BARRY ALAN MATTES, Chicago: Mattes, who was licensed in 1981, was disbarred on consent. He stole checks and credit card information from the mailboxes of eight residents of his Chicago condominium building and used the stolen information to fraudulently purchase goods valued at $9,892.62 from mail-order retailers.
DANIEL J. MCNAMARA, Chicago: McNamara, who was licensed in 1987, was suspended for three years and until further order of the Court with all but the first 90 days stayed by a two-year period of probation. He neglected nine property tax appeal matters and made misrepresentations to several of his clients about the status of their tax appeals.
MARK HATLEN MENNES, River Forest: Mennes, who was licensed in 1974, was suspended for two years and until further order of the court, with all but the first year of suspension stayed by probation subject to the conditions. He neglected a workers' compensation matter, initially failed to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation, and engaged in an improper loan transaction between elderly clients and his adult son.
MICHAEL JAMES MEYER, Effingham: Meyer, who was licensed in 1975, was censured. He accepted a settlement check from the guaranty fund of an insolvent insurer on behalf of a client without any intention of having his client execute a release of all claims. He also made a false statement concerning his failure to return an executed release. After cashing the settlement check, he proceeded to file suit against the same insureds, seeking further compensation for his client.
PATRICK JOSEPH MITCHELL, Chicago: Mitchell, who was licensed in 1989, was suspended for 60 days. He mismanaged $2,200 of a client's personal injury settlement that he was holding to pay medical providers.
LONA L. MONSON, Chicago: Monson was licensed in Illinois in 1987 and in Oregon in 1989. The Supreme Court of Oregon suspended her for one year for aiding non-lawyers in the sale of living trust documents to senior citizens. Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended her for one year and until she is reinstated in Oregon.
LOUIS ERNEST NEUENDORF, Sandwich: Neuendorf, who was licensed in 1950, was disbarred for continuing to practice law during a 90-day suspension.
WARREN JOSEPH NICKEL, Burnham: Nickel, who was licensed in 1984, was disbarred. He misappropriated more than $93,000 belonging to a 92-year-old sole surviving legatee of his client's estate. He also filed false documents and made misrepresentations to a tribunal.
GERALD DAVID WILLIAM NORTH, Scottsdale, Ariz.: North was licensed in Illinois in 1977 and in Arizona in 1985. He was suspended for six months and one day in Arizona for agreeing to an aggregate settlement without the consent of all of his clients and for unilaterally determining the amount of each client's settlement award without the clients' consent. He also failed to distribute promptly an award in another client matter, and he failed to communicate with a client. The Illinois Supreme Court suspended him for three months and until he files proof of compliance with the conditions of his Arizona discipline.
JENNIFER A. O'NEILL, Palos Heights: O'Neill, who was licensed in 1999, was suspended for 30 days. She neglected a civil case, provided her employer with false information about that case's status, and then fabricated a purported court order in order to conceal from her employer her inattention to the case.
JAMES E. PANCRATZ, Chicago: Pancratz, who was licensed in 1983, was suspended for three months. He participated in a scheme to enable another attorney to violate election law by disguising a $5,000 contribution to a judicial campaign fund.
ARTHUR CHRISTOPHER ROBINSON, LaGrange Park: Robinson, who was licensed in 1974, was suspended for one year. He engaged in a conflict of interest in an estate matter, failed to protect the assets of the estate, did not disclose to the probate court the withdrawal of certain estate funds, and was not candid to a tribunal and to third parties.
KARREAN MARIE ROLLING-HOLMES, South Holland: Rolling-Holmes, who was licensed in 1995, was suspended for three years and until further order of the court. She continued to practice law after her 2003 suspension for professional misconduct.
KAREN J. ROOSE, Lake City, Colo: Roose was licensed in Illinois in 1997 and in Colorado in 1999. She was suspended for one year and one day in Colorado for walking out of a trial in violation of a court order that required her to stay, and for making false statements in a notice of appeal. Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended her for one year and until she is reinstated to practice in Colorado.
RICHARD PATRICK RYAN, Grayslake: Ryan, who was licensed in 1980, was suspended for one year. He entered a courthouse facility while possessing cocaine and cannabis.
