The Illinois Supreme Court announced the filing of lawyer disciplinary orders on September 21, 2022. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.

Disbarred

Andrew Dag Babcock, Bridgman, Michigan 

Mr. Babcock, who was licensed in 1992, was disbarred on consent. In September 2021, a Michigan jury found him guilty of three counts of criminal sexual conduct. 

Richard William Gannett, Chicago

Mr. Gannett was licensed to practice in Illinois in 1981 and in Massachusetts in 1982. The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts disbarred him for intentionally converting over $42,000 that he was supposed to be holding in connection with an insurance dispute. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and disbarred him. 

Jessica Arong O'Brien, Chicago

Ms. O’Brien, who was licensed in 1998, was disbarred. She has been suspended on an interim basis since April 26, 2018, after a federal jury in Chicago found her guilty of the crimes of mail fraud and bank fraud based on her involvement in a scheme to obtain bank loans by making false statements about her income and liabilities.  

Carlo P. Palladinetti, Chicago

Mr. Palladinetti, who was licensed in 1985, was disbarred. He was found guilty of bank fraud after he participated in a multi-year scheme that provided fraudulent information to lenders in order to qualify buyers for mortgage loans to purchase condominium units owned by other participants in the scheme.

Robert Alan Roth, Crystal Lake

Mr. Roth, who was licensed in 1979, was disbarred on consent. His misconduct arose from his June 2021 conviction in Lake County for aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol, causing the death of another. Following his conviction, Mr. Roth was sentenced to five years in prison.  

Suspended

Soon Mo Ahn, Chicago

Mr. Ahn, who was licensed in 1991, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court. He refused to withdraw his appearance in a client’s dissolution of marriage case after the client’s relative, who had been authorized as the client’s attorney-in-fact, terminated his representation, and he filed frivolous pleadings and acted dishonestly to benefit himself in the matter. In another case, he represented a client despite a conflict of interest and acted dishonestly to benefit a third person in the transfer of a condominium via a quitclaim deed. A suspension until further order of the Court is an indefinite suspension which requires the suspended lawyer to petition for reinstatement after the fixed period of suspension ends. Reinstatement is not automatic and must be allowed by the Supreme Court of Illinois following a hearing before the ARDC Hearing Board.

Heather Lynn Biagi, Edwardsville

Ms. Biagi, who was licensed in 2014, was suspended from the practice of law for five months. In 2019, she was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol and other offenses after she drove into a police patrol car. In 2021, she was convicted of theft after she altered a site development plan that had earlier been prepared for her by a licensed engineer and submitted the altered plan to a county development department. The suspension is effective on October 12, 2022.

Felipe Nery Gomez, Chicago

Mr. Gomez, who was licensed in 1988, was suspended for three years and until further order of the Court. In three separate legal matters, he repeatedly sent threatening and harassing email messages to other attorneys. A suspension until further order of the Court is an indefinite suspension which requires the suspended lawyer to petition for reinstatement after the fixed period of suspension ends. Reinstatement is not automatic and must be allowed by the Supreme Court of Illinois following a hearing before the ARDC Hearing Board. 

Philip Edwin Koenig, Rock Island

Mr. Koenig, who was licensed in 1975, was suspended for one year for intentionally converting $70,076 in funds that were owed to his client after the settlement of a lawsuit over the construction of a will. The suspension is effective on October 12, 2022. 

Stevan Krkljes, Park Ridge

Mr. Krkljes, who was licensed in 1988, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court, with the suspension stayed after 30 days in favor of a two-year period of probation with conditions. He failed to diligently pursue a workers’ compensation and a personal injury matter and misrepresented the status of those matters to his clients. He also pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. The suspension is effective on October 12, 2022.

Robert Edward Lewin, Skokie

Mr. Lewin, who was licensed in 1974, was suspended from the practice of law for 60 days. He communicated with a defendant in a criminal case whom he knew to be represented by counsel without consent of that defendant’s lawyer. He also prepared and had that defendant sign a typewritten incriminating statement, which he then filed with a motion to reduce bond in his own client’s case. Mr. Lewin also sought to represent that defendant even though the representation would be directly adverse to, and materially limited by, his responsibilities to another client in a related case. The suspension is effective on October 12, 2022. 

Kevin P. McCarty, Naperville  

Mr. McCarty was licensed in 1998. He was suspended for one year with the suspension stayed after 60 days in favor of an 18-month period of probation with conditions. He failed to diligently pursue several clients’ dissolution of marriage cases, he did not keep those clients reasonably informed about their matters or promptly comply with their reasonable requests for information, and he failed to refund unearned fees. The suspension is effective on October 12, 2022.   

Mark Thomas McCloskey, St. Louis, Missouri  

Mr. McCloskey was licensed in Illinois in 1987 and in Missouri in 1986. The Missouri Supreme Court indefinitely suspended him, with the suspension fully stayed by a one-year period of probation with conditions, and ordered that, should probation be revoked and the suspension take effect, no petition for reinstatement would be considered for a period of six months from the date the suspension became effective. He pled guilty to misdemeanor assault for waiving a semi-automatic rifle in the direction of protesting individuals outside of his home, purposefully placing at least one other person in apprehension of immediate physical injury. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended him for six months and until further order of the Court, with the suspension stayed in its entirety by a one-year period of probation, nunc pro tunc to February 8, 2022, subject to the conditions imposed in Missouri and continuing until he successfully completes his Missouri probation. 

