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NEW FILINGS,
HEARING SCHEDULES AND CLERK'S OFFICE Recent Disciplinary Decisions from Supreme Court | Recently Filed Complaints and Reports | Announcements | Schedule of Hearings | Clerk’s Office Services
ANNOUNCEMENT OF DISCIPLINARY DECISIONS Disciplinary Orders Issued by the
Illinois Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Illinois on Monday, January 28 and on Tuesday, January 29, 2002 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. Discipline ranged from censure to disbarment. 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, can be found in the attached material. The announcement of the orders may ber reviewed at the Supreme Court 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 more than 75,000 registered attorneys in Illinois. A yearly fee of $180 that all lawyers must pay to practice in Illinois funds ARDC. There are no tax dollars used to fund 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 a copy of any of these disciplinary orders contact the Clerk's Office in Chicago at 312-565-2600 or 1-800-826-8625. In re ROBERT ISHAM AULER, Attorney
Number 82074 File Information: M.R. No. 17884, 01 SH 17 Mr. Auler, who was licensed in 1966, was censured.
In two separate matters, he delayed several months before
refunding to his clients the portions of advance fee payments that he
did not earn.
In re
THOMAS R. CIRIGNANI, Attorney Number 3121616 File Information: M.R. 17859, 00 CH 41 Mr. Cirignani, who was licensed in 1978, was suspended for twenty-four months with the suspension stayed after the first six months by probation with certain conditions. He used a physician’s prescription blanks to prescribe controlled substances to himself. In re CHARLES STEPHEN CLAYTON, Attorney
Number 456845 File
Information: M.R. 17858, 01 RC 1521
Mr.
Clayton was licensed in Illinois in 1958 and in Minnesota in 1981. The
Minnesota Supreme Court suspended him for sixty days, followed by two
years of supervised probation with conditions for neglecting a client’s
case and lying to the client about the case’s status. As reciprocal
discipline, he was suspended in Illinois for sixty days followed by
two years of probation subject to the same conditions imposed in
Minnesota.
In re PATRICK JOSEPH CROTTY, Attorney
Number 3121641 File Number: M.R. 17829, 00 CH 73 Mr.
Crotty, who was licensed in 1978, was suspended for five months. As
trustee of a trust, he made a series of loans from trust funds to
various clients and to his sister without proper disclosure to the
beneficiaries of the trust and without their consent. Thereafter, he
failed to complete an accounting for the trust.
In re
RUDYARD ERIC DAVIDSON, Attorney Number 6224754 File Information: M.R. 17869, 01 CH 52 Mr. Davidson, who was licensed in 1994, was suspended for six months and
until further order of Court. He
neglected two client matters by abandoning his law practice to pursue
a business opportunity in Trinidad, West Indies.
In re TIMOTHY FRANCIS EDDY, Attorney
Number 6202513 File information: M.R. 17775, 00 CH 84 Mr. Eddy, who was licensed in 1989, was disbarred after he misappropriated
$81,000 from a collection client. He later abandoned his law
office and failed to participate in the disciplinary proceedings.
In re
TERENCE MICHAEL FENELON, Attorney Number 3126087 File Information: M.R. 17882, 00 CH 39 Mr. Fenelon, who was licensed in 1980, was suspended for 30 days with the suspension stayed in its entirety by probation subject to conditions. He failed to timely disburse funds relating to a client’s dissolution of marriage and bankruptcy matters. In
re THEODORE JOHN FORSBERG, Attorney Number 850535 File
information: M.R. 17801, 99 CH 44
Mr.
Forsberg, who was licensed in 1973, was suspended for two years and
until further order of Court. He misappropriated approximately
$130,000 that he had agreed to hold in connection with a client’s
dissolution of marriage case. He also failed to cooperate with the
disciplinary investigation.
In re ROBERT J. FREJLICH, Attorney Number
3123328 File information: M.R. 17774, 99 CH 85 Mr. Frejlich, who was licensed to practice in 1979, was disbarred. He misappropriated approximately $23,000 from clients and others over a three-year period, commingled funds, and failed to keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a legal matter. He had previously been suspended for neglect. In
re PAUL M. GOLDMAN, Attorney Number 6185554 File Information: M.R. 17799, 00 CH 94 In re PHILIP CHARLES HORN, Attorney Number
6201317 File
information: M.R. 17809, 01 CH 33
Mr. Horn, who was licensed in 1989,
was suspended for four months and ordered
to complete the Illinois Professional Responsibility Institute program
and twelve hours of continuing legal education in real estate and
estate planning. He assisted in the unauthorized practice of
law in the estate planning area, shared legal fees with a non-lawyer,
and formed a partnership with a non-lawyer. He also failed to provide
competent representation in a real estate matter and entered into an
agreement with a client improperly limiting his own liability.
In re SPENCER JOHNSON, Jr., Attorney
Number 6221018 File Information: M.R. 17852, 00 IA 2003 Mr. Johnson, who was licensed in 1994, was placed on disability inactive status. He appeared in court intoxicated on a Class X criminal matter. He lacks the capacity to practice law due to his addiction to alcohol. In re THERESA KOWALSKI-BRADLEY, Attorney
Number 6207324 File
Information: M.R. 17802, 99 CH 77
Ms. Kowalski-Bradley, who was licensed in 1991, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court. She neglected numerous client matters, made misrepresentations to clients about the status of their legal matters, and failed to cooperate with the disciplinary proceedings. In
re DAVID MICHAEL LEVIN, Attorney Number 1630768 File information: M.R. 17754, 99 CH 42 Mr. Levin, who was licensed in 1974, was suspended for ninety days and until certain restitution is made. He issued bad checks to pay obligations of his law practice. In re JOSEPH A.
