The ISBA Human Rights Section and the Blind Service Association will conduct the fourth annual Elmer Gertz Award dinner Nov. 18 in Chicago.
The award will be presented to an Illinois attorney who exemplifies the commitment by Elmer Gertz to the advancement of individual rights and civil liberties.
The deadline for nominations is Tuesday, June 1. To obtain a nomination form or additional information, call general counsel Mary T. McDermott in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office, (312) 726-8775.
Supreme Court disciplinary orders: March 2004
The Illinois Supreme Court filed the following disciplinary orders on March 12 and March 15. Summaries are provided by the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.
WILLIAM OLIVER ARNOLD, Chicago: Arnold, who was licensed in 1988, was disbarred. He misappropriated $15,145 from two clients, one of whom was an elderly woman.
ALAN SCOTT BELKIN, Cleveland, Ohio: Belkin was licensed in Illinois and Ohio in 1972. He resigned from the Ohio bar while a disciplinary action was pending against him, alleging that he had neglected client matters and had engaged in a pattern of misconduct. The Illinois Supreme Court imposed reciprocal discipline by suspending Belkin until he is reinstated in Ohio.
THOMAS J. BURNS, Elgin: Burns, who was licensed in 1996, was suspended for 60 days. Without authority, he used two checks belonging to his then-girlfriend to pay approximately $800 he owed the telephone company. He also made a false statement in an application for a credit card, by claiming to be employed as an attorney at an annual salary of $58,000 when he was actually unemployed.
ROBERT J. EMERY, Wheeling: Emery, who was licensed in 1983, was disbarred on consent. He misappropriated at least $70,000 of client and third-party funds, neglected a client matter, and engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation. He was suspended on an interim basis on Dec. 4, 2003.
DENNIS LINLY HALL, Phoenix, Ariz.: Hall was licensed in Illinois in 1990 and in Arizona the following year. The Supreme Court of Arizona concluded that he had commingled client funds and failed to follow required trust account guidelines. He was censured and placed on probation for one year, during which time he must attend a trust account ethics enhancement program. The Illinois Supreme Court censured him, as reciprocal discipline, and placed him on probation for one year subject to the conditions of his Arizona probation.
RODNEY LANE HARRISON, Urbana: Harrison, who was licensed in 1992, was suspended for one year and until further order of the court, with the suspension stayed by a five-year period of probation with conditions. He neglected traffic and criminal cases, and did not adequately communicate with his clients. He also misrepresented the status of a case to a client and failed to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation.
WILLIAM JAMES HOGAN, River Forest: Hogan, who was licensed in 1986, was disbarred on consent. He misappropriated more than $83,000 from four individuals while falsely representing to them that he had invested the money on their behalf. He also sent those investors statements and e-mails that were false.
PHILIP CHARLES HORN, Buffalo Grove: Horn, who was licensed in 1989, was suspended for two years and until further order of the court. He neglected a personal injury case and a real estate matter, failed to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation, and did not appear at his disciplinary hearing.
ROBERT HOWARD KAEDING, Lake Forest: Kaeding, who was licensed in 1974, was suspended for 90 days. Kaeding engaged in a conflict of interest when he served as both a real estate broker and an attorney for two clients in their purchase of two condominium units.
BILL J. MILNER, Salem: Milner, who was licensed in 1986, was suspended for three months and until further order of the court, with the suspension stayed by two years of probation with conditions. He was convicted of battering a sheriff's deputy who was responding to a domestic dispute, and he violated the terms of probation by using alcohol and illegal drugs.
REID SCOTT NEUMAN, Northbrook: Neuman, who was licensed in 1977, was disbarred. He neglected 12 separate client matters, failed to communicate with his clients, failed to refund unearned fees and misappropriated client funds. He also failed to participate in the disciplinary hearing.
JOSEPH AMBROSE PEIFFER, Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Peiffer was licensed in Iowa in 1982 and in Illinois in 1985. He was reprimanded in Iowa after he failed to conduct an adequate review of his clients' documents pertaining to a loan from the credit union to purchase a boat. The clients sold the boat to a buyer who had no knowledge of the credit union's perfected security interest, and the clients invested the proceeds of the sale in exempt assets which they could retain after filing for bankruptcy. Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and reprimanded him.
