The Illinois Supreme Court announced the filing of lawyer disciplinary orders on January 17, 2023. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.

Suspended

David L. Bartelsmeyer, Herrin

Mr. Bartelsmeyer, who was licensed in 1992, was suspended for three years and until further order of the Court. While acting as an attorney agent for Attorneys’ Title Guaranty Fund, Inc. in connection with various real estate matters, he converted $11,123 belonging to ATG and provided altered bank statements to ATG in order to conceal his conversions. 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. 

Nicole L. Beran, Rockford

Ms. Beran, who was licensed in 2000, was suspended for six months and until further order of the Court, with the suspension stayed after 30 days by a two-year period of probation with conditions. She did not diligently handle two dissolution of marriage matters and one child custody matter, and she repeatedly failed to respond to clients’ requests for information about their cases. The suspension is effective on February 7, 2023. 

David K. Cooper, Chicago

Mr. Cooper, who was licensed in 2002, was suspended for three years and until further order of the Court. He signed his personal injury client’s name on a settlement release, falsely attested that he had witnessed his client’s signature, used $36,641 of settlement funds without his client’s authorization, and concealed his use of the client’s funds. 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. 

Tradd A. Fromme, Chicago 

Mr. Fromme, who was licensed in 2007, was suspended for three years and until further order of the Court. On at least 90 occasions, he used a credit card belonging to the real estate company for which he was in-house counsel to make unauthorized payments to merchant accounts he controlled. The payments totaled over $136,000. In addition, he misrepresented to the ARDC the amount of restitution he had paid to the credit card company. 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.    

David Hall, Tulsa, OK 

Mr. Hall, who was licensed in 2019, was suspended for 60 days, with the suspension stayed after 30 days by a one-year period of probation with conditions. He recorded 277 hours in false time entries while working on a document review project for a large law firm. The suspension is effective on February 7, 2023. 

Nejla K. Lane, Chicago 

Ms. Lane, who was licensed in 2006, was suspended for nine months, with the suspension stayed after six months by a six-month term of probation with conditions. While she was engaged in litigation in a federal court, Ms. Lane sent three e-mails containing false or reckless statements about a magistrate judge’s integrity to the judge, courtroom personnel and another attorney involved in the case. The suspension is effective on February 7, 2023. 

Margaret J. Lowery, Belleville 

Ms. Lowery, who was licensed in 2000, was suspended for 30 days and required to successfully complete the ARDC Professionalism Seminar within one year. She knowingly or recklessly made a false statement impugning the integrity of a judge and made false statements to the ARDC during her sworn statement. The suspension is effective on February 7, 2023. 

Russell J. Luchtenburg, Belvidere 

Mr. Luchtenburg, who was licensed in 1983, was suspended for 30 days. He engaged in a conflict of interest by representing a client in a dissolution of marriage case while also pursuing a romantic relationship with her. He also made false or misleading statements in connection with the Administrator’s investigation of his conduct. The suspension is effective on February 7, 2023. 

Timothy P. Peterson, Tucson, AZ 

Mr. Peterson, who was licensed in 2013, was suspended for six months. He agreed to the purported settlement of an underinsured motorist claim against his client, an insurance company, for $75,000 without the company’s authorization, and repeatedly made false statements to his opposing counsel about the status of the purported settlement. The suspension is effective on February 7, 2023. 

Hedwig Sarnicki, Chicago 

Ms. Sarnicki, who was licensed in 1991, was suspended for 30 days. She assisted a disbarred attorney in the unauthorized practice of law by representing an individual in a workers’ compensation case without the individual’s consent, thereby allowing the disbarred attorney to falsely represent himself to the individual as being able to practice law. The suspension is effective on February 7, 2023. 

Robert J. Semrad, Chicago 

Mr. Semrad, who was licensed in 1994, was suspended for 90 days and until further order of the Court. In 2012, Mr. Semrad was placed on court supervision for a misdemeanor driving-under-the-influence charge, and he was later convicted of misdemeanor domestic battery. 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. 

India N. Winbush, Homewood 

Ms. Winbush, who was licensed in 2013, was suspended for 90 days and until further order of the Court, with the suspension stayed in its entirety by a two-year period of probation with conditions. A judge held her in contempt for failing to appear at multiple court dates in a dissolution of marriage matter. In another case, she failed to timely turn over a client file to new counsel and was sanctioned by the court for not complying with various court orders. 

Helga Kahr, Seattle, WA 

Ms. Kahr, who was licensed in Illinois in 1974, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the Court after she was convicted in Washington of two counts of theft for having misappropriated more than $282,000 from a disabled man while serving as the man’s guardian. She used the funds to satisfy her delinquent mortgage. 

Disbarred

Mauricio Boris Andres Araujo, Chicago   

Mr. Araujo, who was licensed in 1993, was disbarred for sexually harassing three women: a Chicago police officer, a court reporter and an Assistant State’s Attorney, while he was acting as a Cook County Circuit Court Judge. The Illinois Courts Commission initiated a disciplinary matter against then-Judge Araujo based on this same misconduct and entered an oral ruling finding that he had committed the misconduct. Mr. Araujo, however, retired from the bench one month before the Courts Commission entered its written findings on the ruling, thereby preventing the Courts Commission from pursuing discipline against him.