The presentation will be webcast, recorded and archived so attorneys can participate from remote locations or review it at a later date. For details, call center director Peter M. Ashmore at (312) 332-1688.
The center is named in memory of Chicago attorney Harold Levine, who died May 25 after a career in which he was honored for his advocacy of pro bono representation and continuing legal education, and his diligence in combating the unauthorized practice of law.
A Laureate of the Academy of Illinois Lawyers, he received an ISBA Pro Bono Service Award, a Chicago Bar Association Pro Bono Award, and a Harrison Tweed Award from the American Bar Association and American Law Institute.
A past chair of the original ISBA Committee on Public Protection from the Unauthorized Practice of Law and member of the current UPL task force, Levine also served on the ISBA Board of Governors, the Real Estate Law Section Council and the Committee on Delivery of Legal Services.
Establishment of the Center for Housing was announced during the CVLS annual reception Dec. 3 by ISBA Assembly member Samuel H. Levine, who chairs the Real Estate Law Section Council. It is funded in part by the Harold I. Levine Foundation.
Illinois Supreme Court disciplinary orders: January 2004
The following disciplinary orders were filed Jan. 21 by the Illinois Supreme Court. Summaries are provided by the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.
GUY JOSEPH BACCI III, North Riverside: Bacci, who was licensed in 1975, was disbarred on consent. He pled guilty to the theft of $755,000 after he settled an elderly couple's personal injury case without the clients' knowledge and misappropriated the proceeds. Suspended on an interim basis since June 2, 2003, he is now serving an eight-year prison sentence.
ADAM D. BOURGEOIS Jr. Chicago: Bourgeois, who was licensed in 1980, was suspended for two months. He gave false answers to five questions on his successful 1999 application for an associate Cook County judgeship.
JOEL ALAN BRODSKY, Wilmette: Brodsky, who was licensed in 1982, was suspended for three months. In order to close a probate estate's bank account and receive the funds, he signed the dead executor's name to bank documents needed to release the funds.
WES COWELL, Chicago: Cowell, who was licensed in 1991, was suspended for one year and until further order of Court, with all but the first 60 days of the suspension stayed by a two-year period of probation. He mismanaged $10,279.52 in funds belonging to his clients, his clients' spouses, and a third party.
CARL FRANKLIN DIXON, Kenilworth: Dixon, who was licensed in 1975, was disbarred on consent. He embezzled approximately $332,500 from the Kidney Cancer Association, a charity of which he was president and chief executive officer.
JOSEPH LEE DOMBROWSKI, Chicago: Dombrowski, who was licensed in 1966, was suspended for three years. He was involved in at least 14 wrongful death cases where the clients were improperly solicited or referred to him. Eight of the clients were solicited or recommended by funeral directors who had provided funeral services and who had solicited relatives of the victims. Five of the clients were solicited or referred by an employee in the intake division of the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office.
JAY DAVID FREIDIN, Deerfield: Freidin, who was licensed in 1975, was suspended for 60 days and until further order of Court, with the suspension stayed in its entirety pending completion of a one-year period of probation with conditions. He neglected a dissolution of marriage case and a child support case, was convicted of three DUI's, and initially failed to cooperate with the disciplinary investigations.
TANYA M. GIBSON, Pittsburgh, Pa.: Gibson, who was licensed in 1996, was suspended for six months and until she successfully completes a course conducted by the Illinois Professional Responsibility Institute and makes certain restitution to one of her former clients. She neglected three client matters and converted funds that should have been used to pay filing fees and court costs.
GEORGE B. GILLESPIE, Springfield: Gillespie, who was licensed in 1952, was suspended for two years and until he makes certain restitution. He converted a fee of $126,000 that he should have turned over to his law firm. He also concealed the receipt of the fee from another attorney with whom he had originally agreed to share the fee.
PAUL M. GOLDMAN, Oak Park: Goldman, who was licensed in 1983, was suspended for one year and until further order of court. He neglected two civil matters, made misrepresentations to clients, obtained an unreasonable fee, and failed to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation. He was suspended in January 2002 for similar misconduct.
DIANE ELAINE GREANIAS, Peoria Heights: Greanias, who was licensed in 1980, was suspended for two years and until further order of court. She filed numerous pleadings in which she falsely accused opponents and Industrial Commission representatives of dishonest conduct and fraud.
