Illinois Supreme Court Disbars Two, Suspends Twelve in Latest Disciplinary Filing

The Illinois Supreme Court announced the filing of lawyer disciplinary orders on January 21, 2021. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.

DISBARRED

• Andrew Thomas Freund, Riverside

  Mr. Freund, who was licensed in 1984, was disbarred on consent following his criminal convictions for the crimes of aggravated battery of a child, involuntary manslaughter, and concealment of homicidal death.

• Thomas Eric Wettermann, Lake Forest

  Mr. Wettermann, who was licensed in 1995, was disbarred on consent. Over a five-year period, he submitted more than 380 requests that his firm reimburse him for travel, lodging, and dining expenses relating to client matters, totaling approximately $360,000. The firm’s subsequent review of those requests determined either that the trips had not been taken or that there was insufficient proof to show that the expenses had actually been incurred.
   

SUSPENDED

• Shirley Ruth Calloway, Chicago

  Ms. Calloway, who was licensed in 1994, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court. She made false statements to a federal judge about her authority to settle a case, then made additional false statements to her supervisors about the case’s status. She also settled a separate case without authority and made false statements to another attorney about the status of that case.

• Charles Andrew Cohn, Chicago

  Mr. Cohn, who was licensed in 1983, was suspended for six months and until he completes the ARDC Professionalism Seminar. He engaged in conduct with no substantial purpose other than to embarrass, delay, and burden a third person in the course of pending litigation by using vulgar and abusive language toward his female opposing counsel during a deposition. The suspension is effective on February 11, 2021.

• Jeffrey Bart Cooper, Plainfield, Indiana

  Mr. Cooper was licensed in Indiana in 2004 and in Illinois in 2005. The Supreme Court of Indiana suspended him for 180 days, with 60 days actively served and the remainder stayed subject to completion of at least two years of conditional probation. Mr. Cooper, in six client matters ranging from estate administration to applications for Veterans Administration benefits, accepted retainers but then failed to communicate with his clients or advance their cases. He also represented clients when he was administratively suspended from the practice of law. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended him for 180 days, with the suspension stayed after 60 days in favor of a two-year period of probation, nunc pro tunc to April 23, 2019, subject to the conditions imposed in Indiana and continuing until he successfully completes his Indiana probation. The suspension is effective on February 11, 2021.

• Vincenzo Field, Chicago

  Mr. Field, who was licensed in 2011, was suspended for three years and until further order of the Court. He made false statements in federal court pleadings and in communications with opposing counsel and court personnel alleging a fictitious illness as his reason for seeking extensions of time in matters. He also made false statements on his law school and bar admission applications and to the ARDC.

• Joan Arthetta Hill-McClain, Chicago

  Ms. Hill-McClain, who was licensed in 1988, was suspended for six months and until she makes restitution of $16,300 to a client. She charged an unreasonable fee by collecting a percentage of a six-figure recovery in an undisputed worker’s compensation matter when her fee was limited by statute to $100, and she engaged in a conflict of interest by providing financial assistance to her client that was not for court costs or expenses related to contemplated or pending litigation. The suspension is effective on February 11, 2021.

• David M. Jankura, Chicago

  Mr. Jankura, who was licensed in 1987, was suspended for 90 days. He improperly deposited a retainer fee payment from a criminal case he was handling into a business checking account and used a portion of those funds before they had been earned. The suspension is effective on February 11, 2021.

• Mary L. Lemp, St. Louis, Missouri

  Ms. Lemp was licensed in Missouri in 2010 and in Illinois in 2012. The Supreme Court of Missouri suspended her indefinitely, with no leave to apply for reinstatement for a period of six months. While representing a litigant in an appeal, she filed two motions seeking extensions of time on which she had forged the notary public’s signature block. In her written response to her opposing counsel’s subsequent notice of irregular documents, she falsely stated that the notary public had notarized the motions. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended her for six months and until she is reinstated to the practice of law in Missouri. The suspension is effective on February 11, 2021.

• John Hudson McWard, Taylorville

  Mr. McWard, who was licensed in 2017, was suspended for 90 days. While acting as an Assistant State’s Attorney, he provided incomplete or false information to a judge in order to cause the judge to set a lower bond amount for an individual under arrest. He also made false statements to his supervisors regarding his involvement in the matter and his telephone conversation with the judge. The suspension is effective on February 11, 2021.

• Dean William O’Connor, Phoenix, Arizona

  Mr. O’Connor was licensed in Illinois in 1980 and in Arizona in 1988. The Attorney Probable Cause Committee of the Supreme Court of Arizona entered an order admonishing him and placing him on conditional probation for mishandling client funds and overdrawing his client trust account. In addition, in a subsequent disciplinary matter, the Presiding Disciplinary Judge of the Supreme Court of Arizona suspended Mr. O’Connor for 60 days and placed him on a two-year period of probation upon his reinstatement for eliciting false testimony from his client and making a false statement to Arizona disciplinary authorities. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended him for 60 days, followed by a term of probation subject to the conditions imposed by Arizona and continuing until he successfully completes the conditions imposed in Arizona. The suspension is effective on February 11, 2021.

• Anish A. Parikh, Chicago

  Mr. Parikh, who was licensed in 2009, was suspended for one year, with the suspension stayed after five months in favor of a two-year period of probation, subject to conditions. He mishandled over $70,000 in real estate escrow and earnest money funds by intentionally withdrawing funds from his firm’s client trust account, drawing the balance in that account below the amounts that should have been held. The suspension is effective on February 11, 2021.

• David Peter Pasulka*, Chicago

  Mr. Pasulka, who was licensed in 1984, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the Court. Mr. Pasulka is the subject of a five-count disciplinary complaint alleging that he engaged in criminal conduct involving assault, battery, unlawful restraint, criminal sexual assault, and criminal sexual abuse related to four separate women.

• William Layne Roberts, Savoy

  Mr. Roberts, who was licensed in 2015, was suspended for 60 days. He engaged in the unauthorized practice of law when he continued to practice law for eight months after his name was removed from the roll of licensed attorneys for failing to comply with Minimum Continuing Legal Education requirements. The suspension is effective on February 11, 2021.

CENSURED

• Franklin Joseph Furlett, Schaumburg

  Mr. Furlett, who was licensed in 1979, was censured. While representing a recently widowed woman in matters relating to the administration of her deceased husband’s estate, he collected an unreasonable fee of $20,000 for preparing new estate-planning documents for the woman and her adult daughter and for incorporating a business for the daughter, and he sought an additional $25,729.75 in fees that the client did not pay. He later returned $10,000 to the woman.
   

*The order was entered by the court before the January 2021 term, but not included in any prior release.