PAUL G. PETERSON, Chicago: Peterson, who was licensed in 1982, was suspended for 30 months and until further order of the court. He possessed a controlled substance, cannabis, in violation of Illinois law. He also threatened to present, and did present, professional disciplinary charges against another attorney to obtain an advantage in a civil matter.
ROBERT P. RITACCA, Waukegan: Ritacca, who was licensed in 1980, was suspended for one year and until further order of the court, with the suspension stayed in its entirety by a one-year period of probation with conditions. He failed to disclose the identity of his client when required to do so, contacted a represented person without permission, and failed to supervise properly a non-lawyer subordinate.
JOSEPH KINGSLAND ROBBINS, St. Louis, Mo: Robbins was licensed in Missouri in 1985 and in Illinois the following year. The Missouri Supreme Court placed him on probation for one year, subject to conditions, for neglecting two client matters. The Illinois Supreme Court imposed reciprocal discipline by suspending him for one year, staying the suspension in its entirety, and placing him on probation for one year subject to the conditions of his Missouri probation.
JAMES JOSEPH ROMANEK, Lawrence, Kansas: Romanek, who was licensed in 1976, was disbarred. He induced family members and a friend to make loans to him after he showed them fabricated documents that purported to prove that he was about to receive an $854,000 settlement check from a former employer. He also fled criminal charges pending against him in Kansas for driving under the influence.
ROBERT V. SHUFF JR., Mt. Vernon: Shuff, who was licensed in 1977, was suspended for 18 months and until he satisfies a judgment in favor of a decedent's estate for approximately $28,000. While he represented the estate, he misappropriated $4,200 of estate funds and failed to properly supervise his paralegal/secretary, who misappropriated an additional $19,570. He also neglected two of a client's workers' compensation matters.
SHIRLEY LEU-TUAN WONG, Chicago: Wong, who was licensed in 1980, was suspended for six months. She mismanaged $38,297 in insurance proceeds that she had agreed to hold in escrow for the restoration of an apartment building.
The following disciplinary orders were entered by the court before the March term but were not included in any previous information release.
MARY ELIZABETH GORECKI, St. Charles (mandate issued Jan. 30, 2004): Gorecki, who was licensed in 1991, was suspended for four months. She falsely stated or implied, in a series of messages left on a telephone answering machine, that she had the ability to influence a public official if bribe money was paid to that official.
PETER ANGELO LOUTOS, Park Ridge (mandate issued Feb. 5, 2004): Loutos, who was licensed in 1964, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the court. He was convicted in federal court of aiding and abetting a false statement and was sentenced to a 37-month term of imprisonment.
LEONARD THOMAS TIMPONE, Oak Brook (mandate issued Feb. 20, 2004): Timpone, who was licensed in 1970, was suspended for 42 months and until further order of the court, effective March 26, 2001, the date of his interim suspension. He engaged in a conflict of interest by obtaining a $35,000 loan from a client, misappropriated more than $19,000 in settlement funds belonging to another client, and made misrepresentations to the disciplinary authority regarding his handling of those settlement funds.
'Hog Butcher' is ripe for parody by Mike Cramer
Hog Butcher for the World?
Dealmaker, Stacker of Decks
Changer of Airplanes, Changer of Lives
Boxy, Functional, Boozy
City of the Big Shoulders
If that verse seems vaguely familiar, but not quite the way you recall that Carl Sandburg wrote it, go to the head of the class.
The introduction above and several stanzas that follow were penned by Chicago attorney Michael H. Cramer for the exhibition, "Big Small Town," that is being shown this month at Up the Stairs, a new gallery at 1935 W. North Ave.
A partner in Sachnoff & Weaver, Cramer is curator of the exhibition, which is a benefit for Around the Coyote, a 15-year-old not-for-profit arts organization. Works by 20 artists will explore such Chicago topics as its people, architecture, history and gentrification.
Cramer's foray into parody verse is a departure from previous gallery exhibits of his multi-media graphic arts compositions. Some have been benefits for the Coordinated Advice and Referral Program for Legal Services (CARPLS), which he serves as vice president.
