Judges, Guns and Money

The Illinois Supreme Court has announced dispositions in a number of bar discipline matters including

 Mr. Henneberry, who was licensed in 1981, was disbarred on consent. While serving as a court-appointed public defender for a client, he made sexually explicit comments to the client, touched the client without her consent, and masturbated in front of the client in his office during a meeting about her case. Additionally, he was criminally charged and pled guilty to providing alcohol to a minor.

Mr. O’Shea, a former circuit court judge who was licensed in 1979, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court. In 2017 and 2018, Mr. O’Shea made false statements to the police and the Judicial Inquiry Board about the accidental discharge of a handgun in his apartment. A suspension until further order of the Court is an indefinite suspension which requires the suspended lawyer to petition for reinstatement after the fixed period of suspension ends. Reinstatement is not automatic and must be allowed by the Supreme Court of Illinois following a hearing before the ARDC Hearing Board.

Ms. Sodaro was licensed in Illinois in 1986 and in Arizona in 2017. The Presiding Disciplinary Judge of the Supreme Court of Arizona suspended her for six months and required that, upon her reinstatement, she be placed on a two-year period of conditional probation. She engaged in misconduct in multiple client matters, including communicating with a represented party and leaving that party a disparaging voicemail message about her counsel, sending a letter to a presiding judge in which she accused her opposing party and her counsel of lying, and knowingly disbursing proceeds of a home sale without authorization. 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 Arizona, followed by a term of probation subject to the conditions imposed in Arizona and continuing until her Arizona probation is completed. The suspension is effective on June 8, 2021.

Mr. Duric, who was licensed in 1985, was disbarred. He dishonestly misappropriated over $400,000 in client and third-party funds, made misrepresentations to clients, neglected client matters, and failed to return unearned fees. He was suspended on an interim basis on October 15, 2020.