ROBERTA LEE SAMOTNY, Chicago: Samotny, who was licensed in 1983, was disbarred. She neglected five criminal matters, failed to refund unearned fees to clients, made misrepresentations in order to obtain health insurance and failed to cooperate in the disciplinary proceeding. She was suspended in 1997 for neglect of a criminal appeal.
DAVID ALAN SCHECHTER, Louisville, Ky.: Schechter was licensed in Illinois in 1964 and in Kentucky in 1972. He was suspended for two years in Kentucky for violating federal wiretap statutes after he had a listening device placed on his partner's telephone in their law office. Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended him for two years and until he is reinstated in Kentucky.
CHESTER SLAUGHTER, Chicago: Slaughter, who was licensed in 1971, was suspended for five months. He received credit through five separate credit and loan applications by providing false or misleading personal information to the lenders.
VANESSA SMITH, Chicago: Smith, who was licensed in 1997, was disbarred. She made false statements in her application for admission to the Illinois bar, committed a criminal act by failing to maintain records of firearms transfers, and engaged in illegal conduct by possessing unregisterable guns in Chicago in violation of the Municipal Code of the City of Chicago. She also obtained and possessed confidential documents belonging to a former employer, Merrill Lynch.
BRENDA JOYCE STIDHAM, Dallas, Tex.: Stidham was licensed in Illinois in 1978 and was also licensed in Texas. She was disbarred in Texas for neglecting a client matter, practicing law while suspended, and failing to participate in her Texas disciplinary proceedings. Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended her for six months and until she is reinstated in Texas.
HENRY THOMPSON TUCKER Jr., Richmond, Va.: Tucker was licensed in Virginia in 1975 and in Illinois in 1976. He was disbarred in Virginia after being convicted of money laundering and wire fraud. Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and disbarred him.
MARK VAN PERNIS, Kailua Kona, Hawaii: Van Pernis was licensed in Illinois in 1974 and in Hawaii in 1976. Hawaii suspended him for three months for harassing a court-appointed foreclosure commissioner. Illinois imposed a three-month suspension as reciprocal discipline.
HERBERT VICTOR, Chicago: Victor, who was licensed in 1958, was disbarred. He misappropriated more than $122,000 in real estate proceeds after forging his client's name to a check. He also neglected client matters, failed to return unearned fees, failed to respond to client requests for information about their respective cases, and failed to participate in the disciplinary proceeding.
ANDREW A. XAMPLAS, Skokie: Xamplas, who was licensed in 1990, was suspended for one year and until further order of the court. He practiced law while unregistered, did not refund unearned fees, failed to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation, and neglected criminal, personal injury and bankruptcy matters.
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The following disciplinary order was entered by the court before the September term but was not included in any previous information release.
ARNIM JOHNSON Jr., Chicago: Johnson, who was licensed in 1980, was suspended in 2003 for six months with the suspension stayed by a two-year period of probation with conditions. He neglected three personal injury matters, paid one of his clients $500 to settle all malpractice claims she might have against him without advising the client that she should consult independent counsel, and issued two checks to the sheriff of Cook County that were returned for insufficient funds. Because he failed to comply with all of the conditions of his probation, his probation was revoked, and he was suspended for six months.
Visit New Zealand with Ole Bly Pace
For information about the ISBA-sponsored travel program in New Zealand that President Ole Bly Pace III will lead next March 5 to 18, call Carrousel Travel, (800) 800-6508. Brochures are available in ISBA offices.
The land package price of $2,990 includes 11 nights in fine hotels, daily breakfast, four lunches, five dinners, private coach tours, and services of a travel escort. Participants will arrange their own air transportation.
Antonin Scalia, Henry Hyde to attend DuPage Red Mass
The DuPage County legal community has joined the growing roster of legal organizations that conduct Red Masses each fall.
The Catholic Lawyers Guild of Chicago held its annual Red Mass on Oct. 3 at Holy Name Cathedral. The Will County Bar Association will do the same at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Joliet. One is also being planned Oct. 16 by the Lake County Bar.
The St. Thomas More Society of DuPage County will conduct its inaugural Red Mass at 12:15 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21, at St. Daniel the Prophet Catholic Church in Wheaton. A brunch will follow the service, with limited seating.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Congressman Henry Hyde have been invited to participate and are expected to attend as featured speakers. Illinois Supreme Court Justice Robert Thomas will administer an oath to all attorneys who attend.