His editorial cartoons were published for several years in the ISBA Bar News, and his caricatures of politicians frequently illustrate articles in Illinois Issues magazine.
For more information about the artists and hours of the "Big Small Town" exhibit, call Sarah Hamilton at (773) 342-6777.
CARPLS to present Golden Gavels May 4
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Sports Illustrated associate editor and attorney Lester E. Munson Jr. will receive Golden Gavel Awards next month from the Coordinated Advice and Referral Program for Legal Services (CARPLS).
The presentations will take place during the organization's annual benefit reception and silent auction from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 4, at the Northern Trust Bank in Chicago. For information about sponsorships or tickets, call (312) 421-4014.
Madigan will be honored for ongoing support of CARPLS and the Equal Justice Illinois Campaign as a legislator and attorney general. She has advocated increased state funding for legal aid services.
Munson will be recognized for his talent and dedication as master of ceremonies for Golden Gavel Award ceremonies since 1999, as well as support for the work of CARPLS.
A legal aid telephone hotline network, CARPLS has staff attorneys and volunteers who answer legal questions or refer qualified callers to appropriate provider agencies.
To offer additional assistance to low-income pro se litigants in domestic relations matters, CARPLS recently established a self-help desk on the 30th floor of the Richard J. Daley Center. It is staffed five mornings each week by two family law attorneys and an intake assistant.
Free legal consultations are offered on marriage dissolution, custody, visitation and child support issues, but the attorneys are not available to represent clients in court.
CARPLS also has expanded its hotline program to law school clinics for evening students in a joint venture with the Chicago-Kent College of Law and BTI Communications Group. The pilot project consists of an Inter-Tel Axxess phone system with six stations and Internet outlets.
The new partnership will tap into volunteer resources that were not available previously. Law students will be trained to conduct telephone interviews relating to landlord-tenant and family law matters.
The Illinois Bar Foundation recently provided a $10,000 grants to CARPLS to support the salary of a part-time staff attorney. That brings the total of Bar Foundation grants for CARPLS to $146,750 since 1993.
Discounted Access for ISBA Members to Annotated Administrative Code
Does the Illinois Administrative Code play an important role in your practice? If so, visit <www.ilcode.net> for a look at a new, one-of-a-kind online database of Code annotations. The good news if you're an ISBA member you're entitled to a special discount.
The ilcode.net service, a product of Jupiter Communications, enables researchers to determine whether a court has cited to a given Code section or subsection. More than that, it provides headnotes covering each provision of a cited Code section.
To understand how ilcode.net works, you might consider the difference between the unannotated ILCS and the annotated versions ilcode.net supplies the equivalent of annotated ILCS "notes of decisions." Illinois Digest rarely identifies the administrative code citation, and Shepard's Illinois Citations does not identify cases that cite the Illinois Administrative Code; ilcode.net fills the gap.
What's more, ISBA members can subscribe to ilcode.net at a near 25-percent discount ($75 per year, versus $99 per year for nonmembers). To subscribe, click on the banner ad on ISBA homepage or go to <www.ilcode.net> and follow the instructions at "Subscriptions" on the drop down list.
Director of Legislative Affairs
The two chambers in Springfield have exchanged bills to begin committee action in the other chamber. The following is a sampling of what legislation is still moving through the process.
Law library fee. House Bill 4370 (Beaubien, R-Barrington Hills) authorizes a county board to increase the county law library fee that is assessed against litigants in civil cases from a maximum of $10 to a maximum of $13.
Neutral custody site exchange fee. House Bill 4239 (Lindner, R-Aurora) authorizes any county (now, only a county with a population of more than 100,000 and less than 1,000,000) to establish a neutral site custody exchange fund. Under current law the fee is charged against litigants in civil cases and may range from $1 to $8.
Uniform Limited Partnership Act. Senate Bill 2982 (Harmon, D-Oak Park) creates the Uniform Limited Partnership Act (2001) and repeals the Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act.
Automatic contract renewal. Under current law a consumer contract that is subject to automatic renewal must have that clause appear in a clear and conspicuous manner. House Bill 4450 (Kelly, D-Matteson) repeals that requirement but does require the consumer's written autho