Illinois Supreme Court Disbars 4, Suspends 4 in Latest Disciplinary Filing

The Illinois Supreme Court issued attorney disciplinary orders during its January 2026 Term of Court. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.

Disbarred

Joseph Shun Mendoza Ravago, Chicago, IL

Mr. Ravago, who was licensed in 1998, was disbarred on consent. In 2023 and 2024, he assisted his clients, the principals of a trust, in defrauding two entities of a total of $11,996,250 while acting as an escrow agent in loan and line-of-credit transactions. He also falsely told one of the entities that $10,500,000 in escrowed funds remained in his trust account when the balance of the trust account had been reduced to just over $1 million.

Paul Vernon Bishop II, Olney, IL

Mr. Bishop, who was licensed in 2007, was disbarred on consent. He engaged in criminal conduct, namely possession of cocaine. He also failed to act with diligence in various civil matters for five clients, made false statements to clients, collected an unreasonable fee in one matter, did not hold client funds in a client trust account, converted at least $1,520 in client funds, and made false statements to the ARDC.

Brian Thomas Dailey, Grosse Point, MI

Mr. Dailey, who was licensed in 1989, was disbarred. He dishonestly misappropriated a total of $737,963 in 29 client matters and failed to respond to the ARDC’s lawful demands for information in connection with its investigations of his conduct.

Margaret Jean Lowery, Sioux Falls, SD

Ms. Lowery, who was licensed in 2000, was disbarred. She knowingly made a false statement impugning the integrity of a judge in responding to the ARDC’s petition to recover costs incurred during her prior disciplinary matter. She also made various other false or baseless statements on social media impugning the integrity of the Illinois Supreme Court and a former Chief Justice of the Court. Additionally, she filed voluminous and duplicative pleadings with the ARDC’s Hearing Board that contained hundreds of false, disrespectful, and vitriolic statements about various persons.

Suspended

Joseph E. Denigan, St. Louis, MO

Mr. Denigan was licensed to practice law in Missouri in 1985 and in Illinois in 1986. In March 2025, the Supreme Court of Missouri indefinitely suspended him, with no leave to file for reinstatement for six months, after he pled guilty to two felony counts of driving while intoxicated. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended him for six months and until further order of the 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.

Asha Vivian Mathai, Chicago, IL

Ms. Mathai, who was licensed in 2006, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court. Her discipline arose from her guilty pleas to two counts of violating an order of protection by shattering the glass of her sister’s front door with a clothing iron and sending over 100 communications to her sister, her ex-husband, her ex-husband’s divorce attorneys, and a police officer, which communications included repeated threats of death and harm. 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.

Mark A. Shlifka, Yorkville, IL

Mr. Shlifka, who was licensed in 1988, was suspended for three years. While serving as a First Assistant State’s Attorney he engaged in a conflict of interest by having a sexual relationship with a woman who was the victim in a domestic violence case that he was prosecuting for the State and who was the defendant in a criminal case handled by a prosecutor whom Mr. Shlifka supervised. He also engaged in criminal conduct, namely unlawful video recording, by taking nude photographs of that same woman while she was asleep and unable to consent. The suspension is effective on February 5, 2026.

Jason Lawrence Spangehl, Champaign, IL

Mr. Spangehl, who was licensed in 2010, was suspended from the practice of law for six months and until further order of the Court, with the suspension stayed in its entirety by a two-year period of probation with conditions. He did not file an immigration petition for a client who paid him to do so, he made false statements to the client about the matter, and he delayed refunding the client’s fee. In a separate matter, he made false statements about the integrity of a judge in a post he made to his personal Facebook page.