LYDEN, Attorney Number 1712128 File Information: M.R. 17951, 01 CH 100 Mr. Lyden, who was licensed in 1978, was disbarred on consent. He misappropriated at least $59,651.84 of funds held on behalf of clients or third persons. He also neglected two personal injury matters, misrepresented the status of those two cases to his clients over a number of years, and then falsely represented to the clients that the cases had been settled. He then tendered settlement checks drawn on his own client trust fund account to the clients. In
re Laura Lynn McGarragan, Attorney Number 6199753 File Information: M.R. 17889, 00 CH 90
Ms. McGarragan, who was licensed in 1989, was suspended for three years. She converted funds due to four different clients or to third persons on her clients’ behalf. She also mishandled funds due to a client by depositing them in an out-of-state bank account unrelated to her law practice, and she represented both the client and a creditor of the client in relation to the distribution of the funds. She has made restitution to the clients whose funds she converted. In re CURTIS W. MYERS, Attorney Number
2006405 File Information: M.R. 17766, 99 SH 88 Mr. Myers, who was licensed in 1973, was censured. He omitted certain facts during court proceedings in which he and his wife sought to be appointed guardian for minors related to Mr. Myers. In
re PHILIP H. PALMER, Attorney Number 6191783 File Information: M.R. 17881, 00 SH 13 Mr. Palmer, who was licensed in 1985, was suspended for three years and until further order of Court, retroactive to May 7, 2001, with all but the first twelve months stayed by probation subject to conditions. He was convicted of multiple DUI offenses as well as felony driving with a revoked license. He was suspended on an interim basis on May 7, 2001. In re
LINDA KAY STATON, Attorney Number 3129081 File Information: M.R. 17892, 01 CH 28 Ms. Staton, who was licensed in 1981, was disbarred. She converted at least $12,519.30 in funds belonging to an estate, neglected a probate matter, failed to register to practice law, and did not cooperate with the disciplinary investigation. In
re MICHAEL ALLEN STONE, Attorney Number 6238176 File information: M.R. 17800, 01 CH 67 Mr. Stone, who was licensed in 1996, was censured. While employed as an associate at a large Chicago law firm, he backdated forms relating to his clients’ business transaction, then submitted the falsely dated forms to the Internal Revenue Service. When the clients learned of the false dates from the Internal Revenue Service, the firm took steps to prevent any harm to the clients as a result of Mr. Stone’s conduct. In re THOMAS F. WAGNER, Attorney Number
2916665 File Information: M.R. 17830, 01 RC 1520 Mr. Wagner was admitted to the practice of law in Illinois and Indiana in 1973. He voluntarily resigned from the Indiana bar after he had been charged with neglecting six client matters, making misrepresentations to three clients, commingling client funds with his own, and failing to cooperate with the disciplinary authority. As reciprocal discipline, the Illinois Supreme Court suspended him until he is reinstated in Indiana. In re ROBERT JAMES WHEELER, Attorney
Number 6228425 File Information: M.R. 17911, 00 CH 71 Mr. Wheeler, who was licensed in 1980, was suspended for two years and until he makes restitution. He converted $5000 in earnest money belonging to a trust and misappropriated $104 in earnest money belonging to a client. He also failed to timely register to practice law for 1998, 1999, and 2000. In re JAMES GERARD WIARD, Attorney Number
3122897 File Information: M.R. 17755, 99 CH 50 Mr. Wiard, who was licensed in 1978,
was suspended for three years and until further order of Court. He
converted the funds of a client who was unable to manage her own
affairs. After the
conversion was discovered, he misrepresented that he had removed the
funds from the client's account and placed them into a trust account
in her name. He later repaid the funds with a personal check that he
altered to make it appear as though it had been drawn on a trust
account opened in the client's name.
THE
FOLLOWING DISCIPLINARY ORDERS WERE ENTERED BY THE COURT BEFORE JANUARY
TERM BUT WERE NOT INCLUDED IN ANY PREVIOUS INFORMATION RELEASE:
In
re PAUL G. PETERSON, Attorney Number 6183940 File
Information: M.R. 17788, 01 CH 83 Order entered: Dec. 27, 2001 Mr. Peterson, who was licensed in 1982, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of Court. He used controlled substances as a self-prescribed, therapeutic treatment for an alleged mental disability. A forensic psychiatrist has concluded that he suffers from several psychiatric disorders. In re JOSEPH P. SPIEZER, Attorney Number
2689634 File Information: M.R. 17752, 00 SH 49 Order Entered: Dec. 11, 2001 Mr. Spiezer, who was licensed in
1973, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of
Court. He neglected at least four client matters, made repeated
misrepresentations to three of those clients about the status of their
cases, and failed to cooperate with the disciplinary process. After
one client filed a grievance against him, he met with her at her home
and advised her that the insurance company had offered $5,000 to
settle the lawsuit. When
the client rejected the offer, Spiezer offered to pay her $5,000 of
his own funds if she dropped her complaint before the ARDC and if she
promised not to take any other legal action against him.
In re KENNETH PAUL ZUREK, Attorney Number
6187280 File Information: M.R. 17729, 99 CH 45 Order Entered: Dec. 11, 2001 Mr. Zurek, who was licensed in 1984, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of Court. He engaged in profane and offensive conduct during the course of a discovery deposition and took other action in litigation that he knew or reasonably should have known served merely to harass or maliciously injure. |
