Practice News

Our panel of leading appellate attorneys review Thursday's Illinois Supreme Court opinions in State Building Venture v. O'Donnell, In re the commitment of Hernandez, People v. Zimmerman, People v. Amigon, People v. Alexander, People v. Jocko and People v. Carrera.

Asked and Answered By John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC Q. I am a law firm administrator with a 27 attorney firm in the southwest. This is my first law firm experience. I have been in my position for 8 months and am frustrated. Could you share your thoughts: A. During the past decade the roles of legal administrators have expanded dramatically. Today legal administrators can be found in firms with less than 10 attorneys. In larger firms, as well as many smaller firms, roles have shifted from day-to-day administration to firm wide leadership. A few large firm administrators are functioning as true CEOs. Large firm administrators are devoting more of their time and attention to strategic vs. administrative matters. Recent studies suggest that, in firms with more than 50 attorneys,there is an an uplifting of the role of principal administrators. Roles that have grown dramatically in recent years are strategic planning and practice management. Administrator’s roles in large law firms are no longer restricted to administrative matters.

Maybe not, but you can hear the respirator running, write Stan Kaminski and Bill Seitz in the latest issue of ISBA's Tax Trends newsletter. "Undoubtedly, the impact of the [Illinois Supreme Court's recent] Provena decision along with the passage of Health Care Insurance Reform has put Illinois’ property tax exemption for charitable hospitals on life support. Whether the Illinois legislature can or will help cure the problem is questionable." The authors parse Provena, consider the impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and offer tips to help lawyers who represent nonprofit hospitals improve the odds that their clients will qualify for an exemption. Read their analysis.

The Illinois Supreme Court has announced the filing of disciplinary orders involving a number of licensed lawyers. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law. More information on each case is available at the ARDC website.

DISBARRED

• John Lansing Isaac, Littleton, Colo.

Mr. Isaac, who was licensed in 1973, was disbarred on consent. He neglected several patent applications, made misrepresentations to clients and to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and engaged in the unauthorized practice of law.

• Gerald John Jansen, Santa Ana, Calif.

Mr. Jansen, who was licensed in 2005, was disbarred on consent. Prior to his admission to practice law in Illinois, he engaged in the unauthorized practice of law when he and a California lawyer opened a law office in Chicago and proceeded to represent about 100 clients with cases before the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Commission.

• Gary Lynn Kaplan, San Anselmo, Calif.

Mr. Kaplan, who was licensed in 1972, was disbarred on consent. He represented Pepperdine University in collecting funds on delinquent accounts receivable. He collected delinquent funds and deposited those funds into his client trust account, but he did not notify Pepperdine that he had received the funds nor did he remit any portion of the proceeds to the school. Without Pepperdine’s authorization, he used at least $39,774.49 of the funds for his own business or personal purposes.

• Manso Kavvadias, Batavia

Mr. Kavvadias, who was licensed in 1984, was disbarred on consent for failing to comply with a prior order of lawyer discipline. He also neglected client matters, engaged in conduct involving misrepresentation, failed to promptly return unearned fees and engaged in the unauthorized practice in a driver’s license reinstatement matter.

• Tom George Kontos, La Jolla, Calif.

Mr. Kontos, who was licensed in 1966, was disbarred on consent.  He pled guilty of conspiring to obstruct a federal investigation into money laundering and drug trafficking.

• Paul Ira Nemoy, Chicago

Mr. Nemoy, who was licensed in 1978, was disbarred on consent. He misappropriated a total of $165,499.76 from fifteen different clients.

• Michael Nicholas Skoubis, Chicago

Mr. Skoubis, who was licensed in 1985, was disbarred. He neglected nine different client matters, failed to refund unearned fees to clients, and did not cooperate with the ARDC investigation. He failed to appear at his own disciplinary hearing. He was suspended on an interim basis on November 1, 2010.

• Sam Tuzzolino, Skokie

Mr. Tuzzolino, who was licensed in Illinois in 1991, was disbarred on consent. He neglected several client matters, misrepresented the status of cases to his clients, and delivered $9,000 in NSF checks to his office landlord.

SUSPENDED