CHICAGO ―
Thomas P. McGarry and
Thomas P. Sukowicz, partners in the
Chicago office of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLC, recently obtained a victory in a significant attorney disciplinary case. Mr. McGarry and Mr. Sukowicz represented a lawyer who was charged with misconduct for allegedly submitting fabricated time records while working as a temporary contract attorney.
The issue was whether the charged attorney was working at the times for which he submitted time records to the temporary agency through which his services were provided. A more than two-day hearing involving at least six adverse witnesses, all of whom were lawyers, was conducted. Relying largely on computer-generated records that were introduced as an exhibit, the Hearing Board found that the lawyer had engaged in conduct involving fraud, dishonesty, deceit or misrepresentation, in violation of Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4. It consequently recommended that the lawyer be suspended for three months.
On appeal to the Review Board, Mr. McGarry and Mr. Sukowicz asserted that the Hearing Board erred in admitting the exhibit into evidence, and that without that exhibit, the Administrator had failed to prove the alleged misconduct. The Review Board found that the exhibit was not properly introduced into evidence and that there was insufficient other evidence to sufficiently prove the charges. It consequently reversed the findings of misconduct and recommended a dismissal of all of the charges.
Founded in 1934, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP is a national law firm with approximately 500 lawyers in 24 offices spanning 12 states, including
Arizona,
California,
Florida,
Illinois,
Indiana,
Massachusetts,
Minnesota,
Missouri,
New York,
Oregon,
Rhode Island and
Wisconsin.
Hinshaw offers a full-service practice, with an emphasis in litigation, business law and corporate transactions, environmental, intellectual property, labor and employment law, professional liability defense, estate planning and taxation matters. The firm represents a range of for-profit and not-for-profit clients in industries that include alarm and security services, construction, financial services, health care, hospitality, insurance, legal, manufacturing, real estate, retail and transportation. Hinshaw clients also include government agencies, municipalities and schools.