Illinois Decides Discipline Cases

Highlights of decisions announced yesterday by the Illinois Supreme Court

Mr. Prewitt was licensed in Illinois in 1995 and in Missouri in 1992. The Missouri Supreme Court indefinitely suspended him, with no leave to apply for reinstatement for two years, for threatening to file an ethics complaint against his potential opponent in a judicial election and to reveal details of the infidelity of his potential opponent's spouse in an attempt to dissuade her from running against him in the election. He also threatened to reveal a former client's confidences as part of that latter threat. The Supreme Court of Illinois imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended him for two years and until he is reinstated to the practice of law in Missouri. The suspension is effective on October 12, 2023.

Mr. Rollins, who was licensed in 2007, was suspended for five months. He attempted to defraud his fellow law firm members about the amount of capital he had contributed to their start-up law firm. The suspension is effective on October 12, 2023.

Ms. Motta, who was licensed in 2004, was suspended for 90 days, with the suspension stayed in its entirety by a one-year period of probation with conditions. In an Illinois criminal trial, she repeatedly interrupted the judge and muttered an obscenity in response to the judge overruling an objection. She also took photos during the prosecutor's closing argument despite a ban on photos in the courtroom. In a Nebraska criminal matter, she publicly disseminated DNA results from evidence to news outlets in violation of a previous protective order issued by the court.

Ms. Kowalski, who was licensed in 2007, was disbarred on consent. She was convicted of concealing assets from a bankruptcy trustee when she and her brother made fraudulent representations, claims and promises in her brother's bankruptcy petition and accompanying documents, and when she used her client trust account to conceal from her brother's creditors and the trustee hundreds of thousands of dollars that were part of her brother's bankruptcy estate.