.
In re ALEXANDER GOLDMAN, Attorney Number
6271011
5301 West Dempster, Suite 208
Skokie, Illinois 60077-1856
File Information: M.R. 22236, 06 CH 97
Mr. Goldman, who was licensed in 1999, was disbarred. He
misappropriated almost $100,000 from ten
clients and settled matters without his
clients’ knowledge or permission.
In re WILLIAM
FRANCIS HALEY, Attorney Number 3122643
Post Office Box 5041
Wheaton, Illinois 60189-5041
File Information: M.R. 22235, 06 CH 92
Mr. Haley, who was licensed in 1978, was
suspended for one year and until further
order of Court. He misappropriated client
funds from a personal injury settlement. He
has been suspended on an interim basis and
until further order of the Court since
December 6, 2007.
In re ROBERT WAYNE
HALLOCK, Attorney Number 1107275
111 North Avenue, Suite 07
Barrington, Illinois 60010-3282
File information: M.R. 22325, 07 CH 27
Mr. Hallock, who was licensed in 1971, was
disbarred on consent. He was convicted
in federal court of willfully attempting to
evade income tax by filing fraudulent tax
returns that did not include his true
income. Additionally, he sold fraudulent
certificates of deposit and used a sham
business for the purpose of hiding his true
income. He was sentenced to twenty-four
months in prison and was ordered to serve a
two-year term of supervised release. He was
suspended on an interim basis on July 3,
2007.
In re KENNETH R.
KEETON, Attorney Number 6237421
Post Office Box 187
Chester, Illinois 62233-0187
File information: M.R. 22345, 04 SH 117
Mr. Keeton, who was licensed to
practice in 1996, was suspended for six
months and until further order of the Court.
He engaged in violent and threatening
behavior that was causally connected to an
untreated mental disorder.
In re TRACY HENSLER
KRIZMAN, Attorney Number 6225381
1901 West Division Street
Chicago, Illinois 60622-3713
File Information: M.R. 22329, 07 CH 101
Ms. Krizman, who was licensed in 1994, was
suspended for one year and until further
order of the Court. She failed to withdraw
from representation after she was fired by
her client in a personal injury matter, and
she settled a claim without authority on
behalf of a second client in the same
matter.
She did not appear for the hearing in
her disciplinary case.
In re DAVID MICHAEL LEVIN,
Attorney Number 1630768
1800
Montgomery Court
Deerfield, Illinois 60015-2057
File information:
M.R. 22344, 05 CH 71
Mr. Levin, who was licensed in Illinois in
1974, was suspended for eighteen months and
until further order of the Court. He
commingled client funds, issued an
insufficient funds check to a clerk of court
for filing fees in a case, improperly
revealed client confidences, and threatened
disciplinary proceedings against another
lawyer to gain an advantage in a civil
dispute.
In re PATRICK MICHAEL LOFTUS,
Attorney Number 6188911
1005 West
Lake Street, Suite 2 FL
Addison, Illinois 60101
File information:
M.R. 22312, 07 CH 41
Mr. Loftus, who was licensed in Illinois in 1984, was disbarred.
He forged a client’s endorsement to a
settlement check, converted proceeds from
two personal injury settlements, neglected
two civil matters, forged a referring
attorney’s endorsement to another settlement
check, failed to cooperate with the ARDC
investigation, and did not appear for the
hearing in his disciplinary case.
In re
JERALD MICHAEL MANGAN, Attorney Number
6183272
311 South County Farm Road, Suite
K
Wheaton, Illinois 60187-2477
File Number: M.R. 22303, 06 CH 37
Mr.
Mangan, who was licensed in 1982, was
suspended for two years and until further
order of the Court. He pled guilty to
eavesdropping, in that he knowingly and
intentionally used an unlawful eavesdropping
device for the purpose of recording a
conversation of a female law firm associate,
without her consent, and to unauthorized
videotaping, in that he knowingly and
without her consent videotaped under the
clothing worn by the female associate for
the purpose of viewing her undergarments, by
hiding recording devices in locations
throughout the firm, including a women’s
restroom. He was suspended on an interim
basis on August 1, 2006.
In re JOSEPH FRANK
MILITO, Attorney Number 6207365
732 West Fullerton Parkway, Suite
2F
Chicago, Illinois 60614-2620
File Information: M.R. 22340, 07 CH 92
Mr. Milito, who was licensed in 1991, was
censured. He was convicted of willfully
failing to keep complete and accurate
records relating to the payment of wages to
employees resulting in the failure to pay
the related federal taxes. He was sentenced
to a two-year period of probation, was
ordered to engage in community service, and
was assessed a fine.
In re WILLIAM FRANCIS MURPHY, Attorney
Number 6271357
2000 S. Batavia, 2nd
Floor
Geneva, IL 60134
File Information: M.R. 22339, 07 CH
116
Mr. Murphy, who was licensed in 2000, was
disbarred on consent. He pled guilty
to the offense of Indecent Solicitation of a
Child, a Class 3 felony. He was
sentenced to 30 days in the DuPage County
Jail and 30 months of sex offender
probation.
