The Mother Of All Explanations

The Illinois Review Board has recommended a three-year suspension of an attorney for misappropriation of entrusted funds.

The attorney’s explanation was, to put it charitably, unchivalrous:

During the course of the Administrator’s  investigation, Respondent tendered to the Administrator falsified bank records  purporting to show that he was properly holding the funds. When the fabrication  was discovered, Respondent blamed his mother for the fabrication of the records.  Respondent claimed his mother misappropriated the funds in question by  transferring funds from his IOLTA account to his business account and then  covered up the misuse of the funds in an elaborate scheme aided by  a woman the mother met at an unspecified Kinko’s copy shop.

The Hearing Board did not believe Respondent or his  mother. In fact, the Hearing Board began its report by stating that they found  “the testimony of Respondent and his mother, Selma Frazin, lacking in  credibility and, in large part, untruthful,” noting that “Respondent and Ms.  Frazin have changed their stories so many times it is impossible to determine  when, if ever, they are telling the truth.” While Respondent claims that the  Hearing Board erred in disbelieving him, we disagree. The Hearing Board was not  required to accept Respondent’s testimony.

The board

Respondent expressed no remorse for the harm he  caused. The Hearing Board considered Respondent’s attempts to portray everyone  else as wrongdoers as aggravating. Indeed, instead of accepting responsibility  for his misappropriations, Respondent embarked on a path of lies and  misrepresentations in an effort to blame others, including his own mother, for  his own misdeeds.

Respondent’s conduct was egregious and cannot be  countenanced. The Court has long held that the intentional conversion of client  funds warrants disbarment, absent mitigating circumstances.

The recommendation would require the attorney to petition for reinstatement. (Mike Frisch)