MICHAEL PAUL GREENWALD, Gary, Ind.: Greenwald, who was licensed in 1979, was suspended for 60 days. He mismanaged $3,476.92 of client and third-party funds relating to a personal injury settlement.
JIMMIE L. JONES, Chicago: Jones, who was licensed in 1988, was suspended for 30 days and is required to complete a law office management course. He neglected a criminal appeal.
DONALD W. LEE, Chicago: Lee, who was licensed in 1993, was disbarred. He was convicted in federal court of bankruptcy fraud. He was sentenced to a period of probation of five years with a six-month period of home confinement with electronic monitoring. He was further ordered to pay restitution and fines of $1,000, and he must complete 200 hours of community service.
JAMES ANTHONY MALONEY, Loves Park: Maloney, who was licensed in 1992, was disbarred on consent. He misappropriated $39,016 in funds that he received in connection with his representation of three separate clients, neglected other matters, provided two of his clients with a false document intended to cover up his inattention to their injury claims, failed to return an unearned fee, and had a sexual relationship with a woman while representing her in child custody cases.
BRENT CHARLES MILLER, Tavares, Fla.: Miller was licensed in Illinois in 1987 and in Florida in the following year. The Supreme Court of Florida directed that he be admonished and placed him on probation for one year with various conditions, including that he submit to an analysis of his office management and record keeping procedures. He did not properly supervise his office staff and had failed to maintain contact with clients. The Illinois Supreme Court imposed reciprocal discipline by reprimanding him and placing him on probation for one year subject to the conditions of his Florida probation.
EDWARD BURDETTE MILLER, Chicago: Miller, who was licensed in 1978, was suspended for three years and until further order of court. He neglected 12 client civil matters, made misrepresentations to the clients and a referring attorney about the status of those matters, improperly settled a malpractice claim, and provided false settlement statements to two clients.
ANTHONY IRBY MOREE, Mundelein: Moree, who was licensed in 1985, was suspended for 18 months, with all but the first three months of the suspension stayed by a two-year period of probation. He mismanaged approximately $9,500 of real estate escrow funds and he delivered two NSF checks totaling $1,000 to a client.
THOMAS FREDERICK NEDDERMAN, Chicago: Nedderman, who was licensed in 1969, was suspended for three years and until further order of court. He misappropriated about $209,000 in settlement funds from multiple clients and misled clients and claimants about his handling of settlement funds.
JAMES SAINT SATHER, East Moline: Sather, who was licensed in 1979, was disbarred on consent. He was convicted in the 18th Judicial Circuit in DuPage County for theft of more than $100,000. He was suspended on an interim basis on Oct. 15, 2003, while serving a suspension for other misconduct.
MICHAEL E. TABOR, Berwyn: Tabor, who was licensed in 1982, was suspended for three months and until further order of the court. He neglected a collection case that was entrusted to him and failed to cooperate with disciplinary authorities.
WILLIAM NELSON TWOHEY, Ottawa: Twohey, who was licensed in 1967, was suspended for one year and until he pays certain restitution. He took an unreasonable fee in a probate matter and breached his fiduciary duties to the estate.
MICHAEL EUGENE VLAHAKIS, Chicago: Vlahakis, who was licensed in 1985, was censured. He shared fees with non-lawyers by delegating the management of his law practice finances to a non-lawyer who then took a portion of his fees for herself and a portion for the company that managed his office suite.
The following disciplinary orders were entered by the court before the January term but were not included in any previous information release.
ROBERT J. EMERY, Wheeling: Emery, who was licensed in 1983, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of court. An ARDC Hearing Board earlier recommended that he be disbarred for misappropriating $27,938.21 from a client. While the disciplinary proceeding was pending, additional public charges were filed, this time alleging that he had converted $42,808.18 from another client.
MARY ELIZABETH GORECKI, St. Charles: Gorecki, who was licensed in 1991, was suspended for four months, effective Feb. 1, 2004. She left a series of messages on a telephone answering machine of a friend stating or implying that she had the ability to influence a public official if bribe money was paid to that official.
THOMAS MURPHY HESTER, Chicago: Hester, who was licensed to practice in 1991, was suspended for three years in 2002, with the suspension stayed after 18 months by a period of probation with conditions. He mishandled a total of approximately $72,000 in client funds from eight different clients because he did not maintain a client trust fund account. He served his suspension and began probation, but he never complied with Illinois Supreme Court Rule 764, a rule that places specific obligations on disciplined lawyers. His probation was stayed and he was suspended until he complies with Rule 764 and until further order of court.
