Florida Condo And Club Payments Alleged to Be Unethical

A complaint filed by the Illinois Administrator

Prior to January 2010, Respondent was the president and a director of a law firm then known as Dommermuth, Brestal, Cobine and West, Ltd. (“the firm”), where his responsibilities included managing the firm’s assets, revenues and expenditures.

During that time, without notice to or approval from the firm’s other partners, Respondent used the firm’s credit card and general and payroll bank accounts to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own personal obligations, including payments relating to Respondent’s Florida condominium and country club fees.

More specifically, between February 8, 2005 and July 23, 2008, Respondent caused ten checks to be drawn from a firm bank account that were made payable to his order in the total amount of $279,137.50; used the firm’s credit card to pay approximately $227 in utility bills for his Florida condominium; issued six checks totaling $812.51 on a firm account payable to the same Florida utility company; issued a $250 check on a firm account to pay for repairs to the condominium; issued eight checks totaling $2,105.41 on a firm account to pay cable television bills for the condominium; issued eight checks on a firm account totaling $17,284.62 to pay condominium association fees; issued ten checks on a firm account totaling $45,622.82 to pay his personal dues and other expenses at a Florida country club; issued an additional ten checks on a firm account payable to “cash” or to his own order in the total amount of $51,219.69; and paid other business and personal expenses from firm accounts.

While Respondent was using firm assets to pay his personal expenses, he did not provide his partners with copies of the firm’s financial records, and he made false statements about the firm’s financial condition in order to conceal his conduct.

The conduct is alleged to have involved

dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation, by using law firm assets to pay personal expenses and by making false statements about the firm’s financial condition, in violation of Rule 8.4(a)(4) of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct.

(Mike Frisch)