The Supreme Court of Illinois has announced the disbarment of two lawyers and the suspension of 14 others in the filing of lawyer disciplinary orders entered this morning. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law. All information is provided by the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission.
ARDC
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May 18, 2012 |
Practice News
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May 1, 2012 |
Practice News
The Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) released its 2011 Annual Report on Tuesday in conjunction with Law Day. ARDC is the administrative agency that regulates licensed Illinois lawyers. Highlights from the report are below, the full report is available at www.iardc.org.
- Lawyer Population
The names of 87,943 lawyers appeared on the Master Roll of Attorneys as of October 31, 2011. That number does not include 2,121 attorneys who took their oath of office in late 2011. The overall lawyer population in Illinois saw a modest increase of 1.3% from 2010. The number of newly admitted lawyers continues a steady increase first noted in 2005, with at least 2,000 more lawyers each year. The percentage of attorneys reporting a principal address outside Illinois remained constant at 27%. Counties with 500 or more attorneys experienced less than a 1% increase in growth.
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April 13, 2012 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed Bernard M. Judge of Chicago to serve as a Commissioner of the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission (ARDC). The ARDC is the Supreme Court agency that has administrative authority over more than 90,000 Illinois lawyers and investigates allegations of attorney misconduct. The order of appointment, dated April 12, 2012, is effective immediately.
Mr. Judge is a nationally respected newspaper executive who has served in management positions at the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times andthe Chicago Daily Law Bulletin. He began his career as a reporter for the City New Bureau of Chicago in 1965. Soon thereafter, he joined the Tribuneand covered state and federal courts and wrote about state government and politics. He became the Tribune’sCity Editor in 1974 and Assistant Managing Editor in 1979. Two investigative reporting projects he directed as City Editor won the Pulitzer Prize. Mr. Judge served as Editor and General Manager of the City News Bureau in 1983-1984, before he joined the Sun-Times as metropolitan editor and later as associate editor. In 1988, he was hired by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company as editor and vice president of Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, and became the Law Bulletin’s publisher in 2001. He also served as the editor and publisher of the Chicago Lawyer magazine. Mr. Judge retired in July 2007 and, since that time, has been a non-lawyer Hearing Board officer for the ARDC, serving as a trial judge in lawyer disciplinary cases.
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March 20, 2012 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court disbarred eight lawyers, suspended 14, censured one and reprimanded three in its latest disciplinary filing. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics rules.
1 comment (Most recent March 21, 2012) -
March 13, 2012 |
People
Krieg DeVault is pleased to announce that Chicago office attorney Mark W. Bina was recently appointed to serve as a member of the Hearing Board for the Illinois Supreme Court’s Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC).
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February 7, 2012 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court has appointed Karen Hasara of Springfield, Illinois, to serve as a Commissioner of the Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission (ARDC). The ARDC is the Supreme Court agency that has administrative authority over more than 90,000 Illinois lawyers and investigates allegations of attorney misconduct.
Ms. Hasara, a non-lawyer, has a long history of public service in this state, beginning in 1975 when she was elected to serve on the Sangamon County Board. From 1980 through 1986, she was the Clerk of the Circuit Court of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, Sangamon County. In 1986, Ms. Hasara was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, where she served the 100th District, until being elected to the Illinois Senate in the newly formed 50th Legislative District in 1992. In 1995, she was elected the Mayor of Springfield, the first woman ever to hold that office. She was re-elected in 1999 and served until her term ended in 2003. She currently serves as a Trustee of the Springfield Mass Transit District.
Ms. Hasara is a member of the Board of Trustees for the University of Illinois, the Board of the Illinois Equal Justice Foundation, and is active with the World Affairs Council of Central Illinois, the Rotary Club of Springfield, and the University of Illinois at Springfield Advisory Committee.
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January 16, 2012 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court disbarred six lawyers, suspended three and censured two in its latest disciplinary filing. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics rules.
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November 22, 2011 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court disbarred 7 lawyers, suspended 22, censured three and reprimanded five in its latest disciplinary filing. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics rules.
1 comment (Most recent November 23, 2011) -
September 26, 2011 |
Practice News
The Illinois Supreme Court has announced the filing of disciplinary orders involving a number of licensed lawyers. The Court has disbarred 12 lawyers, suspended 43, censured 10, remprimanded two and transferred three others to inactive disability status. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.
DISBARRED
- Catherine M. Brame, Bloomington
Ms. Brame was licensed in California in 1987 and in Illinois in 1994. She was disbarred in California for misappropriating over $80,000 in client funds. The Illinois Supreme Court imposed reciprocal discipline and disbarred her.
- Richard William Fischer, St. Louis
Mr. Fischer was licensed in Missouri in 1991 and in Illinois in 1992. He was disbarred in Missouri for accepting a $5,000 retainer and then failing to perform any legal services or return the retainer to the client. He also did not pay his bar enrollment fee, failed to comply with continuing legal education requirements, engaged in the unauthorized practice of law while he was suspended, failed to file state tax returns, and did not cooperate with the Missouri lawyer disciplinary authorities. The Illinois Supreme Court imposed reciprocal discipline and disbarred him.
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August 29, 2011 |
Practice News
NOTICE
If your bank does not yet appear on the List of Financial Institutions Eligible to Hold Trust Accounts as of September 1, 2011, do not panic.
There are now more than 300 financial institutions included on the List of Financial Institutions Eligible to Hold Trust Accounts. To date, only one small bank has refused to be included on that list. However, a significant number of banks have not yet submitted an agreement to provide overdraft notification, which is a prerequisite to being included on the list.
The ARDC and the Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois are working with banks and other financial institutions to make compliance with the new provisions of Rule 1.15 as easy as possible. Some banking institutions have informed the ARDC that they want to comply with the new trust account rules, cannot meet the deadline, but are hoping to accommodate depositors as soon after September 1, 2011 as is possible. We believe that most of the banks that have not yet submitted an agreement intend to do so, but require additional time do so. There is no immediate need to change banks.
If your bank does not yet appear on the List, there is no need to move your account to a different bank until you know, for a fact, that your bank does not intend to agree to Trust Account Overdraft Notification.
Please continue to monitor the ARDC website, as we receive new Trust Account Overdraft Notification Agreements every day.
Please note that, in light of the problems caused in the wake of Hurricane Irene, certain banks headquartered on the East Coast may not be in compliance with the Rule by the effective date.