Illinois Supreme Court Disbars 7, Suspends 10 in Latest Disciplinary Filing

The Illinois Supreme Court announced the filing of lawyer disciplinary orders on September 23, 2024. Sanctions were imposed because the lawyers engaged in professional misconduct by violating state ethics law.

Disbarred

Katerina N. Arvanitakis, Whitestone, NY

Ms. Arvanitakis was licensed in New York in 2003, and in Illinois in 2007. In December 2017, the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, disbarred her based on her federal conviction for felony wire fraud. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and disbarred her. 

Cyril William Butts, Galesburg

Mr. Butts, who was licensed in 1979, was disbarred on consent. He misappropriated $14,245 in client funds in an estate matter, did not communicate with clients in two other matters, and did not return more than $6,000 in unearned fees in those latter two matters. 

Katarzynaa Magdalena Caputa, Glenview

Ms. Caputa, who was licensed in 2007, was disbarred on consent. Between 2015 and 2019, she misappropriated at least $252,420 that she had been holding for several clients in connection with her representation of those clients in dissolution of marriage matters. 

Frederick D. Goings, Chicago

Mr. Goings, who was licensed in 2005, was disbarred. He was convicted in 2013 of fatally shooting his girlfriend and her ten-month-old daughter. He has been suspended on an interim basis since 2013. 

William Power McCaughan, Jr., Miami, FL

Mr. McCaughan was licensed in Florida in 2007 and in Illinois in 2015. The Supreme Court of Florida revoked his admission to the Florida bar with leave to seek readmission after five years after he was charged in federal court with receiving and attempting to receive child pornography. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and disbarred him. 

Ashmit S. Patel, Chicago

Mr. Patel, who was licensed in 2012, was disbarred on consent. He was convicted in a California federal court of securities fraud and manipulative securities trading. 

Robert Samual Spadoni, Darien

Mr. Spadoni, who was licensed to practice law in 1989, was disbarred on consent. He defrauded a hospital of more than $622,000 and, as a result of that conduct, was criminally charged and found guilty of the offense of wire fraud. 

Suspended

Louis L. Bertrand, LaSalle

Mr. Bertrand, who was licensed in 1984, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court. He neglected a personal injury lawsuit on behalf of a client when he made no effort to serve the complaint on the defendant, then did not appear in court for ten status hearings in the case. 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. 

Bruce Elwyn Gardner, Largo, MD

Mr. Gardner was licensed in Illinois in 1981 and in the District of Columbia in 1990. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals indefinitely suspended him due to a medical disability. The Illinois Supreme Court reciprocally suspended him until he is reinstated to the practice of law in the District of Columbia. 

Scott Ian Jacobson, Elgin

Mr. Jacobson, who was licensed in 2010, was suspended for one year. He made false statements regarding his legal experience in an application for a judicial appointment and, later, in an interview for a position as a trial attorney in a state’s attorney’s office. The suspension is effective on October 11, 2024. 

Jeffery Mark Leving, Chicago

Mr. Leving, who was licensed in 1979, was suspended for five months, with the suspension stayed after 60 days by a two-year period of conditional probation. Between June 2014 and October 2021, Mr. Leving charged and collected excessive legal fees in eight domestic relations matters. The suspension is effective on October 11, 2024. 

Terrence Richard Miles, Danville

Mr. Miles, who was licensed in 1988, was suspended for one year and until further order of the Court and until he makes restitution. He misappropriated $11,323 in interest income from a trust for which he had been acting as trustee. He did not appear for 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. 

Patrick Daley Thompson, Chicago

Mr. Thompson, who was licensed in 1999, was suspended for three years, retroactive to the date of his March 18, 2022 interim suspension. Mr. Thompson, who was convicted in federal court of five counts of income tax fraud and two counts of making false statements to agents of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. 

Michael A. Abramson, Chicago

Mr. Abramson, who was licensed in 1974, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the Court after a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Illinois returned a fifteen-count superseding indictment charging him with various crimes including thirteen counts of making false statements in personal and corporate income tax filings. 

Paul Vernon Bishop, II, Olney

Mr. Bishop, who was licensed in 2007, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the Court after he pled guilty to possession of cocaine and subsequently was charged with violating the terms of his probation by possessing drugs and drug paraphernalia. 

Charles Gideon McGuire, Carbondale

Mr. McGuire, who was licensed in 2012, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the Court after he was convicted of violating an order of protection that his spouse had secured against him and violating the conditions of his pretrial release by having contact with his spouse. 

Lacoulton Walls, Chicago

Mr. Walls, who was licensed in 1987, was suspended on an interim basis and until further order of the Court after he pled guilty in federal court to witness tampering, falsifying records in a federal investigation, and making false statements to a federal investigator in connection with his client’s involvement in a real estate scam. 

Censured 

Ilan Borochov, Dallas, TX

Mr. Borochov, who was licensed in 2021, was censured. He failed to update his 2020 application for admission to the Illinois bar with information regarding his March 2021 arrest for violating a provision of the Texas Penal Code based on an incident with his dog. 

David P. Kaminski, Barrington, IL

Mr. Kaminski, who was licensed in 1997, was censured after he struck his wife, causing her injury. As a result of that conduct, he was criminally charged and found guilty of the offense of domestic battery.