In re BETTY BURNS
PADEN,
Attorney Number
3127578
1122 Emerson Street
Evanston, Illinois 60201-3132
File Information: M.R. 22089, 04 CH 116
Ms. Paden, who was licensed in 1980, was
disbarred and ordered to pay certain
restitution. She defrauded a client in a
real estate transaction and made false
statements in a motion for sanctions against
an attorney in a divorce case.
In re GEORGE
M. PETRICH, Attorney Number 2190788
14200 Burnham Avenue
Burnham, Illinois 60633-1608
File Information: M.R. 22280, 07 CH 76
Mr. Petrich, who was licensed in 1961, was
censured. He obtained a quit-claim deed to
his client’s house for payment of
anticipated legal fees without sufficiently
protecting his client’s interest in the
property. He then refused to return title of
the home to the client until the client paid
his fees.
In re KARL MALCOLM
ROBERTSON, Attorney Number 2353857
8041 Octavia Avenue
Niles, Illinois 60714-2928
File Information: M.R. 22326, 07 CH 3
Mr. Robertson, who was licensed in 1976, was
suspended for one year, with the suspension
stayed after ninety days by a one-year
period of probation with conditions. During
a time when he did not maintain adequate
office procedures, he mishandled escrow
funds that he was holding in relation to
twelve different real estate transactions
and failed to promptly deliver escrow
proceeds to a client in another real estate
matter. The
suspension is effective on June 9, 2008.
In re LEA ANNE
SARGENT, Attorney Number 6271425
567 West Lake Street
Chicago, Illinois 60661-1498
File Information: M.R. 22219, 04 CH 129
Ms. Sargent, who was licensed in 2000, was
suspended for thirty days. While working as
a law firm associate, she billed clients for
over $12,000 in legal services for work that
she did not actually perform. The suspension
is effective on June 9, 2008.
In re STEVEN H. SOSMAN,
Attorney Number 6182397
1400 West
Devon Avenue, Suite 233
Chicago, Illinois 60660-1312
File information:
M.R. 22319, 06 CH 83
Mr. Sosman, who was licensed in Illinois in 1982, was suspended
for two years and until further order of the
Court. He neglected a client’s criminal
matter, did not refund unearned fees, failed
to cooperate with the ARDC investigation,
and did not appear for the hearing in his
disciplinary case.
In re ROLAND
MAURICE STEWART, Attorney Number 2733978
8 South Michigan Avenue, Suite
1109
Chicago, Illinois 60603-3394
File Information: M.R. 22284, 05 CH 120
Mr. Stewart, who was licensed in 1957, was
disbarred. He misappropriated over $223,000
in escrow funds. He was suspended on an
interim basis on February 29, 2008.
In re JORGE J. VERA, Attorney Number
6244891
4736 Main St., Suite 6
Lisle, Illinois 60532-1986
File Information: M.R. 22372, 07 CH 28
Mr. Vera, who was licensed in 1998, was
disbarred on consent. He engaged in
neglect, misrepresentation, and failure to
refund unearned fees in numerous client
matters and failed to cooperate in the
Administrator’s investigations into a number
of those matters.
In re ROGER
H. WILLIAMS, Attorney Number 3027325
1901 West Division, Suite 4N
Chicago, Illinois 60622-3713
File Information: M.R. 22287, 07 CH 102
Mr. Williams, who was licensed in 1973, was
suspended for one year and until further
order of the Court. He neglected a personal
injury claim and then made
misrepresentations to his client regarding
the status of the matter. He failed to
cooperate with the ARDC investigation and
did not appear for the hearing in his
disciplinary case.
The Following Orders Were Entered By The
Court in Disciplinary Cases Before The May
2008 Term But Were Not Included In Any
Previous Information RELEASE
In re PATTERSON CARL MEUTH, Attorney
Number 3126271
111 North County Street, Suite 7
Waukegan, Illinois 60085-4325
File Information:
M.R.
22240, 06 CH 94
(Order
entered April 9, 2008).
Mr.
Meuth, who was licensed in 1980, was
suspended on an interim basis and until
further order of the Court. An ARDC hearing
panel earlier recommended that he be
disbarred for neglecting seven client
matters, failing to communicate with
clients, making misrepresentations to
clients and not refunding two unearned fees.
He failed to appear at his disciplinary
hearing.
In re RONALD A. TASH, Attorney Number
2798328
800 North Clark Street, Suite 215
Chicago, Illinois 60610-7352
File Information: M.R. 22246, 07 CH 108
(Order entered April 15, 2008).
Mr. Tash, who was admitted in 1970, was
suspended on an interim basis and until
further order of the Court. He was charged
with misappropriating at least $280,000 from
a client.
