Illinois Supreme Court Disbars 4, Suspends 8 in Latest Disciplinary Filing

The Illinois Supreme Court announced the filing of lawyer disciplinary orders on March 19, 2024. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.

Disbarred

Brady Allen, St. Louis, MO

Mr. Allen, who was licensed in 2017, was disbarred on consent. He pled guilty to two counts of attempt official misconduct for incidents that occurred while he was an Assistant State’s Attorney in Coles County. He solicited sexual acts from two criminal defendants by telling them that they would receive preferential treatment in their cases in exchange for the sexual acts

Leonard Samuel DeFranco, Oakbrook Terrace

Mr. DeFranco, who was licensed in 1978, was disbarred. He dishonestly converted $161,608 that he had agreed to hold in connection with the sale of two businesses involved in a guardianship proceeding, and he took a $180,000 loan from a client without explaining the terms of the transaction to the client, advising her that she could seek the advice of independent counsel about the transaction, or obtaining her informed consent to the transaction in writing.

Kurt D. Hyzy, Downers Grove

Mr. Hyzy, who was licensed in 1987, was disbarred on consent. In the course of representing clients in personal injury matters, he misappropriated more than $345,000 in settlement funds belonging to the clients and to third parties, settled one client’s claim without the client’s knowledge or authority, and falsely told two clients that their claims were pending when the claims had already been settled.

Robert M. Romero, St. Petersburg, FL

Mr. Romero, who was licensed in 2000, was disbarred. While representing a client in a personal injury matter, he dishonestly misappropriated $56,000 in fees owed to another attorney for her substantial work on the case, and he knowingly disobeyed several court orders requiring him to pay over the funds

Suspended

Vishal K. Chhabria, Schaumburg

Mr. Chhabria, who was licensed in 2013, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the Court after he pled guilty in a federal court in New York to one count of conspiracy to commit marriage fraud.

Kyle Matthew Kinzy, Austin, TX

Mr. Kinzy was licensed in Illinois in 1996 and in Texas in 1997. Texas disciplinary authorities suspended him for two years, with the suspension fully stayed by a period of probation subject to conditions, for neglecting a client’s immigration matter and not complying with the client’s requests to return his case file and provide an accounting of the fees he had earned. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended him for two years, with the suspension stayed in its entirety by a two-year period of probation, nunc pro tunc to July 1, 2023, subject to the conditions imposed in Texas and continuing until he successfully completes his Texas probation.

Philip Michael Kiss, Gurnee

Mr. Kiss, who was licensed in 1984, was suspended from the practice of law for six months and until further order of the Court. He provided financial assistance totaling $2,666 to a client for personal expenses that were not court costs or litigation expenses, failed to safeguard $929 of the same client’s settlement funds, and failed to maintain the required accounting records for his client trust account. He did not appear at his disciplinary hearing. 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

Margaret Jean Lowery, Sioux Falls, SD

Ms. Lowery, who was licensed in 2000, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the Court based on allegations in a pending disciplinary action that she filed a pleading in the Illinois Supreme Court containing false statements about the integrity of a circuit court judge and the supreme court’s justices, made social media posts containing false statements about the integrity of various judges, and filed pleadings in the pending disciplinary matter containing false statements about the integrity of supreme court justices and a volunteer ARDC Hearing Board Chairperson.

David Walter Moore, Wheaton

Mr. Moore, who was licensed in 1982, was suspended from the practice of law for eighteen months, with the suspension stayed after six months by a one-year period of conditional probation. He misappropriated at least $8,803 in funds that belonged to a client and/or third parties in a personal injury matter, and he continued to appear in cases and hold himself out as an attorney after his name had been removed from the roll of attorneys for failure to complete Minimum Continuing Legal Education requirements. The suspension is effective on April 9, 2024.

Giulio Palma, Chicago

Mr. Palma, who was licensed in 2014, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the Court after he was found guilty of wire fraud in a federal court in Illinois. The wire fraud stemmed from Mr. Palma’s false representations to persons who were investing in what they thought were real estate development deals in Italy.

Mcstephen Olusegun Adewale Solomon, Hazel Crest

Mr. Solomon, who was licensed in 2012, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court, with the suspension stayed after five months by one year of probation with conditions. He neglected a foreclosure matter for a couple and misappropriated a total of $12,400 of that same couple’s funds over a period of at least four years. The suspension is effective on April 9, 2024

Nichole Elizabeth Tuliszewski, Pittsburgh, PA

Ms. Tuliszewski, who was licensed in 2007, was suspended for six months and until further order of the Court. After being removed from the roll of attorneys for failing to comply with her Minimum Continuing Legal Education requirements, Ms. Tuliszewski falsely told her employer, orally and in a sworn declaration, that she was authorized to practice law in Illinois. She did not cooperate in the ARDC’s investigation of her conduct or participate in her disciplinary hearing. 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.