WILLIAM SINCLAIR SCHILDMAN, Jacksonville: Schildman, who was licensed in 1969, was suspended for two years and until further order of the court, with restitution in the amount of $1,820. He continued to practice law after he was previously suspended for professional misconduct, engaged in a conflict of interest, failed to return unearned fees, and engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.
The ISBA Committee on Minority and Women Participation is a sponsor of a two-part basic trial skills training program that will take place Tuesday, Feb. 24, and Saturday, March 20, in Chicago.
Other sponsors of the presentations for lawyers with little or no trial experience are the Women's Bar Association of Illinois, the Black Women Lawyers Association of Greater Chicago, and the CBA Alliance for Women.
During the Feb. 24 lecture and demonstration, scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Dirksen Federal Courthouse, experienced women litigators will cover direct and cross examination, evidentiary foundations, and making and meeting objections. Participants will be coached on trial skills.
At the intensive March 20 workshop, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon in the Dirksen Courthouse, participants will conduct direct and cross examination before federal and state judges.
Attendance is limited to 60 registrants. The fee of $85 includes the two programs and all materials. Call (312) 341-8530 to register or obtain more information.
IllinoisCite low-cost research now available to ISBA members
ISBA members now have access to a low-cost legal research alternative with the proven LexisNexis brand. IllinoisCite, available exclusively to Illinois State Bar Association members, offers unlimited access to Illinois cases, statutes and more for only $35 per month per user. Members can sign up by following the links at www.isba.org.
The IllinoisCite database contains Illinois Supreme Court decisions from 1819 and U.S. Supreme Court cases from 1790, Illinois Appellate Court decisions from 1877, the unannotated but up-to-date Illinois Compiled Statutes, federal seventh circuit cases back to 1995, and a variety of court rules and other information.
IllinoisCite subscribers access the service via their Web browsers - no special software is required. Subscribers search the database using the standard LexisNexis Boolean search logic that most ISBA members learned in law school.
While Shepardizing isn't a free feature of IllinoisCite, subscribers can Shepardize a case for only $4.25. If subscribers choose - and only if they choose - they can access and download out-of-state and other cases outside the IllinoisCite library via LexisNexis on a pay-as-you-go basis.
"Though IllinoisCite doesn't have the editorial enhancements and secondary sources you'll find in full-featured versions of LexisNexis, it costs less per month than a meal at an upscale restaurant, and it contains the Illinois cases and statutes that matter most to ISBA members," said Mark Mathewson, ISBA Director of Legal Publishing. "You can do preliminary research there, then go into the full- featured LexisNexis database or another source to finish the job, but at a much lower cost because you know what you're looking for."
Director of Legislative Affairs
The General Assembly is introducing a ton of new bills for them to consider this spring. Some of those that may be of interest to ISBA members include the following.
Bankruptcy exemptions. Senate Bill 2527 (Silverstein, D-Chicago) increases the exemptions for homestead and personal property as follows: (1) Homestead used as a residence from $7,500 to $15,000 for an individual and from $15,000 to $30,000 for 2 or more individuals. (2) Personal property owned by the debtor from $2,000 to $4,000. (3) Equity interest in any one motor vehicle from $1,200 to $2,400. (4) Implements, professional books, or tools of the trade of the debtor from $750 to $1,500.
Uninsured motorists. Senate Bill 2753 (Clayborne, D-East St. Louis) amends the Illinois Insurance Code to remove the American Arbitration Association as the default arbitration organization in uninsured and hit-and-run motor vehicle policies and replaces it with a certified arbitration organization designated in the policy. It also provides that all policies renewed, delivered, or issued for delivery must designate an arbitration organization certified by the Director of the Illinois Department of Insurance. It authorizes the Department to certify arbitration organizations based on certain criteria.
SLAPP lawsuits. Senate Bill 168 (Cronin, R-Elmhurst; Feigenholtz, D-Chicago) creates the Citizen Participation Act to curb "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation" (SLAPPs). It immunizes acts in furtherance of the constitutional rights to petition, speak, associate, and participate in government regardless of intent or purpose unless they are not genuinely aimed at