Illinois Supreme Court Disbars 3, Suspends 10 in Latest Disciplinary Filing

The Illinois Supreme Court announced the filing of lawyer disciplinary orders on March 21, 2023. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.

Disbarred

William Joseph Delaney, Chicago

Mr. Delaney, who was licensed in 1999, was disbarred. In the course of representing three clients in various matters, he misappropriated approximately $300,000 in client funds. He also charged a client’s credit card $10,000 for legal fees when the client had authorized a payment of only $2,500, and he failed to cooperate with the ARDC’s investigations.  

Michael H. Hamilton, Las Vegas, NV

Mr. Hamilton was licensed to practice in Illinois in 1982 and in Nevada in 2001. The Supreme Court of Nevada disbarred him for failing to comply with conditions of probation imposed in three prior Nevada disciplinary proceedings. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and disbarred him. 

Michael Anthony Manges, Palatine

Mr. Manges, who was licensed in 2003, was disbarred for forging his employer’s signature on hundreds of checks payable to the employer or his law firm, and for using the proceeds of those checks, more than $165,000, for his own purposes without authority.  

Suspended

Hassan Ali Abbas, Chicago

Mr. Abbas, who was licensed in Illinois in 1991, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the Court after he was convicted of two counts of wire fraud, two counts of unlawful monetary transactions, one count of money laundering, and one count of money laundering conspiracy. He was involved in a number of internet scams including “romance scams” in which he would use online dating profiles to have victims transfer money under false pretenses. 

Lee Alan Campbell, Lincolnshire

Mr. Campbell, who was licensed in 1969, was suspended for 90 days. He did not diligently represent a client in a medical malpractice action, resulting in the case being dismissed for want of prosecution. He then falsely led his client to believe that her case was still pending. The suspension is effective on April 11, 2023

Cass Thomas Casper, Chicago

Mr. Casper, who was licensed in 2010, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court, with the suspension stayed after 60 days by a two-year period of probation with conditions.  While representing a group of employees in a federal civil rights lawsuit against the City of Chicago and various individual defendants, Mr. Casper called one of the defendants whom he knew to be represented by counsel and had an approximately 20-minute conversation about the case. He later falsely stated to that defendant’s counsel that he made no such call, altered his cell phone records to make it appear as though he did not make the call, and sent those altered records to the defendant’s attorney. He also filed the altered records, along with a sworn declaration falsely claiming that they were accurate, with the court. The suspension is effective on April 11, 2023. 

Brandon J. McNulty, Elgin

Mr. McNulty, who was licensed in 2006, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court, with the suspension stayed in its entirety by a two-year period of conditional probation. His discipline arose from his 2022 guilty plea to driving under the influence of alcohol and without a driver’s license. 

Daniel G. Parsons, Geneva

Mr. Parsons, who was licensed in 1992, was suspended for three years and until further order of the Court. He dishonestly misappropriated over $69,000 in client funds in a probate matter. 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. 

Justin Koslan Schwartz, Chicago

Mr. Schwartz, who was licensed in 1999, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court and until he makes restitution of $1,000 to a client. He failed to appropriately pursue two criminal appeals and an employment matter, refused to refund $1,000 in unearned fees, and did not participate in his disciplinary proceeding. 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. 

Neil Alan Spector, Chicago  

Mr. Spector, who was licensed in 1981, was suspended for 90 days. Over the course of 19 months, he represented nine clients in criminal matters after he had been removed from the roll of attorneys for failing to register with the Commission, pay his annual registration fee, and comply with Minimum Continuing Legal Education requirements. The suspension is effective on April 11, 2023. 

Richard Lane Steagall, Peoria  

Mr. Steagall, who was licensed in 1978, was suspended for two years and until further order of the Court. He engaged in the unauthorized practice of law by representing a client while he was suspended from the practice of law in state and federal court. In another matter, he failed to communicate with a client and did not return a $2,500 unearned fee. 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.

Stephen Ray Wigginton, Edwardsville   

Mr. Wigginton, who was licensed in 1989, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court, with the suspension stayed in its entirety by a three-year period of probation with conditions. Between 2017 and 2019, Mr. Wigginton was arrested three times for driving under the influence (DUI) in Madison County. In the first case, Mr. Wigginton pled guilty to DUI and received court supervision. The second and third cases were resolved as part of a plea agreement in which he pled guilty to the second DUI charge and was sentenced to 24 months’ probation, 160 hours of community service, and a $2,800 fine in return for the dismissal of the third case.   

Maureen Williams, Peoria  

Ms. Williams, who was licensed in 2005, was suspended for 90 days after she pled guilty to forgery for submitting a falsified public service worksheet to a court services office in an attempt to show that she had complied with her sentence for a speeding infraction. The suspension is effective on April 11, 2023.  

Reprimanded

Daniel Edward Morgan, Tucson, Arizona 

Mr. Morgan was licensed in Illinois in 2002 and admitted as in-house counsel in Arizona in 2019. Arizona attorney discipline authorities admonished him for engaging in the practice of law in Arizona without timely registering as in-house counsel. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and reprimanded him.