Judges, lawyers, politicians and officials of all faiths may attend for the blessing and enlightenment of civic and religious leaders and servants of the law in maintaining a just and free society. Participants are requested to wear something red, and judges should wear robes during the service.
For more information, call Eddie Wollenberg at (630) 668-2415. Brunch tickets at $50 per person or $400 for tables of eight must be purchased in advance. Payments may be mailed to The St. Thomas More Society, 295 Forest, Glen Ellyn, Ill. 60137.
Start your research with ISBA's links
Even in the age of Google, it's nice to have a list of law-related resources readily at hand. That's what you'll find at ISBA's "Research and Web Links" page, which you can access at <http://www.isba.org/Research/> or simply by clicking on "Research Links" under Other Practice Resources on the maroon left-hand navigation bar at <www.isba.org>.
The links are divided into five sections, starting with the ISBA Legal Forms Center, which is the product of a partnership between ISBA and LawInfo.com. The Forms Center aggregates forms from a number of court and other public domain Web sites on topics ranging from alternative dispute resolution to workers' comp.
Next come the Illinois Law-Related Links, a large but easy-to-navigate collection of links to Illinois and Illinois-based opinions, courts, agencies and other resources. It's followed by a set of links to Illinois state agencies, arranged alphabetically from the Department on Aging to the Department of Veteran's Affairs. Then there's a link to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules' online version of the Illinois Administrative Code and, finally, a set of links to miscellaneous federal and other-state resources.
Nearly all of the linked-to resources are free to ISBA members. And if that isn't enough, you'll find a number of practice-area-specific research links on the various section pages housed on the ISBA Web site. They're available at <http://www.isba.org/Sections/>.
Director of Legislative Affairs
New public acts continue to become law, some of which may be of interest to ISBA members.
Split lots and more city council. Public Act 93-1007 amends the Illinois Municipal Code to authorize the owner or owners of a "split residential lot" to disconnect a portion of that lot under certain circumstances with court approval. Those circumstances include the following: (1) The lot must be residentially zoned and platted and lying partially within the corporate limits of and governed by two or more municipalities or lying within the corporate limits of one or more municipalities. (2) Contains less than 20 acres. (3) Located on the border of the municipality. (4) Disconnection will not result in the isolation of any part of the municipality from the remainder of the municipality.
Any part of land that is disconnected under this law from a municipality that was incorporated at least two years before the filing of the petition for disconnection may not be subdivided into lots or blocks within one year from the date of disconnection. A plat of a proposed subdivision may not be accepted for recording within this one-year period, unless the land comprising the proposed subdivision has been thereafter annexed into a municipality.
In cities under the managerial form of municipal government with less than 50,000 population, the Act also authorizes the city council to increase the city council from four to six members after the next biennial general municipal election. Creates procedures for electing the additional members. Effective Jan. 1, 2005.
Trust legislation I. Public Act 93-991 amends the Uniform TOD Security Registration Act to define "security account" to also include an investment management or custody account with a trust company or trust division of a bank with trust powers, including the securities in the account, a cash balance in the account, and cash, equivalents, interest, earnings, or dividends earned or declared on a security in the account, whether or not credited to the account before the owner's death.
It also makes technical changes to the definition of trust income under Internal Revenue Code Section 643(b). Those changes include deleting restrictions from marital, generation-skipping and other trusts made unnecessary by the regulations; adds provisions required by the regulations stating that distributions from total return trusts and noncharitable unitrusts constitute a reasonable apportionment of total return; and confirms that charitable pooled income funds are not affected. Effective Aug. 23, 2004.
Trust legislation II. Public Act 93-695 amends Section 4.20 of the Trust and Trustees Act to add to the events allowing a trustee to distribute income or principal to include a trust created before the distribution became payable for the sole benefit of the beneficiary and those dependent upon the beneficiary. Effective July 9, 2004.
Uniform Limited Partnership Act. Public Act 93-967 creates the Uniform Limited Partnership Act (2001) and repeals the Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act. Effective Jan. 1, 2005.
Gestational Surrogacy Act. Public Act 93-921 creates the Gestational Surrogacy Act to provide guidelines for creating surrogacy contracts. It establishes the eligibility requirements for becoming a surrogate and changes the Paternity Act concerning the establishment of the parent and child relationship to include the provisions outlined in the Gestational Surrogacy Act. Effective Jan. 1, 2005.