Case Title: In Re Grossgold

Citation: 317 N.E.2d 45, 58 Ill. 2d 9

Docket Number: 

State: illinois

Court: Illinois Supreme Court

Date: 1974-09-17T00:00:00Z

Document:
58 Ill. 2d 9 (1974)
317 N.E.2d 45
In re NATHAN GROSSGOLD, Attorney, Respondent.
No. 46062.

Supreme Court of Illinois.
Opinion filed September 17, 1974.
Rehearing denied November 26, 1974.
Robert S. Bailey, of Chicago, for respondent.
John F. McCarthy, of Chicago, for amicus curiae Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association.
Respondent suspended.
MR. JUSTICE DAVIS delivered the opinion of the court:
This is a disciplinary proceeding against the respondent, Nathan Grossgold, under Supreme Court Rule 751 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1967, ch. 110A, par. 751), wherein the sole meritorious issue is the measure of discipline to be imposed against the respondent.
The Committee of Inquiry of the Chicago Bar Association filed a complaint against Grossgold on May 19, 1969, alleging that he was "guilty of conduct which tends to bring the legal profession into disrepute and of conduct unbecoming a member of the legal profession." Hearings were had before the Committee on Grievances of the Chicago Bar Association sitting as Commissioners of this court, after which Division II of the Committee on Grievances recommended that the respondent be suspended for three years. The respondent filed objections thereto, and oral argument was had before the entire Committee on Grievances, which overruled the objections and recommended disbarment. Again objections were filed and *10 argument had before the Board of Managers of the Chicago Bar Association, which body approved the recommendation of disbarment.
The proceedings were brought in response to the respondent's conviction in the Federal District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on nine counts of mail fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. sec. 1341. His conviction was affirmed on appeal in United States v. Bornstein and Grossgold (7th Cir.1971), 447 F.2d 742, cert. denied (1971), 404 U.S. 851, 30 L. Ed. 2d 91, 92 S. Ct. 88.
In In re Fumo (1972), 52 Ill. 2d 307, at page 309, this court stated:
The respondent here is in the same position as the respondent in In re Fumo.
In In re Hutul (1973), 54 Ill. 2d 209, at pages 214 and 215, this court quoted the following language from In re Crane (1961), 23 Ill. 2d 398, 400-401, which, in considering *11 the proper approach to such matters, stated:
We must look therefore to all of the circumstances surrounding the respondent's commission of the crime of mail fraud.
The respondent moved to Chicago from New York City in the summer of 1962. He had apparently been successfully engaged in the private practice of law in New York for a number of years, and came to Illinois in order to go into business with Melvin S. Bornstein, his brother-in-law, in starting an insurance company, and for the further reason of living closer to his wife's family. We think it is fair to say that the prospective insurance business was the controlling consideration.
The criminal proceedings in the Federal court reflect that Melvin S. Bornstein and Albert Rosenthal formed the Whitehall Insurance Company in 1961. In May of 1961 they acquired an inactive insurance company and proceeded to have it activated as the Whitehall Mutual Fire and Marine Insurance Company. It was upon the activation of this company that Bornstein persuaded the respondent to *12 come to Illinois. The respondent became claims manager of Whitehall in 1962.
In March, 1963, the respondent's employment with Whitehall ceased, and he operated as a private practitioner with offices in the Whitehall building, and handled subrogation claims for Whitehall against other insurance companies and uninsured motorists on a 25-percentage basis. In December, 1963, Whitehall ceased doing business and its assets and records were turned over to the Illinois State Bureau of Liquidations in November of 1964.
The degree of culpability of Bornstein and Grossgold became apparent in the evidence at the criminal trial. A distinction in the culpability of the defendants was recognized in their sentencing. The United States District Court imposed a two-year imprisonment sentence on Bornstein and imposed a fine on Grossgold.
The respondent's total profit from the fradulent acts consisted of legal fees in the sum of $586.76; the bulk of the fraudulently obtained funds inured to Whitehall Insurance Company.
The evidence which substantiates the charges was summarized by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, 447 F.2d 742, 744, as follows:
In light of the recent decisions of this court in In re Hutul and In re Fumo, the only remaining question is whether the factual circumstances of the instant situation differ sufficiently from those in the aforesaid cases to justify a penalty less drastic than disbarment.
Although the fraud was accomplished by the respondent through his role as an attorney, it is apparent that the driving force behind the fraudulent scheme and the man chiefly responsible for it was Bornstein. The actions of this *15 respondent, while certainly requiring discipline, are not of the same degree of culpability as was present in Hutul and Fumo.
This is the only stain on the respondent's legal record in 30 years of practice, but this conduct did tend to bring the legal profession into disrepute, was unbecoming to the respondent, as a member of the profession, and does warrant some sanction against the wrongdoer. However, in view of his past unblemished prior record, and his minor role in the fraudulent scheme, we believe the objectives of disciplinary proceedings in this case are adequately served by the respondent's suspension from practice for a period of three years, and it is so ordered. Such sanction will tend to protect the public from improprieties by members of the bar and will assist in upholding the integrity of the bar.
Respondent suspended.