Illinois Update

The Illinois Supreme Court recently announced a number of dispositions in bar matters.

Highlights

Mr. Boorstein, who was licensed in 1960, was suspended from the practice of law for ninety days.  During the course of representing a husband and wife in a mechanic’s lien action, he created a fictitious corporation that had a name similar to one of the parties to the case, drafted a letter containing false statements about the fictitious corporation, and attached the letter to a motion to dismiss in which he referred to the letter. About a year later, while the case was still pending, he created two fraudulent lien releases, had his employees sign and notarize the phony documents, and directed the creation of another fictitious corporation, in order to deceive a bank into believing that the lien no longer existed. The suspension is effective on April  5, 2018.

Mr. Niesse, who was licensed in 2005, was suspended for six months. He was the chief financial officer for Precious Metal Refinery Services (“PMRS”). During the pendency of a lawsuit filed by one of PMRS’s former employees against the company, Mr. Niesse gained access to that employee’s personal e-mail account without that former employee’s knowledge or authorization. The information Mr. Niesse obtained was subsequently used against the plaintiff in the lawsuit. When his conduct was discovered, Mr. Niesse filed an affidavit with the court in which he made false statements by portraying his access to the former employee’s personal e-mail as “inadvertent.” The trial court imposed a default judgment as a sanction against PMRS based on Mr. Niesse’s conduct. The suspension is effective on April  5, 2018.

 Mr. Vazanellis, who was licensed in 2005, was suspended in the State of Illinois until he is reinstated to the practice of law in the State of Indiana. While not registered or authorized to practice law in Illinois, he represented clients in at least sixteen different court actions in Illinois, including fourteen criminal cases and two civil litigation matters.  

Mr. Fitzgerald, who was licensed in 1991, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the Court. He was convicted in the Circuit Court of Berrien County, Michigan, of manufacturing over 200 marijuana plants and possessing, with the intent to deliver, marijuana, both felonies. He was also charged with maintaining a drug house, a misdemeanor, for his role in operating an indoor marijuana grow operation by cultivating and manufacturing marijuana plants, in Sawyer, Michigan.

(Mike Frisch)