Patricia Novak McCloskey,  St. Louis, Missouri  

Ms. McCloskey was licensed in Illinois in 1988 and in Missouri in 1987. The Missouri Supreme Court indefinitely suspended her, with the suspension fully stayed by a one-year period of probation with conditions, and ordered that, should probation be revoked and the suspension take effect, no petition for reinstatement would be considered for a period of six months from the date the suspension became effective. She pled guilty to misdemeanor harassment for pointing a semi-automatic pistol at a group of protesting individuals outside of her home, with the purpose of causing emotional distress. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended her for six months and until further order of the Court, with the suspension stayed in its entirety by a one-year period of probation, nunc pro tunc to February 8, 2022, subject to the conditions imposed in Missouri and continuing until she successfully completes her Missouri probation.  

Matthew Ryan McCormick, Olney  

Mr. McCormick, who was licensed in Illinois in 2021, was suspended for two years and until further order of the Court, with the suspension stayed after six months by a two-year period of probation with conditions. He failed to diligently handle a number of bankruptcy matters, did not adequately communicate with those clients, and made misrepresentations to those clients and his employer about the status of the cases. The suspension is effective on October 12, 2022.   

Jeffrey Allen McIntyre, Madison, Wisconsin   

Mr. McIntyre, who was licensed in 1994, was suspended for 18 months and until further order of the Court. His misconduct arose from his December 2017 guilty plea to a charge of battery after he punched an employee of a tavern and his October 2018 guilty plea to operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, his third conviction for driving while intoxicated. A suspension until further order of the Court is an indefinite suspension which requires the suspended lawyer to petition for reinstatement after the fixed period of suspension ends. Reinstatement is not automatic and must be allowed by the Supreme Court of Illinois following a hearing before the ARDC Hearing Board.  

Douglas Ellis Miles, Santa Ana, California  

Mr. Miles was licensed to practice in Illinois in 1975 and in California in 1985. The Supreme Court of California suspended him for two years, stayed after 90 days by two years of probation with conditions, for misusing his client trust account over a 17-month period and failing to respond to California bar authorities’ requests for information about his conduct. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended him for two years in Illinois, stayed after 90 days by a term of probation subject to the conditions imposed in California and continuing until his California probation is satisfied. The suspension is effective on October 12, 2022. 

Stephen W. Newport, Bettendorf, Iowa   

Mr. Newport was licensed to practice in Illinois in 1990 and in Iowa in 1978. The Supreme Court of Iowa suspended him with no possibility of reinstatement for one year for sexually harassing two clients. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended him for one year and until he is reinstated to the practice of law in Iowa. The suspension is effective on October 12, 2022.  

Robert Earl Schulz, Springfield, Virginia  

Mr. Schulz was licensed in Illinois in 1968 and in Virginia in 1982. The Virginia State Bar Disciplinary Board revoked his license to practice law and struck his name from the roll of attorneys after he failed to perfect the appeal of his client’s criminal matter, resulting in the dismissal of his client’s appeal. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended him until he is reinstated to the practice of law in Virginia.  

Brian Keith Sides, Champaign  

Mr. Sides, who was licensed in 2002, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court. He made false or reckless statements about the integrity of a federal bankruptcy judge in nine motions filed in the bankruptcy or federal district court. A suspension until further order of the Court is an indefinite suspension which requires the suspended lawyer to petition for reinstatement after the fixed period of suspension ends. Reinstatement is not automatic and must be allowed by the Supreme Court of Illinois following a hearing before the ARDC Hearing Board.

Sidney Boyston Smith, Chicago  

Mr. Smith, who was licensed in 1995, was suspended for five months. He failed to report his mother’s death to her retirement benefit fund, and, for 10 months, he received and used $37,151 in annuity payments to which he was not entitled. The suspension is effective on October 12, 2022.

Censured

Jeffrey Gerald Kendall, Westmont

Mr. Kendall, who was licensed in 1986, was censured. He commenced and conducted an inappropriate sexual relationship with a client after the formation of their client-lawyer relationship and engaged in dishonest conduct when he prepared a letter to the woman’s prospective landlord falsely identifying her as an employee of his law firm and providing false information about her purported salary and work history. 

Mark Edward McNabola, Chicago

Mr. McNabola, who was licensed in 1985, was censured for misconduct in connection with two separate matters. In one matter, he facilitated ten separate loans from his father to one of his clients. After the representation of that client ended and the client did not repay the loans, one of Mr. McNabola’s partners represented Mr. McNabola’s father in a collection lawsuit against the former client. In another matter, following a dispute with his former partners that went to arbitration, Mr. McNabola issued a subpoena for an employee’s cell phone records under the caption of the closed arbitration matter. 

Reprimanded

Elizabeth Diane Tate, Phoenix, Arizona 

Ms. Tate was licensed in Illinois in 2009 and in Arizona in 2015. The Presiding Disciplinary Judge of the Supreme Court of Arizona reprimanded her and placed her on a one-year period of probation with conditions. While handling a federal civil matter, she failed to comply with court orders to file certain documents by specific deadlines, did not address controlling caselaw in her arguments and pleadings or understand relevant legal documents or procedures, and did not review pleadings that her paralegal had drafted before she filed them with the court. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline, reprimanding her and placing her on a one-year period of probation, nunc pro tunc to May 10, 2022, subject to the conditions imposed by Arizona and continuing until she successfully completes her Arizona probation.