Court Opinion

ID: 9745254
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 22:43:42.935289+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:58.140388
License: Public Domain

CHIEF JUSTICE RYAN, dissenting: The opinion of my colleagues has focused on only one issue and has neglected the other elements which our Rule 767 states should be considered when passing on a petition for reinstatement. I therefore dissent. This opinion, as have most of the opinions of this court involving reinstatement, focuses almost exclusively on the rehabilitation of the attorney. I think that this court, as well as the Review Board and the hearing panels, places too much importance on rehabilitation and does not give sufficient consideration to the seriousness of the conduct of the attorney which was the basis for his disbarment. In my opinion, there are certain infractions that are so serious that the attorney committing them should never be readmitted to the practice of law. The hearing panel characterized petitioner’s conduct as “so bad that it could scarcely be worse.” Our Rule 767 provides that the hearing panel, among other matters, shall consider “the nature of the misconduct for which the petitioner was disciplined.” (87 Ill. 2d R. 767.) If petitioner’s conduct was as bad as the hearing panel found it to be, it appears to me that not much attention has been given to the quoted requirement of Rule 767 by the hearing panel, the Review Board or this court in passing on the petition for reinstatement. In this case, we have an attorney who, through his unethical conduct, was able to make large sums of money for several years. Furthermore, when he was caught and convicted, he sought and acquired further economic gain by selling his law practice for a half million dollars, which in itself is questionable conduct. I do not think that this court should write a script that tells the profession and the public that attorneys can engage in unethical conduct and make a substantial amount of money. Then when they are caught, all they have to do is to profess to change their ways and they will again be permitted to hold themselves out to the public as members of an honorable and trusted profession. In almost every petition for reinstatement the scenario is the same. The hearing before the hearing panel consists of a parade of witnesses telling of the penitence and good works of the disbarred attorney which, it is urged, demonstrate that he is rehabilitated. I wonder if good works are actually evidence of rehabilitation or if too much emphasis is placed on such conduct. Some individuals are naturally aggressive and extroversive. It is a simple matter for them to rechannel the same attributes that got them into trouble and thus compile an impressive record of public good. Others are less aggressive and less outgoing and do not accomplish as much good for the public. However, in terms of true rehabilitation, those of the latter group may have more completely changed their ways than those of the former. Regardless of the degree of rehabilitation, I do not think that an attorney should be able to prosper financially at the expense of the legal profession and, when he can profit no further, proclaim that he has changed his ways and be readmitted to the profession he so degraded by his prior conduct. JUSTICE MORAN